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CNN Live At Daybreak

Update on Attack Against British Soldiers in Southern Iraq

Aired June 25, 2003 - 05:32   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: And we want to get an update now on the attack against British soldiers in southern Iraq. CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now live from the city of Amarah. Good morning, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol. Actually, I am at the site of the incident yesterday, al-Majir al- Kabir (ph), which is about 12 miles outside of Al-Amarah. Here, what exactly happened yesterday is not altogether clear. We are hearing very different accounts from both local leaders, as well as the British forces. What is clear is that there was an incident yesterday in which British soldiers and some local people sustained fire. It appears that occurred when the British - group of British military police entered the city and went to the police station.

Now, apparently, rumors had spread among the people of the town that the British and military (UNINTELLIGIBLE) were about to conduct intensive and thorough searches for weapons in the towns. That caused a large number of the local people to congregate around the police station. There were rocks thrown in the direction of the British military police, and apparently the police also came under some fire from the crowd. They responded. In the end, around four local people were killed, as well as 17 wounded in addition to the six British military police who were wounded.

Now, this morning, representatives of the local community met with British forces to discuss the incident. Both sides saying that they regret the loss of life and that it would do their best (UNINTELLIGIBLE) avoid the repetition of such (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

Both the British officer we spoke with and the local tribal leaders, they indicate that there may have been people in the crowd who were instigating them and may have been the ones who have opened fire, whether it is in the air or the direction of British forces - Carol.

COSTELLO: And Ben, I hear what you're saying, but the concern here is that attacks like this are becoming more organized, and there is somebody behind them, orchestrating them. Is there any hard core evidence of that from your perspective this morning?

WEDEMAN: Well, Carol, the closer we get to the site of the incident, it seems that that is not the case. This may have been some individuals connected with the Baath Party of the Fedayeen Saddam who were behind this, but it does not appear that the attacks that we've seen in the central part of the country, as many as 25 in the last 24 hours, are somehow going to spread to the south; for several reasons, the most important being that whereas the central part of Iraq is inhabited by Arab Sunnis, it's traditionally where the core of Saddam Hussein regime.

In the south, where I am, in Amarah and Basra, and here in Majir al-Kabir (ph), they are Shiite Muslims who have a long history of suffering at the hands of Saddam Hussein, and would be the last people who would somehow join with the remaining loyalists of the old regime and launch attacks against the coalition.

They have their own reasons, possibly, to launch attacks on the coalition, but they have nothing to do with the old regime - Carol.

COSTELLO All right, Ben Wedeman, reporting live from near Amarah in southern Iraq this morning.

Of course, that deadly attack is putting more pressure on British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Live to London now, and Diana Muriel. Good morning, Diana.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol, yes. These six deaths represents the heaviest combat losses on a single day by the British army since the 1991 Gulf War. The six deaths, of course, from Royal Military Police officers serving in Iraq. Already wreaths and flowers have been taken to the headquarters of the Royal Military Police in Chichester (ph), in southern England, and plans are under way for a memorial service to commemorate them on Friday.

Geoff Hoon, who is the British defense minister, was speaking earlier about what will happen now. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEOFFREY HOON, BRITISH DEFENSE SECRETARY: It is important in the first place that we find out what happened, what was responsible for this dreadful incident. I hope that we will establish that it is not typical, because as I've seen for myself and my (UNINTELLIGIBLE) southern Iraq, British forces were welcomed by the local people and are seen as the liberators from Saddam Hussein's appalling regime. I hope that this is not typical of what has taken place elsewhere in southern Iraq, where British forces have done an excellent job in helping to rebuild society. It must be something that we take into account, and I want to emphasize that the safety and security of our forces is absolutely paramount.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURIEL: Well, that reflects what Ben Wedeman was saying earlier on, it's unclear who is responsible for these attacks. But in the meantime, there is this investigation under way by the British authorities in Iraq. The Ministry of Defense is reviewing that policy there. They currently have a soft belly (ph) policy, whereby soldiers take off their helmets and their flack jackets when they go on foot patrols inside urban areas. They've been doing that since almost the beginning of the war. They were doing that in Al-Zuabar (ph) even before Basra was taken. And that is also under review at the moment.

They are also reviewing the troop strength that they have in Iraq. Currently there are 12,300 British soldiers or thereabouts serving in Iraq. Many of them are due to be - being - called back to their barracks in England and Germany over the next month. Now, that will be reviewed at this stage, and they may even send further troops there. There is a reserve of around 19,000 that they could call on, troops that were being kept behind in Britain to deal with a farming strike that is now resolved here in the U.K., and it's possible that they will send soldiers, more soldiers to Iraq in the coming weeks and months - Carol.

COSTELLO: Are there any calls for an international force to be brought into Iraq?

MURIEL: That's certainly something that the British would like to explore thoroughly at this point. The Poles have already been given an area of operation inside Iraq, and I think British sources that I've spoken to, they'd like to develop that, perhaps get more U.N. troops involved in - and United Nations member countries involved in the conflict there. The more troops, the better. It's a large country; it's about the size of France. It's very difficult to patrol it, as has been proven over the past few weeks and days, with so many attacks, particularly on American soldiers serving in Iraq.

The security situation there is very fragile, and more troops would be welcome.

COSTELLO: Yes, but to get international troops in there, you have to convince George Bush, and that might prove difficult.

