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Prism

Five Suicide Bombers Hit Government And Civilian Targets In Baghdad, Resulting In Dozens Dead, Hundreds Wounded

Aired December 08, 2009 - 12:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

STAN GRANT, CNN INT'L. ANCHOR, PRISM (voice over): Bloodshed in Baghdad, as five coordinated car bombs in the Iraqi capital kill scores of people and wound hundreds.

Firefighters respond to a medical emergency at Tiger Woods' mansion. And the besieged golfer's mother-in-law is taken to a hospital.

Plus a prisoner exchange could see an Israeli soldier swapped for the popular Fatah leader Marwan Barghouti. In our "Prism Segment" tonight is Mr. Barghouti a man of peace or is he, as his accusers charge, a terrorist with blood on his hands.

From CNN Abu Dhabi in United Arab Emirates, this is PRISM, where we take a story and look at it from multiple perspectives. I'm Stan Grant.

We begin with an eruption of violence in the Iraqi capital. A series of suicide blasts struck government and civilian targets Tuesday morning, shattering weeks of relative calm.

Children and students are among the many dead and hundreds of people are wounded. Our Isha Sesay is gathering details. She joins us now from CNN Baghdad.

Isha.

ISHA SESAY, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Stan. Yes, five suicide car bombings shaking relative stability in Baghdad on this Tuesday morning, attacks happening in the southern, central and western Baghdad.

The key point we want to bring to our viewers is that government buildings were targeted in these attacks. The labor ministry was hit, as was the new location of the finance ministry.

Stan, you may remember that back in August the finance ministry was struck. They moved locations and that was targeted today.

We are hearing scores dead. Over 450 people injured. The bottom line that we are hearing in all of this is that these terrorists are showing that they can strike high-profile attacks. They can get through Iraqi security forces and they can claim the lives of dozens, Stan.

GRANT: Isha, thank you very much for that. Isha Sesay joining us live there from Baghdad.

Well, Britain is examining the intelligence in the run up to the Iraq war. Testifying a short time ago, former spy chief, Sir John Scarlet said there was never any intention to mislead. He drew up the so-called "dodgy dossier" that claimed that Saddam Hussein was ready to launch weapons of mass destruction within just 45 minutes. That claim was later discredited.

America will never turn its back on Afghanistan. That is the word from U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who is making an announced visit to Kabul. But despite the recently announced troop surge, President Barack Obama's plan calls for American troops to begin withdrawing from Afghanistan in 2011. Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai says it is going to take a lot longer than that before his government will have the resources to take control of the country's security.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT GATES, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: President Obama has made it very clear this is not an open-ended commitment on the part of the United States. And as I expressed it to President Karzai, our hope is that over time we will see a changing balance in our relationship in which the security component diminishes, as the security situation in proves. And the rest of the relationship, an economic relationship, a development relationship, becomes the preponderant element of the connection between the two countries.

HAMID KARZAI, PRESIDENT OF AFGHANISTAN: For a number of years, maybe another 15 to 20 years, Afghanistan will not be able to sustain a force of that nature and capability with its own resources. We hope that the international community, in particular, the United States, as our first ally, will help Afghanistan reach the ability to in terms of economic ability as well eventually to sustain a force that will serve Afghanistan with the right numbers and the right equipment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRANT: As Gates and Karzai meeting Kabul, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal is testifying in Washington before the Armed Services Committees of the House and Senate.

McChrystal told the House committee that the next year and a half will be critical for the U.S. mission in Afghanistan. The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry is also on Capitol Hill today. He's also being questioned about President Obama's new strategic plan for the war in Afghanistan.

In Pakistan at least a dozen people have been killed in an explosion in the city of Mutan (ph). The blast took place at a security check point near a building that houses the ISI, the country's intelligence service, in the eastern city. Among the dead, four soldiers and four children. It is the latest in a series of attacks in Pakistan as the military pursues its offensive against militants in the border region with Afghanistan.

We now know who was rushed from Tiger Woods' home this morning and taken to a nearby hospital. It was Tiger's mother-in-law. The hospital spokesman says Barbro Holmberg is suffering from a stomach ailment. Doctors are still evaluating her condition. Let's get the latest now. We go to John Couwels at the Health Central Hospital in Ocoee, Florida.

What more can you tell us about here condition and what lead to her being hospitalized?

JOHN COUWELS, JOURNALIST: Thanks, Stan.

Well, she was transported here, like you had said, just after 3:00 o'clock this morning, with stomach ailment. The hospital spokesman did come out and say she was being admitted into the hospital and is still under -they are still investigating what exactly is wrong with her. They said that members of the Woods family did come and visit. We don't know if they are still here or if they are expected to return later today.

But we do know that she was -fire rescue was called to the Woods residence at about -just after 2:00 this morning, here outside of Orlando, in the Windermere area, in a private, gated community where Tiger Woods lives with his wife.

And his mother-in-law had just come into town and was visiting the family when 911 was called. The dispatchers came, and as you said, they had only spent 30 minutes with her when she was transported here.

Hospital isn't saying much beyond what her current condition is, other than that she not in serious condition. And that they are just not sure yet what exactly caused the problem.

