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Tikrit Raid Nets Two Saddam Loyalists

Aired August 01, 2003 - 11:07   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We need to move on to a developing story, and that is as we go back to Iraq to the city of Tikrit. We're getting news of a raid on two different houses. Our Harris Whitbeck is in Tikrit and joins us now by phone. Harris, what do you know?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. The raid occurred around 4:00 in the afternoon here. That's about three hours ago. Two houses were raided in Tikrit by soldiers from the Army's 4th Infantry Division. They were support from the air by Apache Attack helicopters.

We are able to witness the aerial portion of that raid from our location which is one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces being used by the 4th I.D. as its headquarters.

Again, apparently there were two Saddam loyalists who were detained during that raid and they are being processed now to see if they have information that might lead the U.S. forces here on the ground to Saddam Hussein himself.

One of the working hypotheses as to where he might be is that he would in fact be in Tikrit or this area, since this is his tribal homeland, and this considered to be a pocket of support for the former Iraqi dictator -- Daryn.

KAGAN: But there's no indication that this particular raid would have actually led to the capture of Saddam Hussein?

WHITBECK: Well it's really hard to say. Again it occurred just a few hours ago and while two Saddam loyalists were detained, it's still too early to say whether or not this might lead to the -- to where Saddam Hussein might be.

I can tell you that intelligence officers here on the ground say all of these raids usually provide tidbits of information that help them to piece together a puzzle that they hope and think will eventually lead to Saddam Hussein himself.

But as far as this particular raid is concerned, it's still not known whether it might yield valuable information.

KAGAN: OK, and of course this coming just about a week after his two sons Uday and Qusay were captured and killed in a raid. As the U.S. government is saying that the noose is tightening around Saddam Hussein and as they get ever closer to trying to capture the former Iraqi leader.

Harris Whitbeck, in Tikrit, thank you. We'll let you go to get more information on today's raid.

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 August 1, 2003 - 11:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We need to move on to a developing story, and that is as we go back to Iraq to the city of Tikrit. We're getting news of a raid on two different houses. Our Harris Whitbeck is in Tikrit and joins us now by phone. Harris, what do you know?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Daryn. The raid occurred around 4:00 in the afternoon here. That's about three hours ago. Two houses were raided in Tikrit by soldiers from the Army's 4th Infantry Division. They were support from the air by Apache Attack helicopters.

We are able to witness the aerial portion of that raid from our location which is one of Saddam Hussein's former palaces being used by the 4th I.D. as its headquarters.

Again, apparently there were two Saddam loyalists who were detained during that raid and they are being processed now to see if they have information that might lead the U.S. forces here on the ground to Saddam Hussein himself.

One of the working hypotheses as to where he might be is that he would in fact be in Tikrit or this area, since this is his tribal homeland, and this considered to be a pocket of support for the former Iraqi dictator -- Daryn.

KAGAN: But there's no indication that this particular raid would have actually led to the capture of Saddam Hussein?

WHITBECK: Well it's really hard to say. Again it occurred just a few hours ago and while two Saddam loyalists were detained, it's still too early to say whether or not this might lead to the -- to where Saddam Hussein might be.

I can tell you that intelligence officers here on the ground say all of these raids usually provide tidbits of information that help them to piece together a puzzle that they hope and think will eventually lead to Saddam Hussein himself.

But as far as this particular raid is concerned, it's still not known whether it might yield valuable information.

KAGAN: OK, and of course this coming just about a week after his two sons Uday and Qusay were captured and killed in a raid. As the U.S. government is saying that the noose is tightening around Saddam Hussein and as they get ever closer to trying to capture the former Iraqi leader.

Harris Whitbeck, in Tikrit, thank you. We'll let you go to get more information on today's raid.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com