Return to Transcripts main page
Your World Today
Ferry Sinks in Red Sea; Muslim Cartoon Controversy; Alabama Authorities Fear Serial Arsonist; Brain Drain in Iraq
Aired February 03, 2006 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANNOUNCER: Live from CNN Center, this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
HALA GORANI, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: A massive rescue effort in the Red Sea after an Egyptian ferry similar to this one sinks with hundreds on board.
JIM CLANCY, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Free speech or blasphemy? Newspaper cartoons of the prophet Mohammed sparking growing protests across many parts of the world.
GORANI: Danger on the job. Iraq's growing brain drain poses new problems for the troubled nation.
CLANCY: And from sky patrols to river patrols to bomb-detecting robots, Super Bowl security planners leaving nothing to chance for America's biggest sporting event.
Right now it's 12:00 noon in Detroit, Michigan; 7:00 p.m. in Cairo; 8:00 p.m. in Baghdad.
I'm Jim Clancy.
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani.
Welcome to our viewers throughout the world.
This is CNN International, and this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
CLANCY: Night has fallen on the Red Sea. We're going to begin our report there. That is where an Egyptian ferry carrying some 1,400 people on board, passengers and crew, sank, killing at least 100 that we know of now.
GORANI: And an Egyptian embassy official in London says only 100 people so far have been rescued.
CLANCY: The ferry was traveling the 120 miles or 180 kilometers or so from the Saudi Arabian port of Dubah to Egypt's southern port of Safaga when radar contact was lost.
GORANI: Several vessels have been deployed to the area to help in the search and rescue operations.
CLANCY: Egyptian officials saying now the weather conditions in the area were poor, with rough seas and high winds at the time the ship went off the radar. For the very latest information on this ferry tragedy, we're joined by the Egyptian ambassador to the United States, Nabil Fahmy. He is with us from Washington.
Mr. Ambassador, what can you tell us now, the latest word that you have from Cairo?
NABIL FAHMY, EGYPTIAN AMBASSADOR TO U.S.: Well, what we have is a confirmation that we lost contact with the ship at about 2:00 a.m. Cairo time. The passengers on board are 1,400 passengers, and I think 98 crew members.
The majority, 1,200 of those, are Egyptians. And the remaining 100 -- over 100 are different nationalities.
There is now a search and rescue operation being undertaken by Egyptian authorities. There's also several -- several offers to help and some actual cooperation as well from Saudi authorities, from different foreign countries, European -- Arab countries, European countries, the U.S., for that matter. We've received also condolences from many and efforts -- and offers to help, and we're looking into all of those efforts, all of those offers.
CLANCY: We understand that British and American vessels that were in the region had offered to come to the scene and they were waved off.
FAHMY: No, I think it's simply a matter of organizing the search and rescue process itself. But no, their offers have -- are well appreciated, and I think there is now cooperation with different foreign countries, including the U.S.
It may be aerial offers rather than vessels, but no, they have not been waved off by way of refusing their offer. It's simply organization.
CLANCY: Mr. Ambassador, was there any distress message that was heard from this vessel?
FAHMY: We did not receive one, at least as far as I know. The investigation is still on. So I don't have conclusive evidence.
But we lost contact with them at 2:00 a.m. Cairo time. Since then, frankly, we're trying to find out exactly what happened and the cause of it. But the investigation is on.
CLANCY: How many naval ships -- do you know how many are on the scene right now, and what are they reporting?
FAHMY: We have at least six different ships up there on our side of the theater of operations. The Saudis also have a number on their side. But that changes minute by minute, frankly.
And their reports are there are a large number of casualties. We've found some survivors, but I'd be remiss if I gave you figures, because they shift from minute to minute. CLANCY: Do you know -- where did they stand last?
FAHMY: Well, in terms of the casualties that we can confirm are in dozens. The people we have found, the survivors, a little bit higher than that. But the largest number are those who we cannot confirm either that are alive.
CLANCY: Egyptian Ambassador to the United States Nabil Fahmy, joining us there from Washington.
Sir, I want to thank you this day, and I think a lot of people are looking on from around the world and just hoping, praying for the best.
FAHMY: Thank you, Jim.
GORANI: And Jim, we're going to get more information at the scene very close to where the ferry disaster occurred in the Red Sea.
We're joined now by the Egyptian transport minister, Mohamed Loutfy Mansour.
What is the latest, Minister Mansour? We're hearing 100 rescued, 100 bodies recovered, sadly. What is the latest toll?
MOHAMED LOUTFY MANSOUR, EGYPTIAN TRANSPORT MINISTER: Well, the latest that I have here -- I just got into Safaga, which is the port that the vessel was supposed to be docking in. The latest is that there are 78 survivors so far and there are only four bodies that have been reclaimed.
The passenger list is as follows: it's about 1,200 Egyptians and about 1,000 nationals of Saudi Arabia and maybe 118 other passengers from the Gulf area.
