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CNN Live At Daybreak
It May be Two Months Until Interim Government in Place
Aired May 21, 2003 - 05:09 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now for the latest from Iraq. It may be two months until an interim government is in place.
CNN's Karl Penhaul joins us live from Baghdad -- why the delay, Karl?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
The delay because Paul Bremer -- he's the new U.S. administrator of Iraq -- has fixed two other priorities first. He wants to tackle the law and order situation, get that under control, and also eliminate Baath Party officials from public life before he goes on to think about setting up an interim Iraqi authority.
That said, in a tour of a jail in Baghdad today, he did say that he would be looking to set up a national conference some time in July and that then would prepare the groundwork for what would come. But he's still refusing to be pinned down for an exact timetable and certainly this kind of conference would not open the way to any sort of return of national sovereignty to Iraq. That's still way away.
But let's take a look at what Paul Bremer said to reporters on his tour of a jail in Baghdad this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION: We will have another broader meeting some time in the next week or 10 days and then we'll see where we go from there. But I would think that we're talking, it would be more like some time in July to actually get any government at this point, a national conference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: Now, as far as the consequences of such a delay, well, for those Iraqi, former Iraqi opposition figures, not much. They say they're happy to follow whatever the coalition deadline is. That said, at the grassroots in many neighborhoods of Baghdad and, indeed, across the country, where Shiite Muslim clerics really hold sway, they're not waiting for the coalition to get around to setting up any interim authority. They're setting up their own local authorities.
And in some pictures that one of our crews shot this morning, a factory owner -- he used to produce liquor, produce alcohol for local consumption here in Iraq and also for export abroad -- showed how the Shiite Muslim clerics are enforcing Islamic law at local level. He says that one of the local clerics sent 400 armed men, armed with rocket launchers and grenades, round to his factory. They destroyed the factory.
So really the Shiite clerics building power from the bottom up -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, if they're setting up these local governments, how will the United States control them? Will they just discount them when the time comes to put other people into place?
PENHAUL: It's really beyond the control of the United States, Carol, because this government is, as I say, at local level. The mosque is the center of power. The clerics are the de facto rulers, issuing decrees on the basis of Islamic law. It's not that the U.S. government will discount them, it's that at the grassroots, in many Baghdad neighborhoods, the Shiite clerics are the ones running the show -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul reporting live for us from Iraq 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 21, 2003 - 05:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now for the latest from Iraq. It may be two months until an interim government is in place.
CNN's Karl Penhaul joins us live from Baghdad -- why the delay, Karl?
KARL PENHAUL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Carol.
The delay because Paul Bremer -- he's the new U.S. administrator of Iraq -- has fixed two other priorities first. He wants to tackle the law and order situation, get that under control, and also eliminate Baath Party officials from public life before he goes on to think about setting up an interim Iraqi authority.
That said, in a tour of a jail in Baghdad today, he did say that he would be looking to set up a national conference some time in July and that then would prepare the groundwork for what would come. But he's still refusing to be pinned down for an exact timetable and certainly this kind of conference would not open the way to any sort of return of national sovereignty to Iraq. That's still way away.
But let's take a look at what Paul Bremer said to reporters on his tour of a jail in Baghdad this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BREMER, U.S./IRAQ RECONSTRUCTION ADMINISTRATION: We will have another broader meeting some time in the next week or 10 days and then we'll see where we go from there. But I would think that we're talking, it would be more like some time in July to actually get any government at this point, a national conference.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PENHAUL: Now, as far as the consequences of such a delay, well, for those Iraqi, former Iraqi opposition figures, not much. They say they're happy to follow whatever the coalition deadline is. That said, at the grassroots in many neighborhoods of Baghdad and, indeed, across the country, where Shiite Muslim clerics really hold sway, they're not waiting for the coalition to get around to setting up any interim authority. They're setting up their own local authorities.
And in some pictures that one of our crews shot this morning, a factory owner -- he used to produce liquor, produce alcohol for local consumption here in Iraq and also for export abroad -- showed how the Shiite Muslim clerics are enforcing Islamic law at local level. He says that one of the local clerics sent 400 armed men, armed with rocket launchers and grenades, round to his factory. They destroyed the factory.
So really the Shiite clerics building power from the bottom up -- Carol.
COSTELLO: So, if they're setting up these local governments, how will the United States control them? Will they just discount them when the time comes to put other people into place?
PENHAUL: It's really beyond the control of the United States, Carol, because this government is, as I say, at local level. The mosque is the center of power. The clerics are the de facto rulers, issuing decrees on the basis of Islamic law. It's not that the U.S. government will discount them, it's that at the grassroots, in many Baghdad neighborhoods, the Shiite clerics are the ones running the show -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Karl Penhaul reporting live for us from Iraq 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
