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CNN Live At Daybreak

Middle East Conflict; Prisoner Abuse; Veteran's Voice; Attacks in Najaf

Aired May 03, 2004 - 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: Some of the pictures that set off a load of controversy, Iraqi prisoners allegedly abused by their U.S. guards. This hour we have new fallout for you.
It is Monday, May 3. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning, and welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining us.

Let me bring you up to date.

Former hostage Thomas Hamill arrives in Germany today. In fact, he is on a plane right now. It is the first leg of his trip home from Iraq. Hamill was recovered yesterday after escaping from his captors near Tikrit.

An Army, an American Army base in Najaf was hit by mortars overnight, no injuries. Military officials believe the attacks were carried out by the militia of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

There are no reports of damage yet from a strong 6.6 earthquake on Chile's coast. The epicenter is about 300 miles south-southeast of Santiago in an area populated with small towns. There are no major cities in this area.

A terrorist attack in Pakistan, three Chinese nationals are dead following a car bombing. Eleven other people were injured in that blast.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: To the Middle East now, Israeli soldiers arrest several suspected Hamas militants in raids throughout the West Bank early today. This follows an ambush in Gaza where Palestinian gunmen killed a pregnant woman and her four young daughters. It was the deadliest attack on Jewish settlers in Gaza in two years.

Israel struck back swiftly launching an airstrike on a radio station in Gaza run by the militant group Hamas. And Palestinian security sources say another Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinian militants riding in a car in Nablus.

Now this latest violence comes on the heels of Likud Party voters soundly rejecting Prime Minister Sharon's plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, a plan that was endorsed by President Bush.

CNN's Matthew Chance live in Jerusalem tells us more about this decision and how it affects the United States.

Good morning -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Carol.

An eventful 24 hours here in Israel, which is in the backdrop of all that violence that you mentioned, seen a humiliating defeat for the Israeli prime minister and his plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. About 60 percent of those who voted from his Likud Party in that party referendum whether to accept or to reject his disengagement plan actually came out and rejected it. A plan, which as you mentioned, he personally sold to U.S. President Bush when he was on his trip to Washington there last month, as well as staking a great deal of his own credibility on it both internationally and here in Israel.

Well after the result became apparent, Mr. Sharon said that he would respect the outcome, but he indicated that he might not yet be ready to drop his plans. Remember he is now in this very unique position as being an individual who has failed to secure the backing of his own political party, but at the same time, he is still the prime minister of a country, which, if you believe the opinion polls at least, strongly backs his ideas of pulling out of the Gaza Strip -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So what happens now -- Matthew?

CHANCE: Well the facts on the ground have stayed the same. The news that this disengagement plan, which, of course, was very unpopular amongst the settlers of the Gaza Strip, and there are about 7,500 of them living amongst 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza, that news was tempered by the fact that 5 Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip were gunned down and killed by Palestinian militants as the voting was under way. But you know these kind of events tend to harden attitudes. This act of violence has made many settlers feel that they are more determined to stay where they are. And in fact there have been scenes today of settlers in Gaza breaking ground on new settlement outposts in the Gaza Strip.

The attack also underlining for many people who are opposed to the presence of those settlements in the Gaza Strip just how untenable and how dangerous and how difficult to defend they really are -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Matthew Chance live in Jerusalem this morning.

We have new developments to tell you about in the Iraqi prison scandal. Just about an hour ago, we found out six Army officers have been reprimanded for alleged abuse of prisoners. And it doesn't appear to be over yet.

Live to Baghdad and Ben or to Baghdad and Ben Wedeman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The American military has issued six letters of reprimand and one letter of admonishment, which is considered somewhat lighter, to those involved in the abuse incidents of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Prison.

Now the United States spokesman here in Baghdad have consistently condemned this incident. They say there is a criminal investigation ongoing.

Today, Iraqi newspapers did publish for the first time on their front pages pictures of that alleged abuse. Those pictures likely to stir emotions against the United States even more.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And other former Iraqi prisoners are now coming forward with their own stories of alleged abuse.

Our senior international editor Eli Flournoy joins us now to tell us more about that.

So Iraqis are coming forward, it's former Iraqi prisoners, and telling more stories of abuse?

ELI FLOURNOY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: They are. They are coming out of the woodwork. We have got reports today, "Washington Post," "The Guardian" out of London, have detailed reports from people alleging that when they were prisoners in Abu Ghraib Prison they were abused, various different forms of abuse. And CNN itself, we're looking into many different stories. Ben Wedeman is going to be reporting later today on one such case of alleged abuse.

COSTELLO: And just to be fair, we don't really know if these Iraqi coming out of the woodwork are really telling the truth, do we?

FLOURNOY: Right, it is very difficult without physical evidence. Obviously these pictures that we have seen are, they are very graphic, it's obvious that there is some sort of abuse that took place. You can see them there. Clearly there is -- you know that is something that is not supposed to have gone on and it's clearly against the Geneva Convention. But these different reports of people coming with their own verbal reports without physical evidence or photographs or something, it's very difficult to sort out, but we are going through that process.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about some better news coming out of Iraq, Thomas Hamill, the former American captive, on a plane now on his way to Germany hopefully to meet his wife. FLOURNOY: Exactly. We are expecting his wife to come to Germany as well, for them to meet up for the first time since his -- since his hostage taking in Iraq. In Germany later, we're going to have Chris Burns live from Landstuhl, Germany doing some reporting out of there. And in fact, the soldiers who were involved in recovering Hamill in Iraq are expected to give a briefing a little bit later today out of Baghdad. So we're going to hear a firsthand account of how that went down and get a little bit more detail. I mean it sounds like a fascinating story.