GORANI: Minister Mansour, you're saying 1,200 Egyptians, 1,000 nationals of Saudi Arabia. That would put the number of passengers...
MANSOUR: No, sorry. No, no, sorry. You misheard me or misquoted me. It's 1,200 Egyptians and 100 Saudis.
GORANI: Oh, 100 Saudis.
MANSOUR: One hundred Saudis, yes.
GORANI: Now, night has fallen there. The rescue operations becoming more and more difficult, one must presume. How are those unfolding?
MANSOUR: They're unfolding. The Egyptian navy and coast guard is doing everything in its power. We have frigates and boats there that are helping the rescue operation.
There are people that are in rescue boats, rafts, and they are identified where they are. And we are currently in a center that is following up in conjunction with the different ministries, following up on the rescue operation. And the word (ph) that's coming in on the hour. So this is being followed very closely.
GORANI: Are there real fears now, Mr. Mansour, that the death toll will skyrocket in a way as night has fallen and many have not been recovered? Is that a real fear right now in Egypt?
MANSOUR: Yes, it is. Yes, it is. There is -- there is definitely a real concern and fear as to the numbers of the people, the deaths in this very, very tragic event.
GORANI: Now, just a question on those recovery efforts and some of the assistance. We understand Britain and the United States have -- have offered help. Is the Egyptian navy and all those involved in the rescue efforts, do they have all the type of equipment they need right now, night scope material, that kind of thing, to try to find survivors?
MANSOUR: Well, you know, all the available help is being done. We know where -- where the vessel has sunk. We know where the survivors are.
We are being followed, and it's just a matter, you know, of connecting them of course. Nightfall -- it's nightfall here. So it's -- but, you know, it may make things a little bit harder. But as of -- as I say, on the hour we are receiving additional information.
Also, with respect to the medical help, everything is being prepared and is ready. The hospitals are ready, and ambulance. And we're just waiting to receive, once the first survivors come -- we know where they're going to go. Everybody's on standby, and it's on emergency, and we will be all night following up on this very tragic event.
GORANI: All right. And we wish you the best.
Mohamed Loutfy Mansour, the Egyptian transport minister, confirming there the latest figures, 78 survivors so far, four bodies recovered -- Jim.
CLANCY: Sad to say this tragedy all too common in the region. Authorities say a sister ship sank in the Red Sea last October. Most of the passengers, though, were rescued.
In 1991, though, 464 people died when a ferry hit a coral reef also near Safaga. Maritime experts say many of these ships are not properly regulated, maintained poorly, and that can turn them into potential death traps.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DAVID OSLER, LLOYD'S LIST MARITIME NEWSPAPER: The ship is not a cruise ship. It's a passenger railroad (ph) ferry.
It's relatively old. It's built in 1970, which means that it's not going to comply with the sorts of safety standards we'd expect from this kind of ship in the developed world. Actually, these sorts of ships are famous for having stability problems. It only needs a small amount of water to get on board, and it sets up a sort of uncontrollable rocking effect that can cause them to capsize.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Now, stay with CNN throughout the day. We're going to continue to cover this developing story. As details come in, we're going to bring them to you.
GORANI: Let's switch gears now and to the furor over published cartoons depicting the prophet Mohammed.
CLANCY: As anger and as the protests grown from London to Jakarta, the debate over free speech and deeply held religious convictions also intensifying.
GORANI: In Indonesia, the nation with the world's largest Muslim population, about 200 protesters stormed the Danish embassy in Jakarta. The 12 caricatures first appeared in a Danish newspaper last September. Several European newspapers then reproduced the drawings this week.
CLANCY: In Bangladesh, thousands protested after Friday prayers there. They chanted, "Long live Islam," "Down with the enemies of religion," and "Beware, corrupt publishers."
GORANI: And in Basra, in the south of Iraq, about 100 supporters of Shiite -- of a Shiite cleric painted European flags on the ground and trampled on them. They chanted slogans and later set a Danish flag on fire.
Well, some of the biggest protests were in Palestinian territories. In Gaza, thousands of Hamas supporters chanted slogans and burned the Danish flag.
CNN's John Vause has more on the protests in Gaza and other parts of the world.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): After Friday prayers came a flag-burning frenzy. Across the Islamic world, the protests have been angry, at times violent, and the message the same: Mohammed the prophet has suffered the ultimate insult, and the West is to blame.
"They put a time bomb on the head gear of our prophet Mohammed by which they want to establish that our prophet was a terrorist," says this Islamic leader in Bangladesh.
Pakistan's parliament unanimously condemned the Danish cartoons while thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in cities and towns, chanting, "Friends of Christians are traitors." "The people of the West must take serious notice of this issue," says this religious leader. "They should realize the feelings of Muslims have been hurt. Muslims everywhere are very furious."
Some of the biggest protests have been in Gaza. Thousands holding up the Koran, chanting, "God is great." One Muslim cleric reportedly called for the severing of heads of those responsible for the cartoons.
