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CNN Live Today
Senior Iraqi Leader Captured
Aired June 05, 2003 - 11:02 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: Dangerous days in Iraq, Saddam Hussein is gone but his loyalists still stirring up trouble. U.S. troops came under attack in the flash point city of Fallujah today leaving one soldier dead.
Our Matthew Chance joins us now. He is standing by in Baghdad which is just east of Fallujah. He has the story for us now - Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Leon, and that's right another incident just underlining how dangerous it still is for U.S. troops, particularly in that area of Fallujah to the west of Baghdad.
According to U.S. military officials in that incident, as you mentioned, one U.S. soldier was killed, another five were injured in the attack. According to Central Command, unknown assailants fired at the U.S. patrol with rocket-propelled grenades. The injured were evacuated to a local military medical facility according to those U.S. officials.
Fallujah about 30 miles to the west of Baghdad has been the site of repeated attacks against U.S. forces since clashes with the local population there in April in which the American troop force presence there killed at least 15 people and injured dozens of others.
The soldiers who were attacked in the early hours of this morning here local time were assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, according to Central Command.
In recent days, the U.S. presence around Fallujah, which was a former stronghold of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, has been reinforced with an extra 1,500 troops to counter what U.S. forces say was an increasingly coordinated guerrilla presence in this predominantly Sunni Muslim area.
In a separate development, Central Command says its forces have captured the commander of one of Saddam Hussein's paramilitary forces. Ayad Futayyih Khalifa al-Rawi is number 30 on the set of 55 playing cards depicting what U.S. officials describe as the most wanted members of the former Iraqi regime.
Al-Rawi was the head of Iraq's volunteer Al Quds or Jerusalem Army drawn mainly from the Iraqi military and the former ruling Ba'ath Party. The coalition forces now having made this success, they've arrested several top leaders. However, important to remember, still the top figures on that list, Saddam Hussein and his two sons, remain very much at large - Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you very much, Matthew, Matthew Chance reporting live for us from Baghdad.
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 June 5, 2003 - 11:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Dangerous days in Iraq, Saddam Hussein is gone but his loyalists still stirring up trouble. U.S. troops came under attack in the flash point city of Fallujah today leaving one soldier dead.
Our Matthew Chance joins us now. He is standing by in Baghdad which is just east of Fallujah. He has the story for us now - Matthew.
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thank you, Leon, and that's right another incident just underlining how dangerous it still is for U.S. troops, particularly in that area of Fallujah to the west of Baghdad.
According to U.S. military officials in that incident, as you mentioned, one U.S. soldier was killed, another five were injured in the attack. According to Central Command, unknown assailants fired at the U.S. patrol with rocket-propelled grenades. The injured were evacuated to a local military medical facility according to those U.S. officials.
Fallujah about 30 miles to the west of Baghdad has been the site of repeated attacks against U.S. forces since clashes with the local population there in April in which the American troop force presence there killed at least 15 people and injured dozens of others.
The soldiers who were attacked in the early hours of this morning here local time were assigned to the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, according to Central Command.
In recent days, the U.S. presence around Fallujah, which was a former stronghold of the former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, has been reinforced with an extra 1,500 troops to counter what U.S. forces say was an increasingly coordinated guerrilla presence in this predominantly Sunni Muslim area.
In a separate development, Central Command says its forces have captured the commander of one of Saddam Hussein's paramilitary forces. Ayad Futayyih Khalifa al-Rawi is number 30 on the set of 55 playing cards depicting what U.S. officials describe as the most wanted members of the former Iraqi regime.
Al-Rawi was the head of Iraq's volunteer Al Quds or Jerusalem Army drawn mainly from the Iraqi military and the former ruling Ba'ath Party. The coalition forces now having made this success, they've arrested several top leaders. However, important to remember, still the top figures on that list, Saddam Hussein and his two sons, remain very much at large - Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you very much, Matthew, Matthew Chance reporting live for us from Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