COSTELLO: Well, and it is possible that Thomas Hamill himself will say something once he arrives in Germany.

FLOURNOY: It is possible. He is going to be going there for medical checkups. There were reports that he sustained a bullet wound that was untreated during his time in captivity. So they are going to have to check that out, although they are saying that he is in relatively good health.

COSTELLO: Eli Flournoy, thanks very much.

FLOURNOY: Thank you (ph).

COSTELLO: A war zone is no place for a reporter, especially not these days. The Committee to Protect Journalists says that right now Iraq is the most dangerous place to be a journalist. Twenty-five reporters have died in Iraq since the war began in March of last year. Cuba is the next dangerous place. Fidel Castro's crackdown on the press has left 29 journalists behind bars. Third most dangerous country, Zimbabwe.

In our continuing coverage of count down to handover in Iraq, we take a look at an American soldier back from a tour of duty over there and now he is marching to his own beat.

Our Alina Cho has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why speak out now about this?

PAUL RIECKHOFF, IRAQI WAR VETERAN: Because it's absolutely pivotal. Guy's lives are still in danger.

CHO (voice-over): And he should know, Lt. Paul Rieckhoff served for 10 months in Iraq, a platoon leader who is now leading a different fight.

RIECKHOFF: I want my fellow soldiers to come home safely.

CHO: Rieckhoff delivered the Democratic response to the president's weekly radio address Saturday, a rare example of a soldier speaking out publicly against the war.

(on camera): Why did you do it?

RIECKHOFF: It's a motivation to tell the truth. I don't feel like an accurate picture is being displayed.

CHO (voice-over): Rieckhoff was among the first soldiers to arrive after the fall of Baghdad, a 1st lieutenant in the 3rd Infantry Division in charge of 38 troops. He came home to New York in January.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended.

CHO: One year later, Rieckhoff accuses the Bush administration of not having a clear exit strategy less than two months before Iraqis are to retake control of their government.

RIECKHOFF: To assume we can get a functioning democracy to work in a year is preposterous.

CHO: Some have likened him to John Kerry post Vietnam.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We learned that this administration could turn its back on the men sent off to fight.

RIECKHOFF: I'm a private citizen expressing my own views. They happen to coincide, at times, with what the Democrats are saying as well.

CHO: Republicans say there is no place for that in politics.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I think it's important for us not to try to involve our men and women of the -- who are serving in the military no matter how strong their views are.

CHO: To that, Rieckhoff has a simple response.

RIECKHOFF: I'm an honest guy telling -- trying to tell the truth and I hope people see that.

CHO: Rieckhoff is now searching for other soldiers who share his views and says he wants to see how loud their voice can be.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: You know we have been talking about the price of milk a lot on DAYBREAK. Later, we'll tell you why changes in the diary industry are forcing you to pay even more for that gallon of milk.

Plus, amidst the violence in Iraq, a glimmer of hope, a former American hostage free. We'll have a live report for you in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

And how funeral after funeral of war dead is taking an emotional toll on the nation.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday, May 3.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: We want to head now to Najaf in Iraq, because earlier this morning, 18 mortars were fired at a U.S. base there. We understand that base is still under attack.

Our Jane Arraf is near that base -- on that base.

Jane, tell us where you are and what is happening now.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we are just at the entrance of this U.S. base in Najaf. Now we have just come through the gates. The street was deserted when the attack started. And what we have been hearing have been at least 10 mortar rounds. One of the mortars hit a hospital here. This hospital is unused. It's part of what used to be a university complex, but there is smoke rising from it.

We're just in front of one of the buildings with U.S. Army snipers on them, and they have started firing, as well, outgoing mortar to counter the mortar attacks. There has been RPG fire, that's rocket-propelled grenades, a lot of small arms fire.

Now this against the backdrop of a very busy night with about 12 rounds of -- 12 mortar rounds fired at this base. It seems that the Mehdi Army -- I don't know if you can hear those explosions, Carol, they sound like more mortar coming in. But this base is under attack by suspected members of the militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who has seized control of Najaf and Kufa -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Any damage to the base that you can see, any American injuries?

ARRAF: We haven't seen any injuries. Everyone, obviously, has sprung into action. The tanks are rolling out. They are firing back with mortar. And so far they have been very careful, very discrete. They operate in very selected areas here given the sensitivities of this holy city.

Now military commanders here have been asking their headquarters -- just a rocket-propelled grenade there -- have been asking their headquarters for more license to fire back, more license to go in deeper into the city. Still well away from those -- the areas of the holy shrines.

And, Carol, where it's just constant gunfire here, we have not seen any U.S. casualties, but there is a constant barrage of gunfire behind us. We are basically ringed by soldiers (INAUDIBLE) division tanks. Mortar guns that are firing. And there is the biggest battle going on here that we have seen in a week or so since we have been in this very volatile area -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jane, set the scene for us more, we're used to seeing pictures out of Fallujah where the insurgents were firing from in between buildings, on tops of buildings. They -- is that the same sort of thing that is happening now in Najaf? ARRAF: The situation in Najaf is perhaps even more volatile than Fallujah because essentially this base, it used to be the Spanish base, it is in the middle of Najaf. It is within Najaf city limits. It's well away from those holy shrines, which are the most sensitive areas. But essentially, the base here is surrounded by the city.

