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U.S. Kills 11 Insurgents in Iraq

Aired December 16, 2003 - 06:01   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: Iraq is the focus at the United Nations Security Council today. The American timetable for a handover of power to a provisional government will be discussed. The suggested timetable includes an agreement to restore authority to Iraqis by next June. It also calls for general elections in 2005, for a constitutional convention and later for a permanent government.
Having said all of that, another attack to tell you about. This time, insurgents release a flock of pigeons to signal an American convoy coming into their view. Then, they opened fire. It didn't work, though. U.S. forces driving into Samarra beat back the insurgents, killing 11 of them.

We take you 60 miles south now to Baghdad for more. Our bureau chief, Jane Arraf, is there.

Hello -- Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Soledad (sic).

Well, those attacks certainly are getting more diverse. And as you mentioned that one involving pigeons in Samarra, a place where there had been a major ambush not long ago, in which U.S. forces say they killed dozens. In this one, they say the attempted attackers used those pigeons to try to signal each other, and then used schoolchildren leaving school as a cover. They say they foiled the ambush, killing about 11 Iraqis.

Now, there has been scattered unrest in various cities and neighborhoods that had been traditionally pro-Saddam following his capture. In Ramadi west of Baghdad, pro-Saddam demonstrators turned out, trying to overrun the governor's office and other places associated with the U.S. or backed by the U.S. Forces there -- military forces say one U.S. soldier was wounded. They opened fire, killing two.

And in Fallujah, a similar event last night. Pro-Saddam demonstrators came out on news that the man they captured really wasn't Saddam. It was a fake. They were celebrating with gunfire and started looting shops, as well as trying to attack the governor's office in that town. This morning, debris all over from the damage left behind -- Soledad (sic).

COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sorry, this is Carol Costello, Jane. I know you've been up a long time.

ARRAF: I'm so sorry. COSTELLO: And I know how tired you must be. You've been doing a tremendous job there.

You know, I just wondered when that was going to come out, because we all know that Saddam had many body doubles. But it is certain that U.S. forces have Saddam Hussein himself in custody, right?

ARRAF: It seems pretty categorically. And, you know, it hasn't been thought that a lot of people really wouldn’t believe it, because they didn't believe that Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, were really Saddam's sons. But that was likely because they were killed in a huge gunfight.

And at the end of it all people really saw were these two men dead, clearly who had suffered a terrible fight. Now, what they were seeing were moving pictures of Saddam. And although it was a very different one from the man they knew, a lot of people took that to show that -- indicate to them, at least, that, yes, this really was him. He really was gone -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jane Arraf 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 December 16, 2003 - 06:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq is the focus at the United Nations Security Council today. The American timetable for a handover of power to a provisional government will be discussed. The suggested timetable includes an agreement to restore authority to Iraqis by next June. It also calls for general elections in 2005, for a constitutional convention and later for a permanent government.
Having said all of that, another attack to tell you about. This time, insurgents release a flock of pigeons to signal an American convoy coming into their view. Then, they opened fire. It didn't work, though. U.S. forces driving into Samarra beat back the insurgents, killing 11 of them.

We take you 60 miles south now to Baghdad for more. Our bureau chief, Jane Arraf, is there.

Hello -- Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Hello, Soledad (sic).

Well, those attacks certainly are getting more diverse. And as you mentioned that one involving pigeons in Samarra, a place where there had been a major ambush not long ago, in which U.S. forces say they killed dozens. In this one, they say the attempted attackers used those pigeons to try to signal each other, and then used schoolchildren leaving school as a cover. They say they foiled the ambush, killing about 11 Iraqis.

Now, there has been scattered unrest in various cities and neighborhoods that had been traditionally pro-Saddam following his capture. In Ramadi west of Baghdad, pro-Saddam demonstrators turned out, trying to overrun the governor's office and other places associated with the U.S. or backed by the U.S. Forces there -- military forces say one U.S. soldier was wounded. They opened fire, killing two.

And in Fallujah, a similar event last night. Pro-Saddam demonstrators came out on news that the man they captured really wasn't Saddam. It was a fake. They were celebrating with gunfire and started looting shops, as well as trying to attack the governor's office in that town. This morning, debris all over from the damage left behind -- Soledad (sic).

COSTELLO: Oh, I'm sorry, this is Carol Costello, Jane. I know you've been up a long time.

ARRAF: I'm so sorry. COSTELLO: And I know how tired you must be. You've been doing a tremendous job there.

You know, I just wondered when that was going to come out, because we all know that Saddam had many body doubles. But it is certain that U.S. forces have Saddam Hussein himself in custody, right?

ARRAF: It seems pretty categorically. And, you know, it hasn't been thought that a lot of people really wouldn’t believe it, because they didn't believe that Saddam's sons, Uday and Qusay, were really Saddam's sons. But that was likely because they were killed in a huge gunfight.

And at the end of it all people really saw were these two men dead, clearly who had suffered a terrible fight. Now, what they were seeing were moving pictures of Saddam. And although it was a very different one from the man they knew, a lot of people took that to show that -- indicate to them, at least, that, yes, this really was him. He really was gone -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Jane Arraf 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.