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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Soldiers Raid Village in Northern Iraq
Aired May 15, 2003 - 05:37 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: U.S. soldiers raided a village in northern Iraq early today. The village near Tikrit is a known stronghold of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. About 200 people were detained. Two senior Iraqi officials on the most wanted list and 13 other party functionaries were believed to be hiding there. U.S. officials said one of those arrested was on the top 55 list, but they did not give us a name.
Palestinian refugees in Iraq are being kicked out of their homes, and for some it is a bitter reminder of an earlier indignation.
CNN's Karl Penhaul has the story from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Darwish Mustafas (ph) says he still remembers the day Jewish gunmen evicted him from his home in Palestine. He was nine. Now 64, a refugee again, a tent for shelter in downtown Baghdad.
DARWISH MUSTAFAS (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Even the dogs and cats have rights, but we're a nation and we have no rights. Where is the democracy in that?
PENHAUL: In July 1948, when he and his family were thrown out of their home in Haifa, in what is now Israel, Darwish says he was too young to fight. Human rights workers say since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have forced more than 3,000 Palestinians out of their homes.
When an Iraqi landlord showed up last month at the door of the house where Darwish had lived for 35 years and ordered him out, he says he was too old to resist.
MUSTAFAS: If someone is threatening you, what can you do? Would you be Rambo?
PENHAUL: Particularly in the last decade, Saddam Hussein openly supported and sometimes financed the Palestinian revolt against Israel. His regime granted free housing to the estimated 60,000 Palestinian refugees living in Iraq, or obliged Iraqi landlords to accommodate them for token rents. Many ordinary Iraqis, downtrodden by Saddam's regime, resented what they regarded as preferential treatment for the Palestinians.
PETER BOUCKHAERT, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: It was very easy for Saddam Hussein to manipulate this population and to use them for his own advantage. I think it would be very unfortunate if these Palestinian refugee would suffer for the sins of Saddam Hussein, because they certainly are not the guilty ones.
PENHAUL: Darwish took us back to the Baghdad neighborhood that had for so long adopted him as its own. Iraqi neighbors, sad to see an old friend depart, but offering only sympathy. The cinema where Darwish, a movie fanatic, first saw his all time favorites, "Gone With The Wind" and "Casablanca."
DARWISH: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra.
PENHAUL: A few of the small crowd outside cursed Palestinians as he stops to argue. And before Darwish heads back to his tent, a last peek through the chained gates at where he once lived.
DARWISH: We used to live in this house for 35 years, 35 years of memories.
PENHAUL (on camera): Camp organizers say around 150 families -- that's about 750 men, women and children -- are now taking refuge here. As the evening draws near and the scorching sun dips lower in the sky, this tent city comes to life.
(voice-over): And Darwish reflects on a seemingly impossible dream. He wants to find his way home so he can die in Palestine.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 15, 2003 - 05:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. soldiers raided a village in northern Iraq early today. The village near Tikrit is a known stronghold of Saddam Hussein's Baath Party. About 200 people were detained. Two senior Iraqi officials on the most wanted list and 13 other party functionaries were believed to be hiding there. U.S. officials said one of those arrested was on the top 55 list, but they did not give us a name.
Palestinian refugees in Iraq are being kicked out of their homes, and for some it is a bitter reminder of an earlier indignation.
CNN's Karl Penhaul has the story from Baghdad.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Darwish Mustafas (ph) says he still remembers the day Jewish gunmen evicted him from his home in Palestine. He was nine. Now 64, a refugee again, a tent for shelter in downtown Baghdad.
DARWISH MUSTAFAS (THROUGH TRANSLATOR): Even the dogs and cats have rights, but we're a nation and we have no rights. Where is the democracy in that?
PENHAUL: In July 1948, when he and his family were thrown out of their home in Haifa, in what is now Israel, Darwish says he was too young to fight. Human rights workers say since the fall of Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have forced more than 3,000 Palestinians out of their homes.
When an Iraqi landlord showed up last month at the door of the house where Darwish had lived for 35 years and ordered him out, he says he was too old to resist.
MUSTAFAS: If someone is threatening you, what can you do? Would you be Rambo?
PENHAUL: Particularly in the last decade, Saddam Hussein openly supported and sometimes financed the Palestinian revolt against Israel. His regime granted free housing to the estimated 60,000 Palestinian refugees living in Iraq, or obliged Iraqi landlords to accommodate them for token rents. Many ordinary Iraqis, downtrodden by Saddam's regime, resented what they regarded as preferential treatment for the Palestinians.
PETER BOUCKHAERT, HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH: It was very easy for Saddam Hussein to manipulate this population and to use them for his own advantage. I think it would be very unfortunate if these Palestinian refugee would suffer for the sins of Saddam Hussein, because they certainly are not the guilty ones.
PENHAUL: Darwish took us back to the Baghdad neighborhood that had for so long adopted him as its own. Iraqi neighbors, sad to see an old friend depart, but offering only sympathy. The cinema where Darwish, a movie fanatic, first saw his all time favorites, "Gone With The Wind" and "Casablanca."
DARWISH: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Humphrey Bogart, Frank Sinatra.
PENHAUL: A few of the small crowd outside cursed Palestinians as he stops to argue. And before Darwish heads back to his tent, a last peek through the chained gates at where he once lived.
DARWISH: We used to live in this house for 35 years, 35 years of memories.
PENHAUL (on camera): Camp organizers say around 150 families -- that's about 750 men, women and children -- are now taking refuge here. As the evening draws near and the scorching sun dips lower in the sky, this tent city comes to life.
(voice-over): And Darwish reflects on a seemingly impossible dream. He wants to find his way home so he can die in Palestine.
Karl Penhaul, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