So when mortar attacks come in, as they do on a regular basis, it is very difficult for the Army to fire back. They risk hitting civilians, they risk enflaming the situation and turning it into even a more explosive situation than it is. And in the backdrop, we are hearing just constant small arms fire, heavy machine guns, the occasional rocket-propelled grenade and the mortaring certainly hasn't stopped.

That was just a huge boom just then. We're not seeing smoke rising from that one, so it's unclear where it hit. Someone is motioning to me that it is hitting over in the direction we are looking towards where there are tanks, soldiers at the ready. And certainly from where the attacks have come from previously, they have come from quite a lot of directions around this base. Again, we are in the middle of the city, which is why it makes it very difficult for the Army to fight back...

COSTELLO: You know, Jane, in just...

ARRAF: ... as strongly as it would want to.

COSTELLO: ... in just hearing this when you talk about at least 12 mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades being fired into the base there, that seems like that's a lot of firepower.

ARRAF: It sounds like a lot of firepower. The soldiers here pretty well take it in their stride. It's not as if they are fighting a regular army, although it is called the Mehdi Militia or the Mehdi Army in Arabic. It's not really an army. It's a band of perhaps several hundred people, maybe in the high hundreds, who are not terribly proficient of the weapons they are using.

The (INAUDIBLE) middle of the night and in the middle of the day, as in today, they don't often hit targets. It's not that easy to aim mortars to be able to hit targets at that distance. When they fire rocket-propelled grenades, a lot of the grenades don't go off, they don't explode. So it's not as if they are fighting a full-fledged, well-trained army.

COSTELLO: Jane, you're...

ARRAF: Don't know if you can hear that, Carol, that is a sniper on the roof just firing. Now when they fire just one shot, that is a warning shot. He is not firing a warning shot. He is definitely (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: Jane, you're going in and out.

ARRAF: Sorry, Carol, we're just watching a scene unfold where there were about a dozen snipers (INAUDIBLE). They are and they are ready and some of them are firing inside the limits of this base.

COSTELLO: Jane, when you talk about sniper fire, is it coming from the insurgents, is that what you are talking about or...

ARRAF: No, it's coming from the U.S. military. It is coming from this base. This is one of the various active ways that they combat the attacks against them. It is a very targeted way, obviously. It doesn't run the risk of a lot of civilian casualties or civilian damage. These people are obviously very good at what they do, the American snipers, and they are able to target quite precisely who they are aiming at, which is essentially what they have to do in a situation like this. It is (INAUDIBLE) the worst kind or (INAUDIBLE) one of the holiest Shi'a cities (INAUDIBLE)...

COSTELLO: Jane, you know that gunfire sounds very near you. Are you OK, Jane? Are you in a safe area?

ARRAF: We are in a safe area, Carol, relatively safe. As safe as you can be in -- as safe as you can be in Iraq right now. Iraq is pretty unpredictable. But we are actually next to glass barriers that are used to protect against (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We're just seeing tanks roll by, Carol. More tanks are going out there indicating that they are indeed going to put up a fight on their side, on the American side.

COSTELLO: Jane, last week you were telling us that they were playing around with the idea of having Iraqi generals also lead an Iraqi security force in Najaf. Has that begun? Is it going to begin?

ARRAF: It's a great idea. Everyone agrees it's a great idea. It's going to be quite strategic to get that off the ground. Here at this base they have started, they say, getting some of the people from the Iraqi defense forces who haven't shown up for work for the past couple of weeks due to the fighting, due to fear of the militia.

They are starting (INAUDIBLE) they tell us and (INAUDIBLE) 140 members of the (INAUDIBLE) come to these gates and said (INAUDIBLE) they wanted their jobs back. They wanted to be out there protecting the cities. Now this is not a huge number, but it is a start. Right now there isn't really any mechanism to bring them back.

One of the other problems, Carol, is that the army, when it seized (INAUDIBLE) Najaf and Kufa, seized control of the lead (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They stole in a lot of (INAUDIBLE) some uniforms and they are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) running around Najaf and Kufa in police cars with police uniforms pretending to be police. They are not (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: Jane, pause for just a moment. We'd like to welcome our viewers from CNN International and to bring our viewers up to date. There is a battle going on in Najaf, Iraq right now. At least 10 mortars fired, rocket-propelled grenades and American tanks leaving the U.S. base there and going out onto the streets. It seems like this is going to turn into a battle.

Let's head back to Jane Arraf to see what more she can tell us. Tell us the Army tanks are moving into the streets of Najaf. What does that mean -- Jane?

ARRAF: They are going to be well away from those holy sites. We have to emphasize that. They are not moving into the area of the shrine of the Imam Ali, which is where the Imam Ali was buried centuries ago, and is one of the holiest sites for Shi'a Muslims all over the world. There is a holy part of the city with holy shrines. That is the area they are steering well away from.

The U.S. military here has been incredibly careful. They have set up self-imposed limits on where they can move, where they can send their tanks, their soldiers, even their aircraft. And they not only stay well away from the holy sites in Najaf and most of the city of Kufa, which is where the Mehdi Army also has control, but they make -- they are very careful not to use major roads even. They want to make clear that they have a presence here but a non-controversial, non- inflammatory presence, if you will.

