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CNN Live Today
Religious Leader Returns to Iraq
Aired May 12, 2003 - 11:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A prominent Shiite religious figure returned to the holy city of Najaf today after 23 years in exile in Iran.
CNN's Jane Arraf is standing by live in Iraq with the homecoming, and also with the word on why this may be a problem for the U.S. -- hello, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon. It is a historic speech going on behind me, and a historic day. This is one of the leading Shi'a Muslim spiritual leaders, and he's arrived here in Najaf, the city of his birth, one of the holiest cities in Shi'a Islam, and he's now giving an address at the mosque of Imam Ali. Now, this is the third holiest site in the world for Shi'a Muslims. He arrived here to an astounding reception. You see all these cars behind us. This was his convoy that arrived just a short while ago, and there were so many people in this square, and so many people in the streets. They almost lifted the cars as they moved towards the doors of this mosque.
He is now inside, calling for Shi'as to unite, reminding them that under Saddam Hussein, under a policy of secularism, their rights were destroyed, that they had no representation, and really it has created this wave of feeling. You can probably hear the chanting behind me.
Now, most of that is coming from inside this very large mosque. There are probably as many people inside as outside. There could be as many 10,000 people in this immediate vicinity, and it is the first time in 23 years that he has come back. He has come back not just as a spiritual leader, but as a real political force -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well, Jane, can you give us any sense of exactly how he may affect the political landscape at all? Where does he stand on the U.S. forces there, actually liberating Iraq and actually staying there on the ground in Iraq. Where does he stand on secularism and maintaining any separations between religion and government?
ARRAF: He's been particularly interesting because he does command a considerable amount of support among Iraq's Shi'a population. The Shi'as here are more than 60 percent of the population. They have never had real political representation in Saddam Hussein's government, but at the same time, they've been a very powerful, underground force. One that Saddam could not ignore.
Now, up until quite recently, this spiritual leader, Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim had refused to take part in the U.S.-backed opposition. He has recently made forays into speaking with him, or his representatives have, but he is now calling for the American troops to leave. This is his bottom line, that the U.S. troops have to leave Iraq, and leave Iraqis to govern it. At the same time, he says that Iraq should be a modern Islamic state. Now, it's not clear yet what exactly he means by that. We are hoping to speak with him. But it is clear that one of those elements would be Islamic law in some form. Again, the Shi'a community here is quite split, as it has been for centuries, and not every Shi'a supports this particular leader, but he does have a considerable amount of support, and he is not someone who can be ignored -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right. And we won't ignore it. We'll try to track this development down and see where it leads. Thank you, Jane. Jane Arraf reporting live for us from Najaf.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired May 12, 2003 - 11:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A prominent Shiite religious figure returned to the holy city of Najaf today after 23 years in exile in Iran.
CNN's Jane Arraf is standing by live in Iraq with the homecoming, and also with the word on why this may be a problem for the U.S. -- hello, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon. It is a historic speech going on behind me, and a historic day. This is one of the leading Shi'a Muslim spiritual leaders, and he's arrived here in Najaf, the city of his birth, one of the holiest cities in Shi'a Islam, and he's now giving an address at the mosque of Imam Ali. Now, this is the third holiest site in the world for Shi'a Muslims. He arrived here to an astounding reception. You see all these cars behind us. This was his convoy that arrived just a short while ago, and there were so many people in this square, and so many people in the streets. They almost lifted the cars as they moved towards the doors of this mosque.
He is now inside, calling for Shi'as to unite, reminding them that under Saddam Hussein, under a policy of secularism, their rights were destroyed, that they had no representation, and really it has created this wave of feeling. You can probably hear the chanting behind me.
Now, most of that is coming from inside this very large mosque. There are probably as many people inside as outside. There could be as many 10,000 people in this immediate vicinity, and it is the first time in 23 years that he has come back. He has come back not just as a spiritual leader, but as a real political force -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well, Jane, can you give us any sense of exactly how he may affect the political landscape at all? Where does he stand on the U.S. forces there, actually liberating Iraq and actually staying there on the ground in Iraq. Where does he stand on secularism and maintaining any separations between religion and government?
ARRAF: He's been particularly interesting because he does command a considerable amount of support among Iraq's Shi'a population. The Shi'as here are more than 60 percent of the population. They have never had real political representation in Saddam Hussein's government, but at the same time, they've been a very powerful, underground force. One that Saddam could not ignore.
Now, up until quite recently, this spiritual leader, Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim had refused to take part in the U.S.-backed opposition. He has recently made forays into speaking with him, or his representatives have, but he is now calling for the American troops to leave. This is his bottom line, that the U.S. troops have to leave Iraq, and leave Iraqis to govern it. At the same time, he says that Iraq should be a modern Islamic state. Now, it's not clear yet what exactly he means by that. We are hoping to speak with him. But it is clear that one of those elements would be Islamic law in some form. Again, the Shi'a community here is quite split, as it has been for centuries, and not every Shi'a supports this particular leader, but he does have a considerable amount of support, and he is not someone who can be ignored -- Leon.
HARRIS: All right. And we won't ignore it. We'll try to track this development down and see where it leads. Thank you, Jane. Jane Arraf reporting live for us from Najaf.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
