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CNN Live At Daybreak

U.S. Conducts Dozens of Raids in Past 24 Hours in Tikrit Area

Aired July 30, 2003 - 06:09   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: As for what it's like in Iraq today, Rym Brahimi has been telling us it is eerily quiet. No American casualties that we've heard of, but U.S. troops are busy rounding up Saddam loyalists. They've nabbed dozens so far and counting.
Live to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi.

Good morning -- Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Well, as you know, there was an audio tape that was released, and many people are now questioning what the impact of that audio tape, purportedly the voice of Saddam Hussein, will be on what's happening on the ground.

Basically, that audio tape was just mourning the death of his sons, but making a point that he is around. And I think that's what U.S. coalition forces are trying to make go away, if you will, conducting all of these raids. They say they're very, very close now to his track. They're very close to capturing Saddam Hussein. They say that they've yielded a lot of information from the raids they've conducted in Tikrit, the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein.

They say that also a lot of informants that have come together, and the mere fact that he's being hunted down, they say, they're forcing him to be on the run, and therefore they believe that they are weakening him.

That said, despite all of these raids and raids in several areas around Baghdad that have netted a lot of weapons. In Samara, they found explosive devices, they found plastic explosives and dynamite. They found in the south (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they found some 1,000 grenades and the different mortar rounds. They found a lot of weapons.

That said, it remains a dangerous place, and there have been regular attacks against U.S. coalition forces, they say some dozen attacks today. And so, they're calling on their coalition forces to avoid certain areas unless they have urgent business to deal with. They say they've also found certain areas where explosive devices had been placed, and they had to detonate them themselves.

So, the situation is still not stable by all means, but so far we haven't heard of an attack in the past 24 hours, but there has been one every day. And coalition forces say they wouldn't be surprised if things do happen constantly -- Carol. COSTELLO: And quickly, I want to touch on Uday and Qusay Hussein's bodies, because some relatives have come forward to claim the bodies. So, what happens next?

BRAHIMI: Well, that's a big question. As you know, the Muslim tradition has it that the body, once a person is dead, it has to be buried as soon as possible after the death. In the case of Uday and Qusay, well, that's been a week now since they were killed in that raid in Mosul. The bodies have furthermore been exposed, taken pictures of. And so, a lot of people are now saying, let's just move on and put it behind us.

Now, one relative who is actually an interesting case, because his entire family, he says, had been killed by Saddam Hussein and by Uday and Qusay. He says despite that fact, I don't even know where the graves of my four children and wife are, well, I still think they need to be given a decent burial.

He's written a letter to Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator here, saying it could start trouble if you don't dispose of the bodies quickly and also from a humanitarian and moral point of view, from the point of view of those same values that you're trying to instill in our country, Iraq, you need to get these bodies buried. And Paul Bremer still hasn't replied, as far as we know -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad 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.




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Aired July 30, 2003 - 06:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As for what it's like in Iraq today, Rym Brahimi has been telling us it is eerily quiet. No American casualties that we've heard of, but U.S. troops are busy rounding up Saddam loyalists. They've nabbed dozens so far and counting.
Live to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi.

Good morning -- Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Carol.

Well, as you know, there was an audio tape that was released, and many people are now questioning what the impact of that audio tape, purportedly the voice of Saddam Hussein, will be on what's happening on the ground.

Basically, that audio tape was just mourning the death of his sons, but making a point that he is around. And I think that's what U.S. coalition forces are trying to make go away, if you will, conducting all of these raids. They say they're very, very close now to his track. They're very close to capturing Saddam Hussein. They say that they've yielded a lot of information from the raids they've conducted in Tikrit, the hometown of former President Saddam Hussein.

They say that also a lot of informants that have come together, and the mere fact that he's being hunted down, they say, they're forcing him to be on the run, and therefore they believe that they are weakening him.

That said, despite all of these raids and raids in several areas around Baghdad that have netted a lot of weapons. In Samara, they found explosive devices, they found plastic explosives and dynamite. They found in the south (UNINTELLIGIBLE) they found some 1,000 grenades and the different mortar rounds. They found a lot of weapons.

That said, it remains a dangerous place, and there have been regular attacks against U.S. coalition forces, they say some dozen attacks today. And so, they're calling on their coalition forces to avoid certain areas unless they have urgent business to deal with. They say they've also found certain areas where explosive devices had been placed, and they had to detonate them themselves.

So, the situation is still not stable by all means, but so far we haven't heard of an attack in the past 24 hours, but there has been one every day. And coalition forces say they wouldn't be surprised if things do happen constantly -- Carol. COSTELLO: And quickly, I want to touch on Uday and Qusay Hussein's bodies, because some relatives have come forward to claim the bodies. So, what happens next?

BRAHIMI: Well, that's a big question. As you know, the Muslim tradition has it that the body, once a person is dead, it has to be buried as soon as possible after the death. In the case of Uday and Qusay, well, that's been a week now since they were killed in that raid in Mosul. The bodies have furthermore been exposed, taken pictures of. And so, a lot of people are now saying, let's just move on and put it behind us.

Now, one relative who is actually an interesting case, because his entire family, he says, had been killed by Saddam Hussein and by Uday and Qusay. He says despite that fact, I don't even know where the graves of my four children and wife are, well, I still think they need to be given a decent burial.

He's written a letter to Paul Bremer, the U.S. administrator here, saying it could start trouble if you don't dispose of the bodies quickly and also from a humanitarian and moral point of view, from the point of view of those same values that you're trying to instill in our country, Iraq, you need to get these bodies buried. And Paul Bremer still hasn't replied, as far as we know -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad 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.




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