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CNN Live Sunday
Mourners Take Part in Memorial in Iraq
Aired August 31, 2003 - 10:00 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A show of respect and sorrow for a Shia Muslim cleric killed in Friday's mosque attack in Najaf. Throngs of mourners took part in a symbolic funeral observance.
CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad now with the very latest -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, it's a very symbolic funeral for the death of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, a religious and political leader who was killed in the blast in the holy city of Najaf on Friday, along with 100 other people. Now the march included up to 6,000 people. It started off in Baghdad, in the neighborhood of Kadamiya (ph), near another mosque that's also a holy shrine to Muslims.
It also included a lot of women. Hundreds of women were there, which is exceptional, Heidi, because normally in this very traditional society women would not be seen marching at a funeral procession alongside men. It also goes to show you the extent of how this has been felt among the Shiite community.
It's the mourning of this person who was a religious leader, but not only for what he represented as the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, it's also a manifestation of anger at an act of violence the Shiite community here very much sees as an act of violence directed against them. It took place in the holy city of Najaf on Friday at one of the holiest sites for Shiite Muslims -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Rym, just wondering a little bit more about the mood there. We see the pictures and it seems to be relatively calm. What are you noticing right where you are there on the ground?
BRAHIMI: Definitely it seemed to be relatively calm. It was on the whole a relatively peaceful demonstration, considering what's at stake here. But there was a lot of police, very tight security, a lot of Iraqi police, and also (UNINTELLIGIBLE) brigades. Now this is a militia that's the armed wing of the political party that the late Ayatollah who died in the blast was leading. They were very present as well.
But on the whole, the mood is relatively tense. A lot of apprehension as to what the future holds now, a lot of the chance reflected not only religious mourning and reflecting the loss of a leader for some, but also reflected a lot of anger, some of them even shouting for vengeance -- Heidi.
COLLINS: CNN Rym Brahimi coming to us this morning live from Baghdad. Rym, thanks so much.
No one has claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing on Friday, but authorities have taken at least a dozen people into custody now for questioning. They are following leads that al Qaeda terrorist network may somehow be involved. CNN's Ben Wedeman is keeping an eye on these developments in the investigation from Najaf. Hi, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. Hello, Heidi. Well, that investigation is ongoing and it's difficult at this point to nail down precise details given that the U.S. forces apparently have a hand in the investigation, as well as the Iraqi police.
Now I spoke to one coalition officer related to the investigation who told me, as far as he knows, there are only two people who have been detained. He described them as non-Iraqi Arabs, but Iraqi police sources are saying that they have several people in custody, including Saudi, Pakistani, Palestinians and Iranians as well. And they have made the claim that these individuals, the Iraqis -- the Iraqi forces, that is -- have claimed that these people have connections with Osama Bin Laden's al Qaeda network. But really, there's been no independent confirmation of that.
Now, since Friday, there have been large crowds outside the Imam Ali mosque, where that attack took place on Friday right after Friday prayers. At this point, the death toll stands at somewhere above 100. And according to one senior clerical official we spoke to, the wounded stands at somewhere above 500.
Now this city is relatively calm today; however, there have been a variety of incidents that do raise concern about the stability of Najaf. We are hearing reports of a clash between two competing Shiite militias linked to prominent clerics. There's also a report which we have confirmed that there was an incident where a man was driving to the hospital with his mother who needed to deliver, he was driving very fast late at night at about 1:30 a.m. next to the house of a prominent cleric.
His guards thought that this was an attack. They opened fire on the car. Also threw grenades, killing the driver and the woman who was supposed to deliver. So that gives you an idea of really how nervous people are, how very unstable they -- the situation is, and how very quickly things can fall to pieces -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Ben, just curious, now as far as the investigation goes, I understand that the coalition authorities have not been involved and will not be involved in that investigation?
WEDEMAN: No, no. They apparently do have a role. It's not clear exactly what role.
We have heard that a forensic team may come to the bomb site to see what there is to see. The problem with that is, of course, that immediately after the bombing, that area where the bombing took place filled with thousands of people, and probably most of the evidence that would have been of any use to the investigators has long ago been trampled upon.
We do understand also that plans are being accelerated to put into place 400 Iraqi police to be permanently based around the shrine of the Imam Ali in order to maintain security there. We also know that the U.S. forces and the Iraqi police have set up an emergency operations room to deal with what is expected to be a crowd of several hundred thousand who will come here for the funeral of the late Ayatollah on Tuesday -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Ben Wedeman, thanks so much for the clarification live from Najaf today.