We were out just this morning, Carol, in quite an idyllic scene just on the outskirts of Kufa, which is farmland, date palms and farms, and people there were very friendly to the soldiers. They were talking to them about how they wanted peace and security back. But as we drove back into the city, into the heart of Najaf, it was a very different scene.

COSTELLO: And set the scene for our international viewers, Jane. You're at a U.S. Army base in Najaf and that U.S. Army base came under fire from mortars, from rocket-propelled grenades. At one point there were American snipers on the roofs trying to quell the violence outside of the walls of that base. Bring us up to date on the situation right now.

ARRAF: It's quieting down right now and it's active -- it's one of -- it's a situation where we had an incredible barrage of mortar fire, of gunfire, of rocket-propelled grenades. (INAUDIBLE). And I was going to say it has now gone deadly silent, except for that gunshot.

COSTELLO: And those gunshots are coming from American snipers on the roofs of that base?

ARRAF: That's apparently -- that's apparently a U.S. sniper. The sounds that these guns make when you are this close to them is absolutely deafening. And given -- even the birds have stopped signing. It sounds incredibly loud in the silence like this when you hear that sniper rifle break that silence.

COSTELLO: It sounds like fire from the insurgents has died down, though.

ARRAF: It has in the past couple of minutes, Carol. It's not just a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) start up again. But we are no longer hearing the mortar fire or the rocket-propelled grenades.

COSTELLO: And there is a suspicion, Jane, that this fire is coming from the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr?

ARRAF: Yes, absolutely. Those are the people who have been responsible for previous attacks and they are the people who are thought to be responsible for this attack as well.

We have to mention, Carol, that this U.S. Army base also houses the coalition headquarters. Now this is just a handful of people belonging to the civilian coalition who have kept a presence here even when this base has been under attack for the past two weeks and when it came under a very intense attack when this all started when the Mehdi Army seized control of Najaf and Kufa.

Now these people are still here and it's part of the reason that the U.S. is here as well. U.S. soldiers moved in here as the Spanish left. And the Spanish troops left, you'll remember, quite suddenly after being withdrawn by their government. So they moved in to prevent this base from remaining empty.

And they moved in to protect these civilian coalition people who are still here trying to show a presence on the civilian side, trying to get some sort of government back up in Najaf and trying to regain political control for Iraqis from this militia leader, not just the militia leader, but a radical Shi'a leader who has, at most, by all accounts, several hundred people but has managed to take control of two holy cities -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And you were mentioning the hardships of fighting this kind of fight because that base is literally in the middle of Najaf, it is within the city limits. And so those U.S. snipers are being very careful in what they fire upon.

ARRAF: Absolutely. Everybody is being careful what they fire upon. They realize that the worst possible (INAUDIBLE) they are in a very delicate and dangerous position would be if they actually fired and hit a significant number or even any civilians. If they were seen to be inside Najaf killing civilians this would -- this place would absolutely explode. That's why they have been showing a great deal of restraint.

Now that restraint may be loosened somewhat. It may end soon. Military commanders have been asking permission from their headquarters to loosen those constraints in the sense of allowing them to operate in areas other than the very strict areas they are operating in now in Najaf. As mentioned, they are sticking to exclusion zones, which mean that when they are fired upon, they can't necessarily fire back the way they would want to because it could risk enflaming the situation here to an extent that it just became impossible to handle.

COSTELLO: And bringing our viewers up to date, once again, gunfire being exchanged between U.S. Army personnel and insurgents within the city of Najaf in Iraq.

Jane, tell us again the firepower the insurgents are using against the American forces. COSTELLO: It's been a lot of mortars, Carol. It has been mainly mortar attacks and rocket-propelled grenades, as well as small arms fire. They are using a variety of types of guns. But the main irritant, if you will, to the forces here have been the mortars.

Now just last night in the middle of the night, and it was not an unusual night, there were something like three series of mortar rounds of four to six mortars each, according to military officials here. They create huge deafening noises. You are supposed to run for the bunker. The civilian coalition people are supposed to put on their flack jackets. They generally don't cause a lot of damage.

Last night one started a small fire and another one, it damaged an armored vehicle, but there were no casualties. There really haven't been casualties from these mortar attacks. But when they are firing mortars out on the street that is a whole different thing. And they have been attacking, as well, in areas where the soldiers are (INAUDIBLE) space.

This recent attack just a few minutes ago, one mortar is believed to have hit a hospital here. And the hospital is unused. It is inside the base and it's a pretty big target, which is possibly (INAUDIBLE) may have hit it. But it is rather unusual. Most of the time they don't cause a lot of damage. But it is an indication that there are potentially dangerous weapons out there and a force that is ready to keep fighting the U.S. military.

COSTELLO: And it sounds as if things have quieted down.

Jane, we're going to -- we're going to break away for just a second. You stay right there.

We'll take a break. We'll have more out of Najaf after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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Aired May 3, 2004 - 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: Some of the pictures that set off a load of controversy, Iraqi prisoners allegedly abused by their U.S. guards. This hour we have new fallout for you.
It is Monday, May 3. This is DAYBREAK.

And good morning, and welcome to the second half-hour of DAYBREAK. From the CNN Global Headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Carol Costello. Thank you for joining us.

Let me bring you up to date.

