Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
U.S. Soldier Killed by Explosion in Baghdad
Aired November 04, 2003 - 10:02 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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yet another U.S. soldier has died while serving the mission in Iraq. Coalition officials say it happened when a homemade bomb exploded in the Baghdad area.
Our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf is in the capital with the latest.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, there are more setbacks today as well to efforts to reconstruct and stabilize this country, a series of assassinations.
Now in one of them, a senior judge in the holly city of Najef, the Shia city, was kidnapped and killed, according to residents and people with him. He was actually the head of a committee that had been appointed to investigate past crimes by members of Saddam Hussein's regime.
And in Mosul to the north, another judge killed. Now, he was a Christian judge who was killed in this multiethnic city that's been relatively calm since the end of the war.
And in Karbala, another holy Shia city to the south, a car bomb exploded overnight. That one outside a hotel next to a mosque, which had been taken over by a radical Shia cleric.
Now, U.S. troops had raided that mosque just a few weeks ago. Essentially expelling followers of Maktada Asutur (ph), but a car bomb out there exploded. Witnesses say three Iraqis were killed.
And in yet another setback, the Spanish government says it is withdrawing some of its diplomats, as well as civilians working for the coalition authority and in other capacities in this country. That move, of course, follows a waive of suicide bombings and other attacks. They are being withdrawn for consultations, but it's not sure how many will return -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And what impact is that withdrawal by Spain supposed to have there in Baghdad -- Jane,
ARRAF: Well, certainly every time something like this happens, it's another indication that more people seem to be leaving this country than coming in. And the suicide bombings, the mortar attacks, the rocket attack against the main coalition hotel, they have all created a climate where it is extremely difficult for governments and companies to figure out how to keep their people safe here.
Now, Spain has been one of the countries that has been here the longest. It came in here and established a diplomatic presence again after the '91 Gulf War, when other countries didn't. But it also has had one of the diplomats assassinated as well, here in Baghdad. And that certainly had an impact on it. The pull-out of these diplomats will have an impact on other countries presumably, re-examining what they are going to do -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Jane Arraf in Baghdad. Jane, thank you for that report.
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 November 4, 2003 - 10:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yet another U.S. soldier has died while serving the mission in Iraq. Coalition officials say it happened when a homemade bomb exploded in the Baghdad area.
Our Baghdad bureau chief Jane Arraf is in the capital with the latest.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Daryn, there are more setbacks today as well to efforts to reconstruct and stabilize this country, a series of assassinations.
Now in one of them, a senior judge in the holly city of Najef, the Shia city, was kidnapped and killed, according to residents and people with him. He was actually the head of a committee that had been appointed to investigate past crimes by members of Saddam Hussein's regime.
And in Mosul to the north, another judge killed. Now, he was a Christian judge who was killed in this multiethnic city that's been relatively calm since the end of the war.
And in Karbala, another holy Shia city to the south, a car bomb exploded overnight. That one outside a hotel next to a mosque, which had been taken over by a radical Shia cleric.
Now, U.S. troops had raided that mosque just a few weeks ago. Essentially expelling followers of Maktada Asutur (ph), but a car bomb out there exploded. Witnesses say three Iraqis were killed.
And in yet another setback, the Spanish government says it is withdrawing some of its diplomats, as well as civilians working for the coalition authority and in other capacities in this country. That move, of course, follows a waive of suicide bombings and other attacks. They are being withdrawn for consultations, but it's not sure how many will return -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And what impact is that withdrawal by Spain supposed to have there in Baghdad -- Jane,
ARRAF: Well, certainly every time something like this happens, it's another indication that more people seem to be leaving this country than coming in. And the suicide bombings, the mortar attacks, the rocket attack against the main coalition hotel, they have all created a climate where it is extremely difficult for governments and companies to figure out how to keep their people safe here.
Now, Spain has been one of the countries that has been here the longest. It came in here and established a diplomatic presence again after the '91 Gulf War, when other countries didn't. But it also has had one of the diplomats assassinated as well, here in Baghdad. And that certainly had an impact on it. The pull-out of these diplomats will have an impact on other countries presumably, re-examining what they are going to do -- Daryn.
KAGAN: Jane Arraf in Baghdad. Jane, thank you for that report.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
