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CNN Live At Daybreak
Violence in Baghdad After Jobseekers Rejected
Aired October 01, 2003 - 05:30 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: To Iraq now, chaos in the chronic pain this morning.
Our Harris Whitbeck joins us live from Baghdad with a strange story -- so, Harris, these guys were lined up to apply for jobs as police officers and then the shooting started?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Carol.
Most of the job seekers were either former military soldiers or former police officers. They say they had been promised jobs in the new Iraqi police force and when they showed up at a police station to what they thought would be the filling out of applications, they were told that there were no jobs to be had. Some of the protesters say that they were actually asked by the police officers for bribes. They said they'd have to pay about $100 if they hoped to get a job.
That, of course, angered the crowd. They started throwing stones at the police station. They also burned two vehicles, one of them parked inside the police station. When things seemed to be getting out of hand, police officers started firing into the air to try to disperse the crowds. Some reports indicate that police actually fired into the demonstrators. We did not see that. We were at the scene. We did see a lot of -- and hear a lot of gunfire as the crowds tried to disperse.
After the fire, the shooting stopped, fist fights broke out among the demonstrators. But the situation now is calm. There is, however, a sense that there is more, an increasing frustration among those who lost their jobs after the American occupation and have still not regained them. One man I spoke to said he has to feed 13 children and that he simply can't get by without having any work. He's been out of a job since last March -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, I was going to ask you, was this violence borne out of desperation or were these just not great candidates to become police officers?
WHITBECK: Well, at this point it's unclear whether the jobs were actually there to be had. Again, the demonstrators insist that they were being asked for bribes now, and we also know that most of the demonstrators were former soldiers or former police officers. A lot of those people, as you know, have to go through a quite rigorous screening process before they can be reinstated.
COSTELLO: All right, Harris Whitbeck reporting live from Baghdad for us this morning. 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 October 1, 2003 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: To Iraq now, chaos in the chronic pain this morning.
Our Harris Whitbeck joins us live from Baghdad with a strange story -- so, Harris, these guys were lined up to apply for jobs as police officers and then the shooting started?
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's correct, Carol.
Most of the job seekers were either former military soldiers or former police officers. They say they had been promised jobs in the new Iraqi police force and when they showed up at a police station to what they thought would be the filling out of applications, they were told that there were no jobs to be had. Some of the protesters say that they were actually asked by the police officers for bribes. They said they'd have to pay about $100 if they hoped to get a job.
That, of course, angered the crowd. They started throwing stones at the police station. They also burned two vehicles, one of them parked inside the police station. When things seemed to be getting out of hand, police officers started firing into the air to try to disperse the crowds. Some reports indicate that police actually fired into the demonstrators. We did not see that. We were at the scene. We did see a lot of -- and hear a lot of gunfire as the crowds tried to disperse.
After the fire, the shooting stopped, fist fights broke out among the demonstrators. But the situation now is calm. There is, however, a sense that there is more, an increasing frustration among those who lost their jobs after the American occupation and have still not regained them. One man I spoke to said he has to feed 13 children and that he simply can't get by without having any work. He's been out of a job since last March -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, I was going to ask you, was this violence borne out of desperation or were these just not great candidates to become police officers?
WHITBECK: Well, at this point it's unclear whether the jobs were actually there to be had. Again, the demonstrators insist that they were being asked for bribes now, and we also know that most of the demonstrators were former soldiers or former police officers. A lot of those people, as you know, have to go through a quite rigorous screening process before they can be reinstated.
COSTELLO: All right, Harris Whitbeck reporting live from Baghdad for us this morning. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