Earlier, diplomats, international aid workers and news crews headed for Israel after a warning from gunmen they would be targets for kidnap if they didn't leave.
SARAH DE JONG, INTERNATIONAL NEWS SAFETY INST.: It's a bit tense. You get the sense that people are upset, they're angry.
VAUSE: In Jerusalem's Old City, Israeli border police clashed with Muslim worshippers. Men under 45 were banned from praying at the Al Aqsa Mosque because of fears they planned to protest. Stun grenades were used to clear the crowd.
One of the few voices of calm, though, came from the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai.
HAMID KARZAI, AFGHAN PRESIDENT: As much as we condemn this, we must have as Muslims the courage to forgive and not make it an issue of dispute between religions or cultures.
VAUSE (on camera): Eventually, the anger and outrage will most likely pass. But until then, this clash of religion and culture will do even more harm to the already strained relations between the Islamic world and the West.
John Vause, CNN, Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GORANI: In Denmark, where the controversy originated, Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen is urging diplomats to help calm the uproar. More than 70 ambassadors, including many from predominantly Muslim nations, attended the meeting called by the prime minister in Copenhagen.
He acknowledged the damage caused by the controversy but said the government should not interfere with freedom of speech. Earlier, in an interview with an Arab news network, he noted the paper has already apologized.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN, DANISH PRIME MINISTER: I'm deeply distressed that many Muslims have seen the drawings in the Danish newspaper as a defamation of the prophet Mohammed. I know that this was not the intention of the newspaper. The newspaper has apologized for that, and I do hope that we can find a solution on that basis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CLANCY: Prompting a lot of discussion of freedom of speech as well, repercussions and heated debate at newspapers which reprinted the drawings. For instance, in Paris, the man chosen to replace the editor, if you remember, who was fired for reprinting the cartoon, well, his replacement refused to take up the job. The "France Soir" also printed a statement from staff members calling his dismissal without ground.
Italian newspaper "La Padania" criticized that dismissal and said in an editorial, "It is not a challenge, a provocation, but the defense of freedom that is at issue."
And a Dutch newspaper said, "Belgian papers should publish such caricatures every week so that Muslims could get used to the idea."
GORANI: There was an angry demonstration and demonstrators gathering outside the Danish embassy in London on Friday.
Let's go live to Adrian Finighan. He's in the British capital.
What were those demonstrations all about? Who was there?
ADRIAN FINIGHAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Hala, we had a group of about 200 to 300, it has to be said, fairly angry Muslims who said that they felt they had to come -- it was their duty to come and make their opinions felt here at the Danish embassy. It was largely peaceful, although as you can see, very noisy. The building itself took a couple of hits from eggs.
The initial crowd was then joined by a group from one of the large mosques here in central London, the Regents Park Mosque, who'd been attending Friday prayers. The tone of the demonstration changed. It became much angrier at that point.
Some of the placards fairly sinister in nature. "Europe, take some lessons from 9/11," they said. "Annihilate those who insult Islam." The demonstrators were chanting, "Denmark, you will pay with your blood." "Remember Theo van Gogh," who, of course, the Dutch filmmaker who was murdered a year or so ago.
The Danish flag was burned right in front of us. And then the demonstrators felt that they'd made their point. They moved off to the French embassy. Of course some newspapers in France had published these cartoons recently.
First of all, the men moved off with their placards, chanting, then women with their banners. And following behind, women with children, some very small children and babies actually protesting.
So very vocal. Very angry. But peaceful here in London -- Hala.
GORANI: Adrian Finighan, live in London.
CLANCY: Well, the cartoon controversy is the focus of our inbox question this day. GORANI: Now, we're asking you, do you think European newspapers were trying to promote free speech or sales of their papers?
E-mail your replies to YWT@CNN.com. And we'll read some of your comments later on in the show.
Now we're going to take a short break. When we come back, working to send a unified message.
CLANCY: The IAEA looking to set -- to report Tehran to the United Nations Security Council over its nuclear program. But it first wants to have the broadest possible consensus. That's created a delay.
So which of its 35 board members are holding out? We'll go live to Vienna, Austria, to find out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Daryn Kagan at CNN Center in Atlanta. More of YOUR WORLD TODAY in just a few minutes. First, though, a check on stories making headlines here in the U.S.
Breaking news out of St. Petersburg, Florida, where emergency crews are on the scene of a roof collapse at a Bed, Bath & Beyond store. It's unknown how many people were inside at the time. We're told one person, an employee, has minor injuries.
As we look at these new pictures out of St. Petersburg, bad weather was rolling through the Tampa Bay area at the time of the collapse, with as much as five inches of rain being reported locally. We will keep you posted.
But with more on that bad weather and weather across the U.S., let's check in with Jacqui Jeras.
