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American Morning
New Saddam Hussein Audiotape Surfaces
Aired September 01, 2003 - 07:04 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.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq and audiotapes said to be from Saddam Hussein. The speaker on the tape denies involvement in the bombing on Friday at a mosque in Najaf. Portions of the tape were aired by Al-Jazeera.
Meanwhile, the FBI is joining the investigation of the car bombing. At least 83 people died in the blast, including a Shiite leader.
CNN's Rym Brahimi joins us from Baghdad with the latest on that.
Rym -- good morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Indeed, an eight-minute tape purportedly, again, the voice of Saddam Hussein. In fact, one of those tapes hadn't been aired. We hadn't heard from him or from whoever claims to be him in a while now, since early this month or late last month, in fact.
Now, he is apparently saying that -- he's referring to the bombing, totally distancing himself from it, saying that Saddam Hussein was not involved in that attack, but also saying that the occupying forces are actually launching accusations at Saddam Hussein without any proof.
The voice on the tape also goes on to say that Saddam Hussein is not just the leader of a minority of Iraq, but is the leader of all Iraqis -- Kurds, Shias, Sunnis, Muslims and non-Muslims that make up the whole of Iraq -- clearly trying to seize the opportunity there with the confusion that's taking place over the investigation to portray himself as the leader of all of the Iraqi people.
And the sign-off on the tape is actually Saddam Hussein, president of the Republic of Iraq.
Now, as I was mentioning, there is a lot of confusion still over this investigation in Najaf. We understand that now the FBI has been assisting the Iraqi police after a request by the governor of Najaf that this take place.
The governor of Najaf says five people are being held suspect, and they're all Iraqis belonging to the former Baath Party regime.
That said, some coalition sources are also telling CNN that two of the people are being detained, and they would be non-Iraqi Arabs. As you know, it's the second day of mourning, Soledad, for Shiite Muslims here in Iraq who have been following a procession since yesterday. It started in Baghdad. It's going on to the holy city of Karbala today. And then, tomorrow, it will be arriving in Najaf.
Back to you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you. CNN's Rym Brahimi for us from Baghdad. Rym, thanks.
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 September 1, 2003 - 07:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq and audiotapes said to be from Saddam Hussein. The speaker on the tape denies involvement in the bombing on Friday at a mosque in Najaf. Portions of the tape were aired by Al-Jazeera.
Meanwhile, the FBI is joining the investigation of the car bombing. At least 83 people died in the blast, including a Shiite leader.
CNN's Rym Brahimi joins us from Baghdad with the latest on that.
Rym -- good morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you, Soledad.
Indeed, an eight-minute tape purportedly, again, the voice of Saddam Hussein. In fact, one of those tapes hadn't been aired. We hadn't heard from him or from whoever claims to be him in a while now, since early this month or late last month, in fact.
Now, he is apparently saying that -- he's referring to the bombing, totally distancing himself from it, saying that Saddam Hussein was not involved in that attack, but also saying that the occupying forces are actually launching accusations at Saddam Hussein without any proof.
The voice on the tape also goes on to say that Saddam Hussein is not just the leader of a minority of Iraq, but is the leader of all Iraqis -- Kurds, Shias, Sunnis, Muslims and non-Muslims that make up the whole of Iraq -- clearly trying to seize the opportunity there with the confusion that's taking place over the investigation to portray himself as the leader of all of the Iraqi people.
And the sign-off on the tape is actually Saddam Hussein, president of the Republic of Iraq.
Now, as I was mentioning, there is a lot of confusion still over this investigation in Najaf. We understand that now the FBI has been assisting the Iraqi police after a request by the governor of Najaf that this take place.
The governor of Najaf says five people are being held suspect, and they're all Iraqis belonging to the former Baath Party regime.
That said, some coalition sources are also telling CNN that two of the people are being detained, and they would be non-Iraqi Arabs. As you know, it's the second day of mourning, Soledad, for Shiite Muslims here in Iraq who have been following a procession since yesterday. It started in Baghdad. It's going on to the holy city of Karbala today. And then, tomorrow, it will be arriving in Najaf.
Back to you -- Soledad.
O'BRIEN: All right, thank you. CNN's Rym Brahimi for us from Baghdad. Rym, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