Former hostage Thomas Hamill arrives in Germany today. In fact, he is on a plane right now. It is the first leg of his trip home from Iraq. Hamill was recovered yesterday after escaping from his captors near Tikrit.

An Army, an American Army base in Najaf was hit by mortars overnight, no injuries. Military officials believe the attacks were carried out by the militia of cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

There are no reports of damage yet from a strong 6.6 earthquake on Chile's coast. The epicenter is about 300 miles south-southeast of Santiago in an area populated with small towns. There are no major cities in this area.

A terrorist attack in Pakistan, three Chinese nationals are dead following a car bombing. Eleven other people were injured in that blast.

To the Forecast Center now and Chad.

Good morning.

CHAD MYERS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Good morning, Carol.

(WEATHER REPORT)

COSTELLO: To the Middle East now, Israeli soldiers arrest several suspected Hamas militants in raids throughout the West Bank early today. This follows an ambush in Gaza where Palestinian gunmen killed a pregnant woman and her four young daughters. It was the deadliest attack on Jewish settlers in Gaza in two years.

Israel struck back swiftly launching an airstrike on a radio station in Gaza run by the militant group Hamas. And Palestinian security sources say another Israeli airstrike killed four Palestinian militants riding in a car in Nablus.

Now this latest violence comes on the heels of Likud Party voters soundly rejecting Prime Minister Sharon's plan to pull out of the Gaza Strip and parts of the West Bank, a plan that was endorsed by President Bush.

CNN's Matthew Chance live in Jerusalem tells us more about this decision and how it affects the United States.

Good morning -- Matthew.

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Carol.

An eventful 24 hours here in Israel, which is in the backdrop of all that violence that you mentioned, seen a humiliating defeat for the Israeli prime minister and his plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. About 60 percent of those who voted from his Likud Party in that party referendum whether to accept or to reject his disengagement plan actually came out and rejected it. A plan, which as you mentioned, he personally sold to U.S. President Bush when he was on his trip to Washington there last month, as well as staking a great deal of his own credibility on it both internationally and here in Israel.

Well after the result became apparent, Mr. Sharon said that he would respect the outcome, but he indicated that he might not yet be ready to drop his plans. Remember he is now in this very unique position as being an individual who has failed to secure the backing of his own political party, but at the same time, he is still the prime minister of a country, which, if you believe the opinion polls at least, strongly backs his ideas of pulling out of the Gaza Strip -- Carol.

COSTELLO: So what happens now -- Matthew?

CHANCE: Well the facts on the ground have stayed the same. The news that this disengagement plan, which, of course, was very unpopular amongst the settlers of the Gaza Strip, and there are about 7,500 of them living amongst 1.4 million Palestinians in Gaza, that news was tempered by the fact that 5 Jewish settlers in the Gaza Strip were gunned down and killed by Palestinian militants as the voting was under way. But you know these kind of events tend to harden attitudes. This act of violence has made many settlers feel that they are more determined to stay where they are. And in fact there have been scenes today of settlers in Gaza breaking ground on new settlement outposts in the Gaza Strip.

The attack also underlining for many people who are opposed to the presence of those settlements in the Gaza Strip just how untenable and how dangerous and how difficult to defend they really are -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Matthew Chance live in Jerusalem this morning.

We have new developments to tell you about in the Iraqi prison scandal. Just about an hour ago, we found out six Army officers have been reprimanded for alleged abuse of prisoners. And it doesn't appear to be over yet.

Live to Baghdad and Ben or to Baghdad and Ben Wedeman.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The American military has issued six letters of reprimand and one letter of admonishment, which is considered somewhat lighter, to those involved in the abuse incidents of Iraqi prisoners at the Abu Ghraib Prison.

Now the United States spokesman here in Baghdad have consistently condemned this incident. They say there is a criminal investigation ongoing.

Today, Iraqi newspapers did publish for the first time on their front pages pictures of that alleged abuse. Those pictures likely to stir emotions against the United States even more.

I'm Ben Wedeman, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: And other former Iraqi prisoners are now coming forward with their own stories of alleged abuse.

Our senior international editor Eli Flournoy joins us now to tell us more about that.

So Iraqis are coming forward, it's former Iraqi prisoners, and telling more stories of abuse?

ELI FLOURNOY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: They are. They are coming out of the woodwork. We have got reports today, "Washington Post," "The Guardian" out of London, have detailed reports from people alleging that when they were prisoners in Abu Ghraib Prison they were abused, various different forms of abuse. And CNN itself, we're looking into many different stories. Ben Wedeman is going to be reporting later today on one such case of alleged abuse.

COSTELLO: And just to be fair, we don't really know if these Iraqi coming out of the woodwork are really telling the truth, do we?

FLOURNOY: Right, it is very difficult without physical evidence. Obviously these pictures that we have seen are, they are very graphic, it's obvious that there is some sort of abuse that took place. You can see them there. Clearly there is -- you know that is something that is not supposed to have gone on and it's clearly against the Geneva Convention. But these different reports of people coming with their own verbal reports without physical evidence or photographs or something, it's very difficult to sort out, but we are going through that process.

COSTELLO: Let's talk about some better news coming out of Iraq, Thomas Hamill, the former American captive, on a plane now on his way to Germany hopefully to meet his wife. FLOURNOY: Exactly. We are expecting his wife to come to Germany as well, for them to meet up for the first time since his -- since his hostage taking in Iraq. In Germany later, we're going to have Chris Burns live from Landstuhl, Germany doing some reporting out of there. And in fact, the soldiers who were involved in recovering Hamill in Iraq are expected to give a briefing a little bit later today out of Baghdad. So we're going to hear a firsthand account of how that went down and get a little bit more detail. I mean it sounds like a fascinating story.