(WEATHER REPORT)
KAGAN: Now let's update you on a story we told you about earlier, a school bus shooting in Los Angeles. According to the L.A. County Sheriff's Department, two children were on the bus when one child showed the other a gun. One of them received a non-life- threatening wound when the gun went off. The incident happened in the Compton area of the city.
Authorities in Alabama fear a serial arsonist could be to blame for fires at six world churches. Most were predominantly white, and all but one were in Bibb County, Alabama.
We get details from reporter Kelvin Reynolds from our affiliate WBRC.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KELVIN REYNOLDS, REPORTER, WBRC: I'm here at Ashby Baptist Church, where you see behind me about a half dozen or so volunteer firefighters still in the area putting out a blaze that started sometime around 6:00 this morning. The church's pastor says he believes that the fire was started in the pulpit area. They say that's the same MO that they believe occurred at the other churches that were set on fire earlier this morning.
So far, according to the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, no suspects have been named, no one has been arrested at this point.
A lot of the members here at the church are very upset. About 20 or so individuals who attend church here at the end of the road at the church holding each other, crying. Many of them in tears because of what happened here.
We understand that the ATF, the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, and the state fire marshal's office are investigating, hoping to bring this case to a close.
Reporting in Bibb County, Alabama, I'm Kelvin Reynolds.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: And the search continues for a teenager wanted in an assault and shooting at a gay bar late Wednesday in New Bedford, Massachusetts. Three people were hurt in the attack. CNN has just received tape of the 911 call.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
OPERATOR: 911, New Bedford Emergency.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need an ambulance.
OPERATOR: You need an ambulance? What's the problem?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).
OPERATOR: What is the problem?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone's been shot.
OPERATOR: Somebody's been shot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Somebody's been shot. You have to get here now.
OPERATOR: Who's been shot? How many people?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't know who it is.
OPERATOR: Ma'am, calm down. We already have people on the way. How many people?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think just one.
OPERATOR: Just one person?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You need to get here, please.
OPERATOR: One male shot?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Please get here.
OPERATOR: Ma'am?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes?
OPERATOR: Who shot him?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
KAGAN: A police affidavit says that a search of 18-year-old Jacob Robida's home turned up Nazi regalia and anti-Semitic graffiti.
No reports so far of serious problems from the Kama Sutra computer worm. The program is set to activate the third day of each month beginning today. It's capable of destroying many popular computer files. The best precaution, just never open spam e-mail and keep your PC's virus protection up to date.
In Washington, D.C., prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Scooter Libby case will have plenty of time to prepare for trial. The judge today set a January 8, 2007 trial date.
Vice President Cheney's former aide faces perjury and obstruction charges. Both sides told the judge today their cases would take about two weeks each.
Lawmakers will have five more weeks to reach a compromise on the Patriot Act. Last night the Senate followed the House in approving an extension. The stalled bill would make 14 of 16 expiring provisions permanent and extend two others until 2009. Congress previously extended the act in December.
The Pentagon's new strategy for defeating terrorism, that's at the top of the hour on "LIVE FROM."
Meanwhile, YOUR WORLD TODAY continues after a quick break.
I'm Daryn Kagan.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
I'm Hala Gorani.
CLANCY: I'm Jim Clancy.
These are the stories that are making headlines around the world.
Egypt's transport minister now telling CNN 78 people only have been saved from that sunken Egyptian ferry in the Red Sea. The ferry boat traveling from Saudi Arabia to Egypt when it vanished from radar screens. Officials say there were about 1,300 people on board the ferry, similar to the one that is pictured here.
GORANI: The U.N. nuclear watchdog has put off until Saturday a decision on whether to report Iran to the U.N. Security Council. The 35-nation IAEA board appears ready to take the step, but diplomats say closed-door talks are going on to try to widen the consensus. Iran has threatened full-scale uranium enrichment if the matter is sent to the Security Council.
CLANCY: A demonstration in Gaza, one of just many displays of Muslim outrage. All of it sparked by cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, drawings originally published in a Danish newspaper, then reprinted in several European papers this week. Protests have been held from London to Jakarta, Indonesia. Depicting any image of the prophet is forbidden under Islamic law.
GORANI: In Indonesia, the nation with the world's largest Muslim population, about 200 protesters stormed the Danish embassy in Jakarta. They smashed lamps, threw chairs and tore up the Danish flag there.
Eunice Yoon reports from Jakarta.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EUNICE YOON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): About 200 angry Muslim protesters clamored over bushes and barricades as they rushed the high-rise building housing the Danish embassy in Jakarta. About one dozen broke through security, voicing their outrage over cartoon drawings, originally published in a Danish newspaper, of the prophet Muhammad.
JORDAN PROTEST LEADER (through translator): We condemn the caricatures and we demand them to make an apology to all Muslims all over the world.
YOON: The 12 cartoons, one which depicts the Prophet Mohammed wearing a bomb for a turban, first appeared in a Danish newspaper last September. Islamic law forbids any depiction of the prophet, good or bad. CNN is blurring the image of this cartoon.
