Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
Afghanistan's Vice President Assassinated
Aired July 06, 2002 - 12:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: To our top story now. Assassins deliver a crippling blow to the new Afghan government. Gunned down was one of three vice presidents in the capital city of Kabul. CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Bagram. Nic, any better idea who did this?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Not yet, Fredricka, they don't. Two gunmen, we are told, approached and gunned down Haji Abdul Qadir as he tried to enter his government ministry. He's the minister of reconstruction as well as being one of the three vice presidents here.
It was about lunchtime, the middle of the day. Crowded streets in the middle of Kabul, and they were waiting by the gate as he drove in. They fired, we understand, AK-47s, multiple rounds into the vehicle, as many as 36 bullets, killing both Abdul Haji Qadir and his driver.
Now, he was a very influential and a very powerful ethnic Pashtun in this country, that is the majority, the largest single ethnic group here. He was brought into the administration, to Hamid Karzai's administration -- Hamid Karzai also a Pashtun -- to help redress what many Pashtuns see as an imbalance in power. They see the strong representation of some of the Tajik politicians inside the interim government, the fledgling government here. There has been an imbalance of power.
Haji Qadir also a very influential politician, a very powerful man in eastern Afghanistan, with a very strong following, who fought against the Taliban during their rule in Afghanistan -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks very much, Nic Robertson, from Kabul. Appreciate it.
President Bush spoke with reporters about the assassination as he was coming off the golf course at the family compound in Kennebunkport, Maine. We get the latest on that from CNN White House correspondent Kelly Wallace, who's traveling with the president. Hi there, Kelly.
KELLY WALLACE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Fredricka. President Bush quickly condemning the killings. This the second assassination of an Afghan government official this year, showing the ongoing challenges for the United States and the international community in this, the post-Taliban Afghanistan. Mr. Bush calling Vice President Qadir "a good man." He said the U.S. is more resolved than ever to help bring about peace and stability to the country, and he had this message for the people of Afghanistan.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Afghan government is in the process of investigating who might have done this, and we're just more resolved than ever to bring stability to the country so that the Afghan people can have peace and hope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WALLACE: And the president said a member of his national security team spoke with Afghan President Karzai today to express the United States' Condolences. In fact, Mr. Bush spoke with President Karzai himself yesterday, but they were speaking about another matter, another challenge in Afghanistan. This the deaths of some 48 Afghan civilians after U.S. military operations earlier this week. Mr. Bush expressing his sympathies to the people of Afghanistan, and he said the facts are being investigated to determine exactly what happened and to prevent it from happening again.
On a much lighter note, the president adjusting to a new reality on this day, being a year older. He turned 56 today, and he started his birthday out on the golf course. Joining him, his father, the farmer President Bush. Mr. Bush and his dad seemed to be enjoying themselves, and they were keeping up a Bush family tradition of speed golf, playing 18 holes in a little more than two hours.
Mr. Bush told reporters he expected to spend the rest of the day running and spending time with his family. Fredricka