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 31, 2003 - 10:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: A show of respect and sorrow for a Shia Muslim cleric killed in Friday's mosque attack in Najaf. Throngs of mourners took part in a symbolic funeral observance.
CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad now with the very latest -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, it's a very symbolic funeral for the death of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, a religious and political leader who was killed in the blast in the holy city of Najaf on Friday, along with 100 other people. Now the march included up to 6,000 people. It started off in Baghdad, in the neighborhood of Kadamiya (ph), near another mosque that's also a holy shrine to Muslims.
It also included a lot of women. Hundreds of women were there, which is exceptional, Heidi, because normally in this very traditional society women would not be seen marching at a funeral procession alongside men. It also goes to show you the extent of how this has been felt among the Shiite community.
It's the mourning of this person who was a religious leader, but not only for what he represented as the head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, it's also a manifestation of anger at an act of violence the Shiite community here very much sees as an act of violence directed against them. It took place in the holy city of Najaf on Friday at one of the holiest sites for Shiite Muslims -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Rym, just wondering a little bit more about the mood there. We see the pictures and it seems to be relatively calm. What are you noticing right where you are there on the ground?
BRAHIMI: Definitely it seemed to be relatively calm. It was on the whole a relatively peaceful demonstration, considering what's at stake here. But there was a lot of police, very tight security, a lot of Iraqi police, and also (UNINTELLIGIBLE) brigades. Now this is a militia that's the armed wing of the political party that the late Ayatollah who died in the blast was leading. They were very present as well.
But on the whole, the mood is relatively tense. A lot of apprehension as to what the future holds now, a lot of the chance reflected not only religious mourning and reflecting the loss of a leader for some, but also reflected a lot of anger, some of them even shouting for vengeance -- Heidi.
COLLINS: CNN Rym Brahimi coming to us this morning live from Baghdad. Rym, thanks so much.
No one has claimed responsibility for the mosque bombing on Friday, but authorities have taken at least a dozen people into custody now for questioning. They are following leads that al Qaeda terrorist network may somehow be involved. CNN's Ben Wedeman is keeping an eye on these developments in the investigation from Najaf. Hi, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. Hello, Heidi. Well, that investigation is ongoing and it's difficult at this point to nail down precise details given that the U.S. forces apparently have a hand in the investigation, as well as the Iraqi police.
Now I spoke to one coalition officer related to the investigation who told me, as far as he knows, there are only two people who have been detained. He described them as non-Iraqi Arabs, but Iraqi police sources are saying that they have several people in custody, including Saudi, Pakistani, Palestinians and Iranians as well. And they have made the claim that these individuals, the Iraqis -- the Iraqi forces, that is -- have claimed that these people have connections with Osama Bin Laden's al Qaeda network. But really, there's been no independent confirmation of that.
Now, since Friday, there have been large crowds outside the Imam Ali mosque, where that attack took place on Friday right after Friday prayers. At this point, the death toll stands at somewhere above 100. And according to one senior clerical official we spoke to, the wounded stands at somewhere above 500.
Now this city is relatively calm today; however, there have been a variety of incidents that do raise concern about the stability of Najaf. We are hearing reports of a clash between two competing Shiite militias linked to prominent clerics. There's also a report which we have confirmed that there was an incident where a man was driving to the hospital with his mother who needed to deliver, he was driving very fast late at night at about 1:30 a.m. next to the house of a prominent cleric.
His guards thought that this was an attack. They opened fire on the car. Also threw grenades, killing the driver and the woman who was supposed to deliver. So that gives you an idea of really how nervous people are, how very unstable they -- the situation is, and how very quickly things can fall to pieces -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Ben, just curious, now as far as the investigation goes, I understand that the coalition authorities have not been involved and will not be involved in that investigation?
WEDEMAN: No, no. They apparently do have a role. It's not clear exactly what role.
We have heard that a forensic team may come to the bomb site to see what there is to see. The problem with that is, of course, that immediately after the bombing, that area where the bombing took place filled with thousands of people, and probably most of the evidence that would have been of any use to the investigators has long ago been trampled upon.
We do understand also that plans are being accelerated to put into place 400 Iraqi police to be permanently based around the shrine of the Imam Ali in order to maintain security there. We also know that the U.S. forces and the Iraqi police have set up an emergency operations room to deal with what is expected to be a crowd of several hundred thousand who will come here for the funeral of the late Ayatollah on Tuesday -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right. Ben Wedeman, thanks so much for the clarification live from Najaf today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