The cartoon has been reprinted in several European newspapers, triggering protests throughout the Muslim world. The European papers say it's a matter of free speech and expression. But Indonesia's government, which had criticized the Danish paper for publishing the cartoons, believes freedom of expression has its limits.
YURI THAMRIN, INDONESIAN FOREIGN MINISTRY: We are well aware of the importance of the concept freedom of expression, but having acknowledged the sanctity of this concept, we also believe that it is not to be used to justify -- justify slander, justify defamations to sacred religious symbols.
YOON: Demonstrators in the world's most populous Muslim nation are now calling for their government to cut diplomatic ties with Denmark and boot the ambassador from the country, making some cartoons of their own. Eunice Yoon, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: In Iraq, the country's top Shia Muslim cleric deplored the drawings, but did not call for street protests. Thousands of people demonstrated after Friday prayers, anyway, showing their anger. One large protest taking place here in the southern city of Basra. This is where demonstrators chanted slogans and burned flags.
The Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani also denounced the drawing, but in a statement posted on his Web site and dated Tuesday, he also suggested that militant Muslims were partly to blame for distorting the image of Islam.
GORANI: Now for more on Arab reaction to the caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed and indeed Muslim reaction, let's bring in Abdurahman Jafar. He's vice chairman for legal affairs with the Muslim Council of Britain. Thank you very much for being with us.
First off, your reaction to the reaction to those caricatures?
ABDURAHMAN JAFAR, MUSLIM COUNCIL OF BRITAIN: As a Muslim I'm very hurt that I feel my religion is being insulted, but I'm also hurt as a British and European citizen that people can be so insensitive to being so free to discriminate and incite hatred towards a group of people.
Now, this isn't an issue about freedom of speech. Of course newspapers have the freedom of speech to publish whatever they want, but the point is about having a sensitivity and decency to be able to, you know, publish things that are conducive to a multicultural society.
Don't forget, the messages that are given out in these pictures are exactly the messages that Osama bin Laden wants the world and Muslims to think that Islam's all about terrorism. So this is a very negative and we think it's detrimental to the fight against extremism.
GORANI: Now, we've been asking our viewers to react about this, and we've been asking them really whether this is a freedom of speech issue. And some have been saying, you know, the fact is that some radicals have basically hijacked this debate and are imposing kind of their view on how freedom of speech should unfold in European and Western nations. What's your reaction to that?
JAFAR: Well, we have a very good way of dealing with freedom of speech. Usually, we're very sensitive when it comes to not being insensitive to other communities, to other races, to other religions. We would never do the same towards Jews. We'd never have cartoons depicting black people or, you know, people -- we'd never typecast a whole people in this way. But it seems that we're able to do this very freely and very liberally toward Muslims.
What we want is not something extra or special. We simply want equality, and we think this is what European standards and European human rights is about. Article 14 of the European Convention of Human Rights demands that there is absolute equality and no discrimination is made on the basis of race, religion, or any other factors that distinguish humankind.
GORANI: This has taken on a life of its own. I mean, you see in some Palestinian territories -- for instance, in Gaza -- where Europeans are being told to stay indoors, that they're at risk. And it's kind of taken on this dimension that seems, from the outside, violent. What is your reaction to that?
JAFAR: Yes. It's very sorry that -- and it's very sad that I think extremists on both sides -- Muslims are extremely angry, and Europeans who are using this to ferment. And you know, both sides, we have people. There is no monopoly over evil or hatred. And I think this is a very sad time.
You would see cartoons exactly like this just before Nazi Hitler arrived, when they depicted Jews and when they depicted, you know, rabbis in very horrendous caricatures, exactly the same as this. I think it's very frightening for me because it feels as though Europe is beginning -- you know, after 60 years it's relearning to hate again.
GORANI: Abdurahman Jafar, one quick last question to wrap this up. What needs to be done to diffuse this situation?
JAFAR: It's very simple. We should return as we were. We should be sensitive. We should be true to our understanding of a multicultural society and respect other people and respect other people's religions, respect other people's races.
GORANI: And concretely, an apology? What?
JAFAR: Well, yes, a sincere apology would go a far step. But what we see instead is these cartoons, which everyone knows will create divisiveness and hatred, being reprinted in France, being reprinted in Spain, being reprinted in other countries by people who sincerely want a division in our society.
GORANI: Abdurahman Jafar of the Muslim Council of Britain, many thanks for joining us on CNN.
CLANCY: We're going to turn our attention now to Iraq. Some European newspapers reporting that it's a done deal. The U.S. and Britain deciding to draw down their troops in the coming 12 months. The United States currently has about 138,000 U.S. troops based there, a number that's down since last month's election. That was anticipated.
Friday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld offered up his latest assessment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: In the last analysis, it's their country. We've sent the best young men and women that we have over there to help them. They now have had their elections. They're going to have to grab a hold of their country and make it work. It ain't going to work like ours, it isn't going to be an American democracy. Their military is not going to look just like ours.
