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Explosion in Shi'a Holy City Leaves Dozens Dead, Unknown Numbers Injured

Aired August 29, 2003 - 11:01   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Carnage in Iraq's holy city of Najaf. A tremendous car bomb exploded today outside of one of the Shi'a Islam's most revered shrines. A prominent Shi'ite clerk is among the dead which numbers so far is at 17 this hour.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is joining us on the telephone from Najaf with the very latest -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, I'm in the main hospital in Najaf where there's a huge crowd of people very anxious outside waiting to be told the names of the dead. And those names are at this point are very many. According to two people I spoke with at the hospital, it looks like at least 95 dead, at this hospital alone. And there's several other hospitals where the dead and wounded have been sent. In fact one of my colleagues just came out and told me he saw rooms full of dead bodies. And just a moment ago I was watching as a man came by. His gallabe (ph), or his robe completely covered with blood.

Now just about an hour ago we tried to get to the site of the bomb itself, the Imam Ali Mosque. However the situation is so tense, there is so much anger here that we really were not in a safe position to go anywhere near it. Our car -- people were beating on the side of the car, cursing the United States, cursing just about every country you can think of as a matter of fact.

Now one of our cameramen who was able to go near the scene of the blast, Bathan Morhee (ph), our Iraqi cameraman, went there without a camera. And he told us that the southern side of the mosque has suffered severe damage. The facade partially destroy as well as buildings around it. He says there are still people digging through the ruins at the mosque because it is believed that there are still people or bodies inside the ruins.

He also told us that a satellite truck that had been -- a television satellite truck that had gone to the scene has been damaged by the crowd and some people inside the truck have been hurt as well -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Ben, Ahmad Chalabi, who is a, you know, a member of the U.S.-picked Iraqi Government Council, says it is his belief the same people who caused the death of the U.N. leader just over a week ago just might be responsible for this explosion as well.

Is there any sense of that or any semblance of what officials are saying there on the ground there in Najaf? WEDEMAN: At this point it really is unclear. Najaf has been the scene of disturbances lately. I was here last weekend when there was an attempted -- an apparent assassination attempt against one of the main clerical leaders here.

Nobody knows at this point who could be behind the bombing. It is not a targeted attempt at assassination. Obviously this is something that certainly could be put into the category of terrorist bombing. A huge number of people, it's still not clear, were killed. This was aimed not only at of course Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, but also to terrorize the population of the city -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ben Wedeman, for that live report, thank you very much.

Along with some disturbing images coming out of Najaf there. Some of that tape being unedited, and apologize for any offense to some of those graphic images.

Of course, we're going to keep up to date on this investigation out of Najaf. I think -- are we still going to try to go to Baghdad here? All right. In Baghdad now for reaction there, about 100 miles away with our Walter Rodgers on what kind of reaction is coming from this very huge explosion in a very holy city -- Walter.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I think the most important reaction is the anger that my colleague Ben Wedeman is reporting down there in that Shi'ite strong hold.

The most important thing to remember is that this is a devastating blow to the United States efforts to persuade the Iraqi people that they should have confidence in the American ability to restore order and stability to this country.

Indeed there are people now whispering this could be the beginning of a slide towards a civil war in Iraq. One of our drivers was reporting that he had seen a convoy of some 300 Shi'as from the Batar Battalion, the Batar Brigade, a Shi'a military organization armed to the teeth, driving towards Najaf from Baghdad. That does not bode well under any circumstances.

Now the Americans are responsible at least nominally for a few more days for the stability and security of Najaf, the Shi'ite holy city. And they have had to keep a low profile there because known wants to see a lot of Americans occupying the city.

But again, this does not bode well. Yesterday Ricardo Sanchez, lieutenant general in the United States Army, called on Iraqis to step forward and help the Americans with intelligence that will help them catch the perpetrators of the violence, the Iraqi guerrillas and so forth.

No one's going to step forward now. This is a nation of cowed and terrified people. They're not going to not stick their necks out for the Americans who -- in whom their confidence every day seems to be decreasing and dwindling -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Walter, thank you very much.

