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CNN Live Today
Royal Relative
Aired June 10, 2003 - 11:18 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq and the political struggle over who should rule the country has taken on a new dimension with the return of a relative of a royal family. Sharif Ali Bin Al Hussein is the cousin of Iraq's last king. He returned after 45 years in exile.
CNN's Jane Arraf has the latest on what his return means -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, for Sharif Ali and his supporters, it was certainly an emotional moment. He said as he arrived at the mausoleum, which is the tomb of the royal family who had died and been killed in the 1958 revolution that toppled the monarchy, that this is the moment we have all been waiting for. Now "we" refers to a relatively small group of supporters, but he reminded them when the royal family was in charge, Iraq was a place where Iraqis could be proud to say they were Iraqis, that there was peace, there was stability, there was economic development.
Now he is coming home to a country he has not seen since he was 2. Sharif Ali was an investment banker, but he feels that he can help unify a very chaotic and, in some sense, a very desperate group of political figures and rifts in the Iraqi society. The reason is his family comes from the Hashemite families, and they are descendants from the prophet Muhammad.
Now, they rise above, essentially, that Sunni Shia Muslim split, and he that believes as serving as head of what he would like to see, a constitutional monarchy, he could unify the country, and provide a stabilizing influence, but certainly today was an emotional moment. Unclear what the political significance will be, it's very much in the future, but it was a homecoming in every sense of the word -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So, Jane, he wants to unify the country. Is it a pretty good guess that he just might be able to do that? Is he well liked throughout?
ARRAF: He is not terribly disliked, but he has spent his entire life outside of Iraq. And really what Iraqis say they want is someone who understands them, and that's not really an investment banker, who, although he is one of the relatives of the last king, a time that people look to with nostalgia in some respects, he does not have much recent experience.
Now Sharif Ali and the people around him say that they helped fight for the liberation of Iraq. But in fact, what Iraqis seem to want is more people who knew what it was like to suffer under Saddam Hussein, who have political power on the ground. Now Sharif Ali would like to be a monarch who come back and restored some of the prosperity that Iraq had during the monarchy that ended in 1958. But those 30 years, people look back with fondness, a lot of them. It was when the British recreated this country and stole (ph) the monarchy, reinvented it, something similar really to what the Americans are trying to do right now -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jane Arraf, thank you very much.
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 10, 2003 - 11:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq and the political struggle over who should rule the country has taken on a new dimension with the return of a relative of a royal family. Sharif Ali Bin Al Hussein is the cousin of Iraq's last king. He returned after 45 years in exile.
CNN's Jane Arraf has the latest on what his return means -- Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Fredricka, for Sharif Ali and his supporters, it was certainly an emotional moment. He said as he arrived at the mausoleum, which is the tomb of the royal family who had died and been killed in the 1958 revolution that toppled the monarchy, that this is the moment we have all been waiting for. Now "we" refers to a relatively small group of supporters, but he reminded them when the royal family was in charge, Iraq was a place where Iraqis could be proud to say they were Iraqis, that there was peace, there was stability, there was economic development.
Now he is coming home to a country he has not seen since he was 2. Sharif Ali was an investment banker, but he feels that he can help unify a very chaotic and, in some sense, a very desperate group of political figures and rifts in the Iraqi society. The reason is his family comes from the Hashemite families, and they are descendants from the prophet Muhammad.
Now, they rise above, essentially, that Sunni Shia Muslim split, and he that believes as serving as head of what he would like to see, a constitutional monarchy, he could unify the country, and provide a stabilizing influence, but certainly today was an emotional moment. Unclear what the political significance will be, it's very much in the future, but it was a homecoming in every sense of the word -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: So, Jane, he wants to unify the country. Is it a pretty good guess that he just might be able to do that? Is he well liked throughout?
ARRAF: He is not terribly disliked, but he has spent his entire life outside of Iraq. And really what Iraqis say they want is someone who understands them, and that's not really an investment banker, who, although he is one of the relatives of the last king, a time that people look to with nostalgia in some respects, he does not have much recent experience.
Now Sharif Ali and the people around him say that they helped fight for the liberation of Iraq. But in fact, what Iraqis seem to want is more people who knew what it was like to suffer under Saddam Hussein, who have political power on the ground. Now Sharif Ali would like to be a monarch who come back and restored some of the prosperity that Iraq had during the monarchy that ended in 1958. But those 30 years, people look back with fondness, a lot of them. It was when the British recreated this country and stole (ph) the monarchy, reinvented it, something similar really to what the Americans are trying to do right now -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, Jane Arraf, thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
