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CNN Live At Daybreak
One U.S. Soldier Killed, Two Wounded in Attack
Aired July 31, 2003 - 06:02 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Eerie calm has given way to violence. It had been three days since American troops were attacked, but it has happened again. One soldier dead this morning, two more wounded.
Live to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi.
What happened -- Rym?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, one soldier -- U.S. soldier from the 4th Infantry Division fell under small-arms fire. He was in a convoy. Two other of his colleagues were -- two other of his colleagues were wounded, as well as four Iraqis that were at the scene.
Now, it happened last night, in fact. And it happened not far from the town of Ba'qubah, northeast of the Iraqi capital. And that's a place where, if you remember, a few days ago two U.S. soldiers were killed in a grenade attack, as they were guarding a children's hospital.
Now, we've also just heard word, Carol, of another attack against U.S. soldiers that would have taken place on the highway to the airport from Baghdad, and that's a very dangerous highway. There are very often attacks there. So, we'll be updating you on that, as we get the news from there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And, Rym, there is some better news coming out of Iraq this morning. Tell us what Paul Bremer had to say this morning.
BRAHIMI: Well, Bremer is indeed shedding an optimistic light, if you will, on the whole political process of this country, which is one of the main things that he says once that's achieved, well, the U.S. will be able to leave Iraq. He said, touring the foreign ministry this morning and talking to diplomats in the presence of reporters, that he could well see elections take place sometime next year.
Let's listen to how he said that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BREMER, U.S. IRAQI ADMINISTRATOR: The question is: How long will it take them to write a constitution and have it approved by the Iraqi people? But it is certainly not unrealistic to think that we could have elections by mid-year 2004.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRAHIMI: Now, what he said regarding the constitution is something that also depends on how fast the Governing Council that U.S. authorities here have picked is going to be able to work on that constitution. There are 25 members in that Governing Council.
And yesterday, they announced a rotating presidency among nine of those members. The first one to take up the role of president of the council is Ibrahim al Jafari. He's from the Islamic Da'Wah Party.
And, of course, their role will be in part not only to name ministers, but also to write out that constitution. But they have a lot of work to do, because they still need to be seen as representative, not only by the Iraqi people, but also by the international community that says it does need an interlocutor, an Iraqi interlocutor here, to be able to help with the reconstruction of Iraq -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi 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.
Aired July 31, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Eerie calm has given way to violence. It had been three days since American troops were attacked, but it has happened again. One soldier dead this morning, two more wounded.
Live to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi.
What happened -- Rym?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, one soldier -- U.S. soldier from the 4th Infantry Division fell under small-arms fire. He was in a convoy. Two other of his colleagues were -- two other of his colleagues were wounded, as well as four Iraqis that were at the scene.
Now, it happened last night, in fact. And it happened not far from the town of Ba'qubah, northeast of the Iraqi capital. And that's a place where, if you remember, a few days ago two U.S. soldiers were killed in a grenade attack, as they were guarding a children's hospital.
Now, we've also just heard word, Carol, of another attack against U.S. soldiers that would have taken place on the highway to the airport from Baghdad, and that's a very dangerous highway. There are very often attacks there. So, we'll be updating you on that, as we get the news from there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: And, Rym, there is some better news coming out of Iraq this morning. Tell us what Paul Bremer had to say this morning.
BRAHIMI: Well, Bremer is indeed shedding an optimistic light, if you will, on the whole political process of this country, which is one of the main things that he says once that's achieved, well, the U.S. will be able to leave Iraq. He said, touring the foreign ministry this morning and talking to diplomats in the presence of reporters, that he could well see elections take place sometime next year.
Let's listen to how he said that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PAUL BREMER, U.S. IRAQI ADMINISTRATOR: The question is: How long will it take them to write a constitution and have it approved by the Iraqi people? But it is certainly not unrealistic to think that we could have elections by mid-year 2004.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRAHIMI: Now, what he said regarding the constitution is something that also depends on how fast the Governing Council that U.S. authorities here have picked is going to be able to work on that constitution. There are 25 members in that Governing Council.
And yesterday, they announced a rotating presidency among nine of those members. The first one to take up the role of president of the council is Ibrahim al Jafari. He's from the Islamic Da'Wah Party.
And, of course, their role will be in part not only to name ministers, but also to write out that constitution. But they have a lot of work to do, because they still need to be seen as representative, not only by the Iraqi people, but also by the international community that says it does need an interlocutor, an Iraqi interlocutor here, to be able to help with the reconstruction of Iraq -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi 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.