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




Numbers Injured>


Aired August 29, 2003 - 11:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Carnage in Iraq's holy city of Najaf. A tremendous car bomb exploded today outside of one of the Shi'a Islam's most revered shrines. A prominent Shi'ite clerk is among the dead which numbers so far is at 17 this hour.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is joining us on the telephone from Najaf with the very latest -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka, I'm in the main hospital in Najaf where there's a huge crowd of people very anxious outside waiting to be told the names of the dead. And those names are at this point are very many. According to two people I spoke with at the hospital, it looks like at least 95 dead, at this hospital alone. And there's several other hospitals where the dead and wounded have been sent. In fact one of my colleagues just came out and told me he saw rooms full of dead bodies. And just a moment ago I was watching as a man came by. His gallabe (ph), or his robe completely covered with blood.

Now just about an hour ago we tried to get to the site of the bomb itself, the Imam Ali Mosque. However the situation is so tense, there is so much anger here that we really were not in a safe position to go anywhere near it. Our car -- people were beating on the side of the car, cursing the United States, cursing just about every country you can think of as a matter of fact.

Now one of our cameramen who was able to go near the scene of the blast, Bathan Morhee (ph), our Iraqi cameraman, went there without a camera. And he told us that the southern side of the mosque has suffered severe damage. The facade partially destroy as well as buildings around it. He says there are still people digging through the ruins at the mosque because it is believed that there are still people or bodies inside the ruins.

He also told us that a satellite truck that had been -- a television satellite truck that had gone to the scene has been damaged by the crowd and some people inside the truck have been hurt as well -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And, Ben, Ahmad Chalabi, who is a, you know, a member of the U.S.-picked Iraqi Government Council, says it is his belief the same people who caused the death of the U.N. leader just over a week ago just might be responsible for this explosion as well.

Is there any sense of that or any semblance of what officials are saying there on the ground there in Najaf? WEDEMAN: At this point it really is unclear. Najaf has been the scene of disturbances lately. I was here last weekend when there was an attempted -- an apparent assassination attempt against one of the main clerical leaders here.

Nobody knows at this point who could be behind the bombing. It is not a targeted attempt at assassination. Obviously this is something that certainly could be put into the category of terrorist bombing. A huge number of people, it's still not clear, were killed. This was aimed not only at of course Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, but also to terrorize the population of the city -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ben Wedeman, for that live report, thank you very much.

Along with some disturbing images coming out of Najaf there. Some of that tape being unedited, and apologize for any offense to some of those graphic images.

Of course, we're going to keep up to date on this investigation out of Najaf. I think -- are we still going to try to go to Baghdad here? All right. In Baghdad now for reaction there, about 100 miles away with our Walter Rodgers on what kind of reaction is coming from this very huge explosion in a very holy city -- Walter.

WALTER RODGERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, I think the most important reaction is the anger that my colleague Ben Wedeman is reporting down there in that Shi'ite strong hold.

The most important thing to remember is that this is a devastating blow to the United States efforts to persuade the Iraqi people that they should have confidence in the American ability to restore order and stability to this country.

Indeed there are people now whispering this could be the beginning of a slide towards a civil war in Iraq. One of our drivers was reporting that he had seen a convoy of some 300 Shi'as from the Batar Battalion, the Batar Brigade, a Shi'a military organization armed to the teeth, driving towards Najaf from Baghdad. That does not bode well under any circumstances.

Now the Americans are responsible at least nominally for a few more days for the stability and security of Najaf, the Shi'ite holy city. And they have had to keep a low profile there because known wants to see a lot of Americans occupying the city.

But again, this does not bode well. Yesterday Ricardo Sanchez, lieutenant general in the United States Army, called on Iraqis to step forward and help the Americans with intelligence that will help them catch the perpetrators of the violence, the Iraqi guerrillas and so forth.

No one's going to step forward now. This is a nation of cowed and terrified people. They're not going to not stick their necks out for the Americans who -- in whom their confidence every day seems to be decreasing and dwindling -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right. Walter, thank you very much.

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




Numbers Injured>