GRANT: John, has there been any contact from members of Tiger Woods' family?

COUWELS: Well, not officially. Though, the family did sanction the hospital to come out and make a statement. So, we have been monitoring, usually Tiger Woods makes statements through his web site, but at this point we have not seen any word from the Tiger Woods group, or from their camp. Nothing from their web site, and also sometimes things are told through his sports agent. But nothing as of yet, other than just what the hospital has been authorized to release to the media this morning.

GRANT: John thank you very much for bringing us up to date on that. John Couwels, there, at the Health Center Hospital in Ocoee, Florida.

Hamas says he is at the top of their list if there is to be a prisoner swap. But releasing the popular Palestinian leader could well be a sticking point for Israel, no matter how enticing the trade.

Plus, scientists say this could be the warmest decade on record. We will bring you the latest from the conference on climate change in Copenhagen.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRANT: European foreign ministers are discussing the prospect of a resumption of Middle East peace talks and with it they are saying that Jerusalem should be a joint capital for both Israel and a Palestinian state.

A Swedish proposal last week infuriated Israel because it called for East Jerusalem to be recognized as the capital of a future Palestinian state. Eastern Jerusalem has been occupied by Israel since 1967. And remains one of the most thorny sticking points in peace negotiations.

Which leads us to our "Prism Segment" this evening, and a man who could soon play a major role for Palestinians. Marwan Barghouti, a hero to some, a terrorist to others. Is he the Palestinian Nelson Mandela? Ivan Watson looks at differing points of view.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN WATSON, CNN INT'L. CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Once every two weeks, Fadwa Barghouti leaves her apartment at dawn and starts the long journey to a very important meeting.

FADWA BARGHOUTI, WIFE OF MARWAN BARGHOUTI: Yes, we are very happy about this day because we can meet our prisoners, or our strugglers.

WATSON: Fadwa is going to an Israeli prison to visit her husband, Marwan Barghouti. He is one of the most popular politicians in the occupied Palestinian territories, even though he has been jailed for the last seven years, serving life sentences for murder.

F. BARGHOUTI: He is a symbol of freedom for the Palestinian people.

WATSON: For Fadwa, the hours of waiting and security searches before prison visits may soon be over. Hamas and Israel are reportedly negotiating about Marwan Barghouti's possible release as part of a proposed prisoner swap for the captive Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.

Colleague and former university professor Hanan Ashrawi predicts Barghouti's release would change the face of Palestinian politics ahead of presidential elections scheduled to take place next year.

HANAN ASHRAWI, PALESTIAN SPOKESWOMAN: Once he is released, and once we have elections, he stands a very strong chance of being probably the number one candidate, across the board.

WATSON: Barghouti has been an activist in the late Yasser Arafat's Fatah party ever since he was a teenager. Eventually he became one of the brightest stars, in a younger generation of Palestinian politicians, attracting support for his criticism of corruption in Fatah's top ranks.

Barghouti was also active in the second intifada, narrowly escaping this Israeli helicopter strike on a West bank police station. In 2002 Israeli authorities arrested Barghouti and later convicted him of planning attacks that killed several Israeli soldiers and a Greek monk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The intifada will win! And the people will win! And occupation will be defeated!

WATSON: From prison, Barghouti has lobbied for reconciliation between the rival factions Fatah and Hamas, raising hopes that he could one day unify the fractured Palestinian movement.

ASHRAWI: He is not going to present himself as the new Mandela, or the savior or the Christ figure. I know he is going to come out and say, Now we need to work together.

WATSON: Some Israeli analysts bristle at this kind of talk.

HIRSH GOODMAN ISRAELI ANALYST: I think he is going to be a destructive force. And unfulfillable expectations from a person who is not stable in his political views and is not a visionary. But he's a troublemaker.

WATSON: But Barghouti's name resonates with working-class Palestinians.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love Marwan Barghouti.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You love him?

WATSON: "He's honest and good," says this truck driver.

Barghouti grew up in this small West Bank village. The son of an impoverished laborer.

"Marwan is not a show off," says one of his cousins, Fakhri Fattah Al-Barghouti.

In this place, where time appears to stand still, the people wait and wonder whether their most famous son will ever return home. Ivan Watson, CNN, Kobar, in the West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRANT: Well, journalist Charles Levinson of "The Wall Street Journal" writes, "Marwan Barghouti, the popular imprisoned Palestinian leader, embodies the promise and the peril Israel faces as it negotiates with Hamas to trade hundreds of Palestinian prisoners for a long-held Israel soldier" And from Israeli newspaper, "Haretz", even if we accept the argument that Barghouti is a dangerous terrorist, he is certainly not the worst of the murderers to be released in the exchange. And the chance he will be able to move the diplomatic process forward overshadows the value of keeping him behind bars."

Some background now on Gilad Shalit for you; he is the Israeli soldier held hostage for more than three years. He was kidnapped in June of 2006 in a raid by Palestinian militants near the Gaza border. At the time he was 19 years old and a corporal. Shalit is now 23 and has been promoted to the rank of sergeant. In October his captors released a video showing Shalit in what appeared to be reasonable health. The video was made in return for Israel releasing 20 female Palestinian prisoners.