And there will be some bumps in the road. It isn't easy to go from a vicious dictatorship to a democracy. It wasn't easy for us. It took us a long time. Think of our first constitution. We still had slaves. Women couldn't vote. You know, nobody's perfect. It's going to be bumpy. But it's going to get done. And in our country...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GORANI: Donald Rumsfeld. When coalition forces first entered Iraq, hopes rang high at the time that exiles would eventually return to help rebuild the country they once left.
But as Michael Holmes reports, with the rise in violence, Iraq's academic elite are leaving in droves, and now the country is confronted with a shortage of brain power.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You wouldn't think being a pharmacist would be considered a dangerous profession, risking your life. But this is Iraq.
ANMAR AL DABBAGH, PHARMACIST: Less than a month ago, the husband of one of my colleagues here was kidnapped because she's a pharmacist. She had to pay a ransom. I don't want to expose my family to this risk.
HOLMES: And so Anmar is leaving his country, and he's not the only one.
DABBAGH: About half the people I know in my profession have left the country, some of them for good, all because of the situation in Iraq.
HOLMES: That situation includes criminal kidnaps for ransom, but also more sinister insurgent-related killings, threats and intimidation.
(on camera): Academics, scientists, professionals. There are no precise statistics, but it's thought that thousands have fled this country, fearing kidnapping or death. And, of course, those who are most financially able to leave are those that Iraq can least afford to lose, the brains of this country.
MAHMOUD OTHMAN, IRAQI POLITICIAN: It's quite a dangerous problem. And it's very dangerous socially from the point of view of education or building the country. And I think this is one of the very serious problems.
HOLMES: Prominent Kurdish politician Mahmoud Othman believes it is an insurgent tactic to drive out Iraq's best and brightest to weaken the country.
OTHMAN: They want to drain down the country. It is very, very dangerous. Any government should give big priority to the issue of how to deal with it.
HOLMES: Dr. Al Harith Abdul Hamid is one of his country's best- known psychiatrists. He is staying put for now. Colleagues, however, have left in droves.
AL HARITH ABDUL HAMID, PSYCHIATRIST: Definitely, doctors in particular, physicians, hundreds of good, and the famous and the most intelligent physicians, they had to leave the country.
HOLMES: After the Americans invaded, many here hoped exiles, talented people, would return. They did. Some of them. But now that trickle has reversed, and professionals say it is a flood.
Dr. Hamid has considered joining the exodus, but he's staying for the patients.
HAMID: One of my patients threatened me with suicide. You know? And he said, well, I'll commit suicide if you leave the country. This affect me quite a lot. I think about it. I dream about it.
DABBAGH (through translator): Although we used to live under political tension with Saddam, it was safe enough to stay in the pharmacy until midnight. Now we close at 6:00, before dark.
HOLMES: And so Anmar Al Dabbagh is packing his bags.
DABBAGH: I will decide to leave Iraq, leave the troubles in Iraq. And I work, I will need to sleep safely.
HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to look in on U.S. troops deployed in some of Africa's most dangerous regions.
GORANI: Instead of guns, they're using hugs to help get their message across. We'll tell you how their acts of kindness may help stop terrorism.
You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
The situation in Darfur is deteriorating. The African Union says violence in that Western region of Sudan now cowers on a, quote, ever- escalating scale. the AAU says the Sudan Liberation Army, Darfur's main rebel group, stepped up attacks last week by targeting both government forces and civilians. International mediators say it's essential now for the rebels to broker a peace deal with the government; 180,000 people have died in Darfur, many of hunger and disease. Two million others have been displaced since the region's ethnic African population revolted in 2003 against the Arab-dominated government.
CLANCY: Poverty, violence, illness, all leaving millions in Africa dead and millions more homeless.
GORANI: And there's the ever-growing refugee problem, and it's drawn attention to a terrorist group out to enlist new recruits. American forces also are there fighting the terrorist threat with something other than guns.
Barbara Starr was with them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Horn of Africa. We have come to this desperately poor, largely Islamic region; 1,400 U.S. troops are here, fighting to keep al Qaeda at bay. The commander tells us of his weapons -- medicine, education, clean water.
MAJ. GEN. TIMOTHY F. GHORMLET, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Instead of sending out a rifleman, I send out a doctor.
STARR: The slums of Jabuti, where thousands of refugees from Somalia are living.
(on camera): It is in refugee ghettos like this one -- they are all over the region -- that the U.S. worries al Qaeda may be recruiting.
(voice-over): The northern edge of Somalia, a country where al Qaeda openly recruits. The U.S. military does not enter Somalia, but here there is no border. We, and potentially al Qaeda, can walk freely.
Back at Camp Lemagne, a torrential downpour turns everyone into a makeshift engineer, draining the mini-flash flood.