COSTELLO: Well, and it is possible that Thomas Hamill himself will say something once he arrives in Germany.

FLOURNOY: It is possible. He is going to be going there for medical checkups. There were reports that he sustained a bullet wound that was untreated during his time in captivity. So they are going to have to check that out, although they are saying that he is in relatively good health.

COSTELLO: Eli Flournoy, thanks very much.

FLOURNOY: Thank you (ph).

COSTELLO: A war zone is no place for a reporter, especially not these days. The Committee to Protect Journalists says that right now Iraq is the most dangerous place to be a journalist. Twenty-five reporters have died in Iraq since the war began in March of last year. Cuba is the next dangerous place. Fidel Castro's crackdown on the press has left 29 journalists behind bars. Third most dangerous country, Zimbabwe.

In our continuing coverage of count down to handover in Iraq, we take a look at an American soldier back from a tour of duty over there and now he is marching to his own beat.

Our Alina Cho has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALINA CHO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Why speak out now about this?

PAUL RIECKHOFF, IRAQI WAR VETERAN: Because it's absolutely pivotal. Guy's lives are still in danger.

CHO (voice-over): And he should know, Lt. Paul Rieckhoff served for 10 months in Iraq, a platoon leader who is now leading a different fight.

RIECKHOFF: I want my fellow soldiers to come home safely.

CHO: Rieckhoff delivered the Democratic response to the president's weekly radio address Saturday, a rare example of a soldier speaking out publicly against the war.

(on camera): Why did you do it?

RIECKHOFF: It's a motivation to tell the truth. I don't feel like an accurate picture is being displayed.

CHO (voice-over): Rieckhoff was among the first soldiers to arrive after the fall of Baghdad, a 1st lieutenant in the 3rd Infantry Division in charge of 38 troops. He came home to New York in January.

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: My fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended.

CHO: One year later, Rieckhoff accuses the Bush administration of not having a clear exit strategy less than two months before Iraqis are to retake control of their government.

RIECKHOFF: To assume we can get a functioning democracy to work in a year is preposterous.

CHO: Some have likened him to John Kerry post Vietnam.

SEN. JOHN KERRY (D-MA), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We learned that this administration could turn its back on the men sent off to fight.

RIECKHOFF: I'm a private citizen expressing my own views. They happen to coincide, at times, with what the Democrats are saying as well.

CHO: Republicans say there is no place for that in politics.

SEN. JOHN MCCAIN (R), ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE: I think it's important for us not to try to involve our men and women of the -- who are serving in the military no matter how strong their views are.

CHO: To that, Rieckhoff has a simple response.

RIECKHOFF: I'm an honest guy telling -- trying to tell the truth and I hope people see that.

CHO: Rieckhoff is now searching for other soldiers who share his views and says he wants to see how loud their voice can be.

Alina Cho, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: You know we have been talking about the price of milk a lot on DAYBREAK. Later, we'll tell you why changes in the diary industry are forcing you to pay even more for that gallon of milk.

Plus, amidst the violence in Iraq, a glimmer of hope, a former American hostage free. We'll have a live report for you in the next hour of DAYBREAK.

And how funeral after funeral of war dead is taking an emotional toll on the nation.

This is DAYBREAK for Monday, May 3.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) COSTELLO: We want to head now to Najaf in Iraq, because earlier this morning, 18 mortars were fired at a U.S. base there. We understand that base is still under attack.

Our Jane Arraf is near that base -- on that base.

Jane, tell us where you are and what is happening now.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, we are just at the entrance of this U.S. base in Najaf. Now we have just come through the gates. The street was deserted when the attack started. And what we have been hearing have been at least 10 mortar rounds. One of the mortars hit a hospital here. This hospital is unused. It's part of what used to be a university complex, but there is smoke rising from it.

We're just in front of one of the buildings with U.S. Army snipers on them, and they have started firing, as well, outgoing mortar to counter the mortar attacks. There has been RPG fire, that's rocket-propelled grenades, a lot of small arms fire.

Now this against the backdrop of a very busy night with about 12 rounds of -- 12 mortar rounds fired at this base. It seems that the Mehdi Army -- I don't know if you can hear those explosions, Carol, they sound like more mortar coming in. But this base is under attack by suspected members of the militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, the radical Shiite cleric who has seized control of Najaf and Kufa -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Any damage to the base that you can see, any American injuries?

ARRAF: We haven't seen any injuries. Everyone, obviously, has sprung into action. The tanks are rolling out. They are firing back with mortar. And so far they have been very careful, very discrete. They operate in very selected areas here given the sensitivities of this holy city.

Now military commanders here have been asking their headquarters -- just a rocket-propelled grenade there -- have been asking their headquarters for more license to fire back, more license to go in deeper into the city. Still well away from those -- the areas of the holy shrines.