Diana Muriel, reporting live from London 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




Iraq>


Aired June 25, 2003 - 05:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And we want to get an update now on the attack against British soldiers in southern Iraq. CNN's Ben Wedeman joins us now live from the city of Amarah. Good morning, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Carol. Actually, I am at the site of the incident yesterday, al-Majir al- Kabir (ph), which is about 12 miles outside of Al-Amarah. Here, what exactly happened yesterday is not altogether clear. We are hearing very different accounts from both local leaders, as well as the British forces. What is clear is that there was an incident yesterday in which British soldiers and some local people sustained fire. It appears that occurred when the British - group of British military police entered the city and went to the police station.

Now, apparently, rumors had spread among the people of the town that the British and military (UNINTELLIGIBLE) were about to conduct intensive and thorough searches for weapons in the towns. That caused a large number of the local people to congregate around the police station. There were rocks thrown in the direction of the British military police, and apparently the police also came under some fire from the crowd. They responded. In the end, around four local people were killed, as well as 17 wounded in addition to the six British military police who were wounded.

Now, this morning, representatives of the local community met with British forces to discuss the incident. Both sides saying that they regret the loss of life and that it would do their best (UNINTELLIGIBLE) avoid the repetition of such (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

Both the British officer we spoke with and the local tribal leaders, they indicate that there may have been people in the crowd who were instigating them and may have been the ones who have opened fire, whether it is in the air or the direction of British forces - Carol.

COSTELLO: And Ben, I hear what you're saying, but the concern here is that attacks like this are becoming more organized, and there is somebody behind them, orchestrating them. Is there any hard core evidence of that from your perspective this morning?

WEDEMAN: Well, Carol, the closer we get to the site of the incident, it seems that that is not the case. This may have been some individuals connected with the Baath Party of the Fedayeen Saddam who were behind this, but it does not appear that the attacks that we've seen in the central part of the country, as many as 25 in the last 24 hours, are somehow going to spread to the south; for several reasons, the most important being that whereas the central part of Iraq is inhabited by Arab Sunnis, it's traditionally where the core of Saddam Hussein regime.

In the south, where I am, in Amarah and Basra, and here in Majir al-Kabir (ph), they are Shiite Muslims who have a long history of suffering at the hands of Saddam Hussein, and would be the last people who would somehow join with the remaining loyalists of the old regime and launch attacks against the coalition.

They have their own reasons, possibly, to launch attacks on the coalition, but they have nothing to do with the old regime - Carol.

COSTELLO All right, Ben Wedeman, reporting live from near Amarah in southern Iraq this morning.

Of course, that deadly attack is putting more pressure on British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Live to London now, and Diana Muriel. Good morning, Diana.

DIANA MURIEL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol, yes. These six deaths represents the heaviest combat losses on a single day by the British army since the 1991 Gulf War. The six deaths, of course, from Royal Military Police officers serving in Iraq. Already wreaths and flowers have been taken to the headquarters of the Royal Military Police in Chichester (ph), in southern England, and plans are under way for a memorial service to commemorate them on Friday.

Geoff Hoon, who is the British defense minister, was speaking earlier about what will happen now. This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEOFFREY HOON, BRITISH DEFENSE SECRETARY: It is important in the first place that we find out what happened, what was responsible for this dreadful incident. I hope that we will establish that it is not typical, because as I've seen for myself and my (UNINTELLIGIBLE) southern Iraq, British forces were welcomed by the local people and are seen as the liberators from Saddam Hussein's appalling regime. I hope that this is not typical of what has taken place elsewhere in southern Iraq, where British forces have done an excellent job in helping to rebuild society. It must be something that we take into account, and I want to emphasize that the safety and security of our forces is absolutely paramount.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MURIEL: Well, that reflects what Ben Wedeman was saying earlier on, it's unclear who is responsible for these attacks. But in the meantime, there is this investigation under way by the British authorities in Iraq. The Ministry of Defense is reviewing that policy there. They currently have a soft belly (ph) policy, whereby soldiers take off their helmets and their flack jackets when they go on foot patrols inside urban areas. They've been doing that since almost the beginning of the war. They were doing that in Al-Zuabar (ph) even before Basra was taken. And that is also under review at the moment.

They are also reviewing the troop strength that they have in Iraq. Currently there are 12,300 British soldiers or thereabouts serving in Iraq. Many of them are due to be - being - called back to their barracks in England and Germany over the next month. Now, that will be reviewed at this stage, and they may even send further troops there. There is a reserve of around 19,000 that they could call on, troops that were being kept behind in Britain to deal with a farming strike that is now resolved here in the U.K., and it's possible that they will send soldiers, more soldiers to Iraq in the coming weeks and months - Carol.

COSTELLO: Are there any calls for an international force to be brought into Iraq?

MURIEL: That's certainly something that the British would like to explore thoroughly at this point. The Poles have already been given an area of operation inside Iraq, and I think British sources that I've spoken to, they'd like to develop that, perhaps get more U.N. troops involved in - and United Nations member countries involved in the conflict there. The more troops, the better. It's a large country; it's about the size of France. It's very difficult to patrol it, as has been proven over the past few weeks and days, with so many attacks, particularly on American soldiers serving in Iraq.

The security situation there is very fragile, and more troops would be welcome.

COSTELLO: Yes, but to get international troops in there, you have to convince George Bush, and that might prove difficult.

Diana Muriel, reporting live from London 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




Iraq>