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American Morning
Ayatollah's Funeral in Najaf
Aired September 02, 2003 - 09:04 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's stay in Iraq right now, the southern part of the country in Najaf. Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims are mourning the loss of their influential leader, killed last Friday in a massive car bombing outside a mosque.
Ben Wedeman is watching the hundreds of thousands gather. He's live again in Najaf.
Ben -- good afternoon there.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, hello, Bill.
Well, most of those mourners have actually left town now. I was, just a few minutes ago, in the area around the Imam Ali mosque -- that being the site of the bombing on Friday that left 83 people dead. The streets are very calm now. It appears everybody has gone home.
But just a few hours ago, this city was the scene of a massive funeral march in the direction of that mosque. We saw tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people going by our hotel.
Also, they were carrying on the back of a -- or they were bringing through on the back of a truck the coffin of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the assassinated leader of the powerful and influential Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. However, that coffin did not contain his remains, because they have yet to be found, because of the sheer explosive power of the blast that killed him. All that has been found that belongs to him are a ring, a wristwatch and his turban.
Now, security was very high indeed here. There were lots of Iraqi police in the streets, many checkpoints on the road between here and Baghdad. Most of them seem to have been cleared away, but apparently at one of those checkpoints, the police were able to stop what they say was a car filled with explosives.
Now, also today here in Najaf, Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress, and he's also now the rotating chair for the coalition-appointed Governing Council, he came and gave a press conference in which he praised the late Ayatollah, saying that he was respected and loved by all Iraqis.
Now, regarding the investigation, he said that he was confident that the investigators would follow a trail that would eventually lead to Saddam Hussein, the Ba'ath Party and what he called foreign elements that had infiltrated into the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime -- Bill. HEMMER: Ben, on an American note here, what are the security requirements for the U.S. there today, given the attack of last Friday?
WEDEMAN: Well, Bill, the Americans in this city, a Shiite holy city where religious sensitivities are very acute, the Americans have always tried to keep a low profile, stay out of the middle of the city, certainly go nowhere near the Imam Ali mosque, which is one of Shiite Islam's most sacred sites. They have all along given the Iraqi security forces, the police, the lion's share of the responsibility for maintaining security here.
Now, obviously after Friday's bombing, there was a realization by both the Iraqis and the Americans that something has to be done to beef up security. So, from now on, there will be a permanent force of about 400 specially-trained Iraqi police, who will be responsible for the security in the immediate area around that mosque to prevent this sort of repetition -- Bill.
HEMMER: Still a developing story. Ben Wedeman, thanks, in Najaf.
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 2, 2003 - 09:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Let's stay in Iraq right now, the southern part of the country in Najaf. Hundreds of thousands of Shiite Muslims are mourning the loss of their influential leader, killed last Friday in a massive car bombing outside a mosque.
Ben Wedeman is watching the hundreds of thousands gather. He's live again in Najaf.
Ben -- good afternoon there.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, hello, Bill.
Well, most of those mourners have actually left town now. I was, just a few minutes ago, in the area around the Imam Ali mosque -- that being the site of the bombing on Friday that left 83 people dead. The streets are very calm now. It appears everybody has gone home.
But just a few hours ago, this city was the scene of a massive funeral march in the direction of that mosque. We saw tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of people going by our hotel.
Also, they were carrying on the back of a -- or they were bringing through on the back of a truck the coffin of Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, the assassinated leader of the powerful and influential Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq. However, that coffin did not contain his remains, because they have yet to be found, because of the sheer explosive power of the blast that killed him. All that has been found that belongs to him are a ring, a wristwatch and his turban.
Now, security was very high indeed here. There were lots of Iraqi police in the streets, many checkpoints on the road between here and Baghdad. Most of them seem to have been cleared away, but apparently at one of those checkpoints, the police were able to stop what they say was a car filled with explosives.
Now, also today here in Najaf, Ahmed Chalabi, the head of the Iraqi National Congress, and he's also now the rotating chair for the coalition-appointed Governing Council, he came and gave a press conference in which he praised the late Ayatollah, saying that he was respected and loved by all Iraqis.
Now, regarding the investigation, he said that he was confident that the investigators would follow a trail that would eventually lead to Saddam Hussein, the Ba'ath Party and what he called foreign elements that had infiltrated into the country since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime -- Bill. HEMMER: Ben, on an American note here, what are the security requirements for the U.S. there today, given the attack of last Friday?
WEDEMAN: Well, Bill, the Americans in this city, a Shiite holy city where religious sensitivities are very acute, the Americans have always tried to keep a low profile, stay out of the middle of the city, certainly go nowhere near the Imam Ali mosque, which is one of Shiite Islam's most sacred sites. They have all along given the Iraqi security forces, the police, the lion's share of the responsibility for maintaining security here.
Now, obviously after Friday's bombing, there was a realization by both the Iraqis and the Americans that something has to be done to beef up security. So, from now on, there will be a permanent force of about 400 specially-trained Iraqi police, who will be responsible for the security in the immediate area around that mosque to prevent this sort of repetition -- Bill.
HEMMER: Still a developing story. Ben Wedeman, thanks, in Najaf.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