And, Carol, where it's just constant gunfire here, we have not seen any U.S. casualties, but there is a constant barrage of gunfire behind us. We are basically ringed by soldiers (INAUDIBLE) division tanks. Mortar guns that are firing. And there is the biggest battle going on here that we have seen in a week or so since we have been in this very volatile area -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Jane, set the scene for us more, we're used to seeing pictures out of Fallujah where the insurgents were firing from in between buildings, on tops of buildings. They -- is that the same sort of thing that is happening now in Najaf? ARRAF: The situation in Najaf is perhaps even more volatile than Fallujah because essentially this base, it used to be the Spanish base, it is in the middle of Najaf. It is within Najaf city limits. It's well away from those holy shrines, which are the most sensitive areas. But essentially, the base here is surrounded by the city.

So when mortar attacks come in, as they do on a regular basis, it is very difficult for the Army to fire back. They risk hitting civilians, they risk enflaming the situation and turning it into even a more explosive situation than it is. And in the backdrop, we are hearing just constant small arms fire, heavy machine guns, the occasional rocket-propelled grenade and the mortaring certainly hasn't stopped.

That was just a huge boom just then. We're not seeing smoke rising from that one, so it's unclear where it hit. Someone is motioning to me that it is hitting over in the direction we are looking towards where there are tanks, soldiers at the ready. And certainly from where the attacks have come from previously, they have come from quite a lot of directions around this base. Again, we are in the middle of the city, which is why it makes it very difficult for the Army to fight back...

COSTELLO: You know, Jane, in just...

ARRAF: ... as strongly as it would want to.

COSTELLO: ... in just hearing this when you talk about at least 12 mortar rounds, rocket-propelled grenades being fired into the base there, that seems like that's a lot of firepower.

ARRAF: It sounds like a lot of firepower. The soldiers here pretty well take it in their stride. It's not as if they are fighting a regular army, although it is called the Mehdi Militia or the Mehdi Army in Arabic. It's not really an army. It's a band of perhaps several hundred people, maybe in the high hundreds, who are not terribly proficient of the weapons they are using.

The (INAUDIBLE) middle of the night and in the middle of the day, as in today, they don't often hit targets. It's not that easy to aim mortars to be able to hit targets at that distance. When they fire rocket-propelled grenades, a lot of the grenades don't go off, they don't explode. So it's not as if they are fighting a full-fledged, well-trained army.

COSTELLO: Jane, you're...

ARRAF: Don't know if you can hear that, Carol, that is a sniper on the roof just firing. Now when they fire just one shot, that is a warning shot. He is not firing a warning shot. He is definitely (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: Jane, you're going in and out.

ARRAF: Sorry, Carol, we're just watching a scene unfold where there were about a dozen snipers (INAUDIBLE). They are and they are ready and some of them are firing inside the limits of this base.

COSTELLO: Jane, when you talk about sniper fire, is it coming from the insurgents, is that what you are talking about or...

ARRAF: No, it's coming from the U.S. military. It is coming from this base. This is one of the various active ways that they combat the attacks against them. It is a very targeted way, obviously. It doesn't run the risk of a lot of civilian casualties or civilian damage. These people are obviously very good at what they do, the American snipers, and they are able to target quite precisely who they are aiming at, which is essentially what they have to do in a situation like this. It is (INAUDIBLE) the worst kind or (INAUDIBLE) one of the holiest Shi'a cities (INAUDIBLE)...

COSTELLO: Jane, you know that gunfire sounds very near you. Are you OK, Jane? Are you in a safe area?

ARRAF: We are in a safe area, Carol, relatively safe. As safe as you can be in -- as safe as you can be in Iraq right now. Iraq is pretty unpredictable. But we are actually next to glass barriers that are used to protect against (UNINTELLIGIBLE). We're just seeing tanks roll by, Carol. More tanks are going out there indicating that they are indeed going to put up a fight on their side, on the American side.

COSTELLO: Jane, last week you were telling us that they were playing around with the idea of having Iraqi generals also lead an Iraqi security force in Najaf. Has that begun? Is it going to begin?

ARRAF: It's a great idea. Everyone agrees it's a great idea. It's going to be quite strategic to get that off the ground. Here at this base they have started, they say, getting some of the people from the Iraqi defense forces who haven't shown up for work for the past couple of weeks due to the fighting, due to fear of the militia.

They are starting (INAUDIBLE) they tell us and (INAUDIBLE) 140 members of the (INAUDIBLE) come to these gates and said (INAUDIBLE) they wanted their jobs back. They wanted to be out there protecting the cities. Now this is not a huge number, but it is a start. Right now there isn't really any mechanism to bring them back.

One of the other problems, Carol, is that the army, when it seized (INAUDIBLE) Najaf and Kufa, seized control of the lead (ph) (UNINTELLIGIBLE). They stole in a lot of (INAUDIBLE) some uniforms and they are (UNINTELLIGIBLE) running around Najaf and Kufa in police cars with police uniforms pretending to be police. They are not (INAUDIBLE).

COSTELLO: Jane, pause for just a moment. We'd like to welcome our viewers from CNN International and to bring our viewers up to date. There is a battle going on in Najaf, Iraq right now. At least 10 mortars fired, rocket-propelled grenades and American tanks leaving the U.S. base there and going out onto the streets. It seems like this is going to turn into a battle.

Let's head back to Jane Arraf to see what more she can tell us. Tell us the Army tanks are moving into the streets of Najaf. What does that mean -- Jane?

ARRAF: They are going to be well away from those holy sites. We have to emphasize that. They are not moving into the area of the shrine of the Imam Ali, which is where the Imam Ali was buried centuries ago, and is one of the holiest sites for Shi'a Muslims all over the world. There is a holy part of the city with holy shrines. That is the area they are steering well away from.

