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CNN Live Today
U.S. Official: U.N. Attack May Have Been Inside Job
Aired August 22, 2003 - 13:22 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's sad to report this morning that Central Command is also reporting two new U.S. casualties in Iraq today. At the same time, the investigation into the attack on U.N. offices in Baghdad this week is now taking an alarming turn.
CNN's Rym Brahimi is on duty in Baghdad with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The airport here in Baghdad was the scene of a memorial service commemorating Sergio Vieira de Mello, who died when a bomb hit the United Nations compound in Baghdad on Tuesday. Sergio Vieira de Mello will also be remembered with a few other his colleagues, including his chief of staff, Nadia Eunice (ph), a very important member of their team here and also a very successful Egyptian woman who added a lot of dynamism to all of the departments she's worked in at the United Nations.
Their bodies, along with the bodies of a few other U.N. workers, are to be flown out of Iraq today.
The investigation, meanwhile, continues at the site of the attack. The Iraqi police, we are told, is leading the investigation with the assistance of the FBI. Bernard Kerik, who is the main advisor at the Interior Ministry here in Iraq, has told CNN that there will be some focus on local Iraqi staff that worked at the United Nations. The reason being it seems that some of them may have been suspected of working previously to the latest war here in Iraq with the Iraqi regime and with the Iraqi secret service. It's not clear whether Sergio Vieira de Mello's office was specifically targeted, but Bernard Kerik said that whoever carried out the attack definitely knew where that office was and at what time Sergio Vieira de Mello would be in there.
The U.N. security coordinator is on his way to Baghdad. He is expected in the Iraqi capital within the next few days. The United Nations staff here that hasn't been evacuated remains determined to continue their work. Operations resume on Saturday.
Rym Brahimi, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 22, 2003 - 13:22 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: It's sad to report this morning that Central Command is also reporting two new U.S. casualties in Iraq today. At the same time, the investigation into the attack on U.N. offices in Baghdad this week is now taking an alarming turn.
CNN's Rym Brahimi is on duty in Baghdad with more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The airport here in Baghdad was the scene of a memorial service commemorating Sergio Vieira de Mello, who died when a bomb hit the United Nations compound in Baghdad on Tuesday. Sergio Vieira de Mello will also be remembered with a few other his colleagues, including his chief of staff, Nadia Eunice (ph), a very important member of their team here and also a very successful Egyptian woman who added a lot of dynamism to all of the departments she's worked in at the United Nations.
Their bodies, along with the bodies of a few other U.N. workers, are to be flown out of Iraq today.
The investigation, meanwhile, continues at the site of the attack. The Iraqi police, we are told, is leading the investigation with the assistance of the FBI. Bernard Kerik, who is the main advisor at the Interior Ministry here in Iraq, has told CNN that there will be some focus on local Iraqi staff that worked at the United Nations. The reason being it seems that some of them may have been suspected of working previously to the latest war here in Iraq with the Iraqi regime and with the Iraqi secret service. It's not clear whether Sergio Vieira de Mello's office was specifically targeted, but Bernard Kerik said that whoever carried out the attack definitely knew where that office was and at what time Sergio Vieira de Mello would be in there.
The U.N. security coordinator is on his way to Baghdad. He is expected in the Iraqi capital within the next few days. The United Nations staff here that hasn't been evacuated remains determined to continue their work. Operations resume on Saturday.
Rym Brahimi, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