(on camera): These are the living quarters here for the U.S. troops in the Horn of Africa. It's pretty rugged, but it's all the conveniences of home. This is my shower towel. I have a big curtain put up for some privacy. And if you follow me in here, this is where one spends the night when you sleep here.
(voice-over): In Yemen, we are at the ancient Baro Yemen Souk (ph). This is a country where al Qaeda has attacked, where westerners have been kidnapped. There are few tourists. We travel with the U.S. special operations team. They do not wear uniforms. We are escorted by Yemeni security forces through a stunning landscape, dotted by mountain villages. A brief stop at the spot where terrorists bombed the USS Cole. Yemen wants the U.S. to believe the country now is safe. But it is here in southern Ethiopia, in the town of Gode, the children grab your heart with their smiles. Here the children run up to U.S. soldiers in delight. They play. Everyone laughs.
Radios are a major source of information. Food is not plentiful. In the outlying villages, there is drought.
At this medical clinic the soldiers run, the story we have sought about the war on terror being fought with medicine and care.
CAPT. KAREN LANDMANN, U.S. ARMY: By us being here, we're trying to avoid having to send 150,000 troops into another country.
STARR: This place of peaceful farmers and quiet rivers, a place the U.S. is determined terrorism will not take hold.
Barbara Starr, with cameraman Tomas Etzler, CNN, Gode, Ethiopia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: We want to return now to our top story and give you an update. Egypt's transport official now telling us that 78 people have been saved from a sunken Egyptian ferry in the Red Sea. That is fewer than we were reporting earlier. The ferry was traveling from Saudi Arabia to Egypt with about 1,400 people aboard when it suddenly vanished from radar screens.
(WEATHER REPORT)
HOLMES: Colleagues, however, have left in droves.
AL HARITH ABDUL HAMID, PSYCHIATRIST: Definitely, doctors in particular, physicians, hundreds of good, and the famous and the most intelligent physicians, they had to leave the country.
HOLMES: After the Americans invaded, many here hoped exiles, talented people, would return. They did. Some of them. But now that trickle has reversed, and professionals say it is a flood.
Dr. Hamid has considered joining the exodus, but he's staying for the patients.
HAMID: One of my patients threatened me with suicide. You know? And he said, well, I'll commit suicide if you leave the country. This affect me quite a lot. I think about it. I dream about it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Although we used to live under political tension with Saddam, it was safe enough to stay in the pharmacy until midnight. Now we close at 6:00, before dark.
HOLMES: And so Anmar Al Dabal (ph) is packing his bags.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will decide to leave Iraq, leave the troubles in Iraq. And I work, I will need to sleep safely.
HOLMES: Michael Holmes, CNN Baghdad. (END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Coming up right here on YOUR WORLD TODAY, we're going to look in on U.S. troops deployed in some of Africa's most dangerous regions.
GORANI: Instead of guns, they're using hugs to help get their message across. We'll tell you how their acts of kindness may help stop terrorism.
You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Welcome back to YOUR WORLD TODAY on CNN International.
The situation in Darfur is deteriorating. The African Union says violence in that Western region of Sudan now cowers on a, quote, ever- escalating scale. the AAU says the Sudan Liberation Army, Darfur's main rebel group, stepped up attacks last week by targeting both government forces and civilians.
International mediators say it's essential now for the rebels to broker a peace deal with the government; 180,000 people have died in Darfur, many of hunger and disease. Two million others have been displaced since the region's ethnic African population revolted in 2003 against the Arab-dominated government.
CLANCY: Poverty, violence, illness, all leaving millions in Africa dead and millions more homeless.
GORANI: And there's the ever-growing refugee problem, and it's drawn attention to a terrorist group out to enlist new recruits. American forces also are there fighting the terrorist threat with something other than guns.
Barbara Starr was with them.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BARBARA STARR, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Horn of Africa. We have come to this desperately poor, largely Islamic region; 1,400 U.S. troops are here, fighting to keep al Qaeda at bay. The commander tells us of his weapons -- medicine, education, clean water.
MAJ. GEN. TIMOTHY F. GHORMLET, U.S. CENTRAL COMMAND: Instead of sending out a rifleman, I send out a doctor.
STARR: The slums of Jabuti, where thousands of refugees from Somalia are living.
(on camera): It is in refugee ghettos like this one -- they are all over the region -- that the U.S. worries al Qaeda may be recruiting. (voice-over): The northern edge of Somalia, a country where al Qaeda openly recruits. The U.S. military does not enter Somalia, but here there is no border. We, and potentially al Qaeda, can walk freely.
Back at Camp Lemagne, a torrential downpour turns everyone into a makeshift engineer, draining the mini-flash flood.
(on camera): These are the living quarters here for the U.S. troops in the Horn of Africa. It's pretty rugged, but it's all the conveniences of home. This is my shower towel. I have a big curtain put up for some privacy. And if you follow me in here, this is where one spends the night when you sleep here.