Let's bring in Ivan Watson, from Jerusalem, for some more perspective on this story. Before we get ahead ourselves, Ivan, with debating whether or not he will ultimately lead the Palestinian people, will he actually be released? How likely is that?

WATSON: That's a big question, Stan. And a lot of this is speculation. The negotiations are underway between Israel and Hamas, and there is German mediation involved. We are hearing some reports that Barghouti is one of the names that is being bandied about.

But no clear definition of whether or not he would be released as part of this proposed deal, which also hasn't yet been secured. And whether or not, if he was released, he be released back to his home in the West Bank, or sent to exile and perhaps barred from Palestinian politics.

GRANT: We saw in your story, before, what a folk hero, if you like, he has become to many Palestinian people, but there is also some support amongst more pragmatic Israelis, as well, for him.

WATSON: And there have been advertisement, for example, in Israeli newspapers, calling for his release in exchange for Gilad Shalit. In the 1990s Marwan Barghouti worked closely with Israelis, with the Israelis and with Israeli NGOs. He speaks Hebrew from his stints in prison in the 1970s. And it was only with the start of the intifada in 2000, 2001, where he really started calling for resistance. This is possibly the only figure, in Palestinian politics who transcends the divide, Stan, between Hamas and Fatah.

And we have spoken to some Western diplomats here, saying that, there needs to be some kind of a realistic alternative to the Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas, who runs Fatah. And has said that he will not run for president, in presidential elections scheduled to take place next year. And that Barghouti is the best man, the best, and most realistic possibility , who could fill those shoes.

Another Western diplomat we spoke with, however, he said, we have to be careful here. We don't know what Barghouti's final vision is for this peace process between he Israelis and the Palestinians, Stan.

GRANT: Ivan, also ultimately even if he is released, if he does take a leadership position amongst Palestinians, he is still someone who has been convicted of killing. He is still someone the Israelis are going to say, has blood on his hands. And he has to be able to negotiate with Western leaders. How is he going to remake himself? How will the West see him?

WATSON: Well, the Western diplomats we spoke with today, there does seem to be some split. After all this is, according to the Israeli courts, this is a convicted terrorists. And one of the Western diplomats we spoke with said, there are some very high expectations about this man right now. Can he fulfill some of these expectations? As some Palestinians have said, is he really a Nelson Mandela like figure? And Israelis we have spoken with, some of them, scoff at this, saying that this is a troublemaker. He does not have the talents that some people have attributed to him.

It was interesting in speaking with Hanan Ashrawi, who was actually his dean, at university, in decades past. She says this is a humble man and that is part of his appeal to Palestinian people. That is part of the reason why he is consistently score highest in Palestinian popularity polls, next to the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. That he does have grassroots support among ordinary Palestinians. And he doesn't have that reputation that many Palestinian leaders, in the Palestinian Authority have, of corruption. And that is a key mix. Also the credentials he has, having been a voice of resistance, having served time in Palestinian (sic) prisons. All of this combines to make him a very desirable figure among many Palestinians.

One final point here, Stan, from prison, he has worked to try to resolve the rift between Hamas and Fatah, and has had some success in drawing up documents, some kind of agreements in the past, between the two rival factions. These are all positive points for Marwan Barghouti. But again a difficult sell for the Israelis, who do consider him a convicted terrorists, Stan.

GRANT: Ivan, always good to have your analysis on the program. Appreciate that. Ivan Watson joining us live there from Jerusalem.

Up next we'll take a look at your global weather picture and at the climate change conference in Copenhagen, the U.N. weather agency says this could be the warmest decade on record. We will have details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRANT: Welcome back.

U.N. chief Ban Ki-Moon is optimistic. He says he's never seen this much momentum for climate change. The secretary-general expects strong measures to come out of the climate change conference in Copenhagen. He dismisses the effect of controversial hacked e-mails that some say call global warming into question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAN KI-MOON, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Nothing that has come out in the public, as a result of the recent e-mail hackings, has cast a doubt on the basic scientific message on climate change. And that message is quite clear. That climate change is happening, much, much faster than we realize. And we human beings are the primary cause.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRANT: Meanwhile, the chief of the U.N. weather agency says this decade is on track to be the warmest since record keeping began in 1850. At the Copenhagen conference the secretary general of the World Meteorological Organization says this year may be the fifth warmest ever.

Michel Jarraud says if nothing is done to slow air pollution, the world may be headed for a worst-case scenario.

How is the developing world affected? Plus, climate gate, will the controversy impact debate in Copenhagen. That is on "AMANPOUR", midnight, here in Abu Dhabi. That is about three hours from now.

We are talking about heat and the weather. We will take a look at the global weather picture with Mari Ramos, at the CNN World Weather Center.

(WEATHER REPORT)

GRANT: We were talking about the planet getting hotter, but nothing warm about that, Mari. It is all winter.

MARI RAMOS, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It is winter. It is winter.

GRANT: It is. Thank you, Mari.

And that's it for me, Stan Grant in Abu Dhabi. "WORLD'S UNTOLD STORIES" coming next.

END