The U.S. military here has been incredibly careful. They have set up self-imposed limits on where they can move, where they can send their tanks, their soldiers, even their aircraft. And they not only stay well away from the holy sites in Najaf and most of the city of Kufa, which is where the Mehdi Army also has control, but they make -- they are very careful not to use major roads even. They want to make clear that they have a presence here but a non-controversial, non- inflammatory presence, if you will.

We were out just this morning, Carol, in quite an idyllic scene just on the outskirts of Kufa, which is farmland, date palms and farms, and people there were very friendly to the soldiers. They were talking to them about how they wanted peace and security back. But as we drove back into the city, into the heart of Najaf, it was a very different scene.

COSTELLO: And set the scene for our international viewers, Jane. You're at a U.S. Army base in Najaf and that U.S. Army base came under fire from mortars, from rocket-propelled grenades. At one point there were American snipers on the roofs trying to quell the violence outside of the walls of that base. Bring us up to date on the situation right now.

ARRAF: It's quieting down right now and it's active -- it's one of -- it's a situation where we had an incredible barrage of mortar fire, of gunfire, of rocket-propelled grenades. (INAUDIBLE). And I was going to say it has now gone deadly silent, except for that gunshot.

COSTELLO: And those gunshots are coming from American snipers on the roofs of that base?

ARRAF: That's apparently -- that's apparently a U.S. sniper. The sounds that these guns make when you are this close to them is absolutely deafening. And given -- even the birds have stopped signing. It sounds incredibly loud in the silence like this when you hear that sniper rifle break that silence.

COSTELLO: It sounds like fire from the insurgents has died down, though.

ARRAF: It has in the past couple of minutes, Carol. It's not just a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) start up again. But we are no longer hearing the mortar fire or the rocket-propelled grenades.

COSTELLO: And there is a suspicion, Jane, that this fire is coming from the militia of Muqtada al-Sadr?

ARRAF: Yes, absolutely. Those are the people who have been responsible for previous attacks and they are the people who are thought to be responsible for this attack as well.

We have to mention, Carol, that this U.S. Army base also houses the coalition headquarters. Now this is just a handful of people belonging to the civilian coalition who have kept a presence here even when this base has been under attack for the past two weeks and when it came under a very intense attack when this all started when the Mehdi Army seized control of Najaf and Kufa.

Now these people are still here and it's part of the reason that the U.S. is here as well. U.S. soldiers moved in here as the Spanish left. And the Spanish troops left, you'll remember, quite suddenly after being withdrawn by their government. So they moved in to prevent this base from remaining empty.

And they moved in to protect these civilian coalition people who are still here trying to show a presence on the civilian side, trying to get some sort of government back up in Najaf and trying to regain political control for Iraqis from this militia leader, not just the militia leader, but a radical Shi'a leader who has, at most, by all accounts, several hundred people but has managed to take control of two holy cities -- Carol.

COSTELLO: And you were mentioning the hardships of fighting this kind of fight because that base is literally in the middle of Najaf, it is within the city limits. And so those U.S. snipers are being very careful in what they fire upon.

ARRAF: Absolutely. Everybody is being careful what they fire upon. They realize that the worst possible (INAUDIBLE) they are in a very delicate and dangerous position would be if they actually fired and hit a significant number or even any civilians. If they were seen to be inside Najaf killing civilians this would -- this place would absolutely explode. That's why they have been showing a great deal of restraint.

Now that restraint may be loosened somewhat. It may end soon. Military commanders have been asking permission from their headquarters to loosen those constraints in the sense of allowing them to operate in areas other than the very strict areas they are operating in now in Najaf. As mentioned, they are sticking to exclusion zones, which mean that when they are fired upon, they can't necessarily fire back the way they would want to because it could risk enflaming the situation here to an extent that it just became impossible to handle.

COSTELLO: And bringing our viewers up to date, once again, gunfire being exchanged between U.S. Army personnel and insurgents within the city of Najaf in Iraq.

Jane, tell us again the firepower the insurgents are using against the American forces. COSTELLO: It's been a lot of mortars, Carol. It has been mainly mortar attacks and rocket-propelled grenades, as well as small arms fire. They are using a variety of types of guns. But the main irritant, if you will, to the forces here have been the mortars.

Now just last night in the middle of the night, and it was not an unusual night, there were something like three series of mortar rounds of four to six mortars each, according to military officials here. They create huge deafening noises. You are supposed to run for the bunker. The civilian coalition people are supposed to put on their flack jackets. They generally don't cause a lot of damage.

Last night one started a small fire and another one, it damaged an armored vehicle, but there were no casualties. There really haven't been casualties from these mortar attacks. But when they are firing mortars out on the street that is a whole different thing. And they have been attacking, as well, in areas where the soldiers are (INAUDIBLE) space.

This recent attack just a few minutes ago, one mortar is believed to have hit a hospital here. And the hospital is unused. It is inside the base and it's a pretty big target, which is possibly (INAUDIBLE) may have hit it. But it is rather unusual. Most of the time they don't cause a lot of damage. But it is an indication that there are potentially dangerous weapons out there and a force that is ready to keep fighting the U.S. military.

COSTELLO: And it sounds as if things have quieted down.

Jane, we're going to -- we're going to break away for just a second. You stay right there.

We'll take a break. We'll have more out of Najaf after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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