(voice-over): In Yemen, we are at the ancient Baro Yemen Souk (ph). This is a country where al Qaeda has attacked, where westerners have been kidnapped. There are few tourists. We travel with the U.S. special operations team. They do not wear uniforms. We are escorted by Yemeni security forces through a stunning landscape, dotted by mountain villages. A brief stop at the spot where terrorists bombed the USS Cole. Yemen wants the U.S. to believe the country now is safe.
But it is here in southern Ethiopia, in the town of Gode, the children grab your heart with their smiles. Here the children run up to U.S. soldiers in delight. They play. Everyone laughs.
Radios are a major source of information. Food is not plentiful. In the outlying villages, there is drought.
At this medical clinic the soldiers run, the story we have sought about the war on terror being fought with medicine and care.
CAPT. KAREN LANDMANN, U.S. ARMY: By us being here, we're trying to avoid having to send 150,000 troops into another country.
STARR: This place of peaceful farmers and quiet rivers, a place the U.S. is determined terrorism will not take hold.
Barbara Starr, with cameraman Tomas Etzler, CNN, Gode, Ethiopia.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: We want to return now to our top story and give you an update. Egypt's transport official now telling us that 78 people have been saved from a sunken Egyptian ferry in the Red Sea. That is fewer than we were reporting earlier. The ferry was traveling from Saudi Arabia to Egypt with about 1,400 people aboard when it suddenly vanished from radar screens.
(WEATHER REPORT)
CLANCY: We're going to take a break, but still ahead we're going to change the pace a little bit and talk about the big game in American football.
GORANI: And a big deal being made about security. Up next, the Super Bowl and how to keep it safe. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GORANI: Well, we don't have to remind our American viewers of this, but perhaps our international viewers. People across the United States are getting set to watch this weekend's National Football League Championship.
CLANCY: Of course, there are massive security preparations already underway for the Super Bowl and around the host city of Detroit, including some that involve neighboring Canada even. Brian Todd has a look for us.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When's the last time you saw a helicopter try to steer away a plane in mid flight? Or one speed boat nearly collide with another on the border of U.S. and Canada? This is what awaits terrorists should they attempt to target Super Bowl XL in Detroit.
(on camera): This will give you an idea of the huge security concerns for the Super Bowl. Look how close Ford Field is to the Detroit River. The U.S. border with Canada runs right up the middle of that river and then hundreds of miles north to adjoining rivers and lakes.
(voice-over): We flew in joint airspace along with Commander Bob Makowski of the U.S. Coast Guard who explained his challenge heading off pilots who violate airspace.
CMDR. BOB MAKOWSKI, U.S. COAST GUARD: An unfamiliar pilot, we don't know what they're going to do. They don't really know what we're going to do.
TODD: This year, U.S. security officials have partners, coordinating like never before with their Canadian counterparts. Both countries are under North American Aerospace Defense Command, NORAD, that will have fighter jets and helicopters enforcing a 30-mile fright restriction on Super Sunday.
On the water, just for this event, heavily armed American boats can cross into Canadians waters. American officers can board Canadian vessels to chase suspects. The Canadians can do the same.
BOATSWAIN 1ST CLASS, CURTIS TAFT, U.S. COAST GUARD: You look for anything out of the usual, such as small vessels traveling at a high rate of speed that don't appear to be, you know, acknowledging that have you a zone in place.
TODD: With the sheer mileage of the open border space on the water, we asked Coast Guard Admiral Robert Papp, coordinator of all U.S. Homeland Security Agencies for the Super Bowl, where the vulnerabilities are.
REAR ADM. ROBERT PAPP, U.S. COAST GUARD: These are the places, though, where you have the biggest challenge, where you have virtually just a couple hundred yards. A boat can get across in five minutes.
TODD: That potential threat is why homeland security officials have set up a tight security zone along the Detroit waterfront. That doesn't cover the hundreds of miles of open border over the adjacent rivers and lakes. But right now officials tell CNN they have no specific, credible threats to the Super Bowl.
Brian Todd, CNN, Detroit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CLANCY: Our "Inbox" this date bursting at the seams.
GORANI: All right. That is right. Hundreds and hundreds. We've been asking do you think European newspapers were trying to promote free speech or sales of their papers?
CLANCY: Lester from Arizona says "sales of their papers. Every person in Denmark should refuse to purchase this paper. Who could think this is anything but religious discrimination?"
GORANI: And from Palestine, Ahmad says, "I think displaying cartoons that offend other religions is not a way to promote freedom of speech. It is surely a way to increase the number of papers sold."
CLANCY: From Germany, Gunawan says, "European newspapers have gone too far. They have shown the world that western freedom of speech doesn't have any sense of respect."
GORANI: Finally, from Canada, Keith writes, "the European press is showing the strength to confront censorship by organized religion. The press must have the ability to criticize."
CLANCY: That's our report. I'm Jim Clancy.
GORANI: I'm Hala Gorani. Stay with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
