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CNN Live At Daybreak
Mass Grave Found South of Baghdad
Aired May 14, 2003 - 06:34 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On to Iraq now and another killing field. A mass grave was found 55 miles south of Baghdad, yet another sad journey for those looking for loved ones long lost.
We take you there now. Jane Arraf is there.
Jane -- up to 11,000 bodies buried here?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Carol, so far it's about 1,000 that they have recovered, but there could, of course, be many, many more. These are some of them. It's a very sad sight, as you can see. Every plastic bag here holds the skeleton of somebody's brother or father or cousin or uncle.
A lot of these people you see here are relatives who have been not allowed to even mention their loved one's names virtually, those who disappeared, since they disappeared in 1991, most of them Shias.
Now, we have here with us Dr. Rafid Al Husseini, who is essentially in charge of what's going on here.
Dr. Rafid, can you tell us what people are doing here, why they are here and what they are finding?
DR. RAFID AL HUSSEINI, IRAQI DOCTOR: Yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) our action started in this area. We are searching first of all for our relatives, those missing in 1991. We are searching and now digging. We find that there a lot of mass graves and a lot of the persons (UNINTELLIGIBLE). So, every one of these families came here. They are searching for their relatives. Our action, our job (UNINTELLIGIBLE) searching for our relatives to be (UNINTELLIGIBLE), to search for records of our Iraqi families, about their relatives that were missing in 1991 or that were missing in 1981.
ARRAF: And you're missing relatives, too. What happened to them?
AL HUSSEINI: Of course, I am. Two of my uncles in 1981, they were considered as members in the Islamic Party and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by Saddam Hussein (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And we suspect that we can find them in these graves or maybe in the graves in Baghdad or other sites. For now, I have not found them.
ARRAF: How did these people die, do you think?
AL HUSSEINI: Yes. By the -- the farmers and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from this region tell us that there (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bringing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) prisoners, and they got shovels or bulldozers and they covered the areas. And those either put in these areas alive or shot, and we found features of the bullets in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of people.
ARRAF: Dr. Rafid, thank you so much.
AL HUSSEIN: Thank you.
ARRAF: Dr. Rafid Al Husseini is essentially in charge. It was a very, very sad operation here, all of these bodies being dug up and the searches to identify them, so far most of them unsuccessful -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, Jane, I was wondering, the country is in such disarray, is it even possible that they'll be able to identify these bodies? Do they even have the wherewithal to do that right now?
ARRAF: They can identify them very slowly and painstakingly. But what's feared here by Human Rights Watch, for instance, one organization, is that the way it's being done, which is essentially relatives being allowed to come in and dig up these bodies and disturb the photo identification that's on a lot of them, means that some of them will never be identified. But the fact is there just are not enough forensic experts. These areas aren't being roped off.
The U.S. military is here, but it's standing back, keeping a respectful distance. It's allowing people to come here and dig up the bodies and search for their relatives. There's probably no way you could stop that. There has been such a history and so many people, so many Iraqis who have disappeared. And, really, there is all of this pent-up emotion on behalf of these families, because this really is the first time they've even been allowed to mourn and the first time, as we can see in front of us, they've been allowed to come here and publicly ask, where are our loved ones (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Just such a heartbreaking scene to see them opening up those plastic bags and searching for anything that might identify a loved one lost. I just can't imagine.
ARRAF: It's hard to know what's worse, really...
COSTELLO: Go ahead, Jane.
ARRAF: ... not knowing what happened or finding them like this.
COSTELLO: Definitely so. Jane Arraf reporting live from south of Baghdad this morning.
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 14, 2003 - 06:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: On to Iraq now and another killing field. A mass grave was found 55 miles south of Baghdad, yet another sad journey for those looking for loved ones long lost.
We take you there now. Jane Arraf is there.
Jane -- up to 11,000 bodies buried here?
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Carol, so far it's about 1,000 that they have recovered, but there could, of course, be many, many more. These are some of them. It's a very sad sight, as you can see. Every plastic bag here holds the skeleton of somebody's brother or father or cousin or uncle.
A lot of these people you see here are relatives who have been not allowed to even mention their loved one's names virtually, those who disappeared, since they disappeared in 1991, most of them Shias.
Now, we have here with us Dr. Rafid Al Husseini, who is essentially in charge of what's going on here.
Dr. Rafid, can you tell us what people are doing here, why they are here and what they are finding?
DR. RAFID AL HUSSEINI, IRAQI DOCTOR: Yes. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) our action started in this area. We are searching first of all for our relatives, those missing in 1991. We are searching and now digging. We find that there a lot of mass graves and a lot of the persons (UNINTELLIGIBLE). So, every one of these families came here. They are searching for their relatives. Our action, our job (UNINTELLIGIBLE) searching for our relatives to be (UNINTELLIGIBLE), to search for records of our Iraqi families, about their relatives that were missing in 1991 or that were missing in 1981.
ARRAF: And you're missing relatives, too. What happened to them?
AL HUSSEINI: Of course, I am. Two of my uncles in 1981, they were considered as members in the Islamic Party and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) by Saddam Hussein (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And we suspect that we can find them in these graves or maybe in the graves in Baghdad or other sites. For now, I have not found them.
ARRAF: How did these people die, do you think?
AL HUSSEINI: Yes. By the -- the farmers and the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) from this region tell us that there (UNINTELLIGIBLE) bringing (UNINTELLIGIBLE) prisoners, and they got shovels or bulldozers and they covered the areas. And those either put in these areas alive or shot, and we found features of the bullets in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of people.
ARRAF: Dr. Rafid, thank you so much.
AL HUSSEIN: Thank you.
ARRAF: Dr. Rafid Al Husseini is essentially in charge. It was a very, very sad operation here, all of these bodies being dug up and the searches to identify them, so far most of them unsuccessful -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, Jane, I was wondering, the country is in such disarray, is it even possible that they'll be able to identify these bodies? Do they even have the wherewithal to do that right now?
ARRAF: They can identify them very slowly and painstakingly. But what's feared here by Human Rights Watch, for instance, one organization, is that the way it's being done, which is essentially relatives being allowed to come in and dig up these bodies and disturb the photo identification that's on a lot of them, means that some of them will never be identified. But the fact is there just are not enough forensic experts. These areas aren't being roped off.
The U.S. military is here, but it's standing back, keeping a respectful distance. It's allowing people to come here and dig up the bodies and search for their relatives. There's probably no way you could stop that. There has been such a history and so many people, so many Iraqis who have disappeared. And, really, there is all of this pent-up emotion on behalf of these families, because this really is the first time they've even been allowed to mourn and the first time, as we can see in front of us, they've been allowed to come here and publicly ask, where are our loved ones (UNINTELLIGIBLE) -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Just such a heartbreaking scene to see them opening up those plastic bags and searching for anything that might identify a loved one lost. I just can't imagine.
ARRAF: It's hard to know what's worse, really...
COSTELLO: Go ahead, Jane.
ARRAF: ... not knowing what happened or finding them like this.
COSTELLO: Definitely so. Jane Arraf reporting live from south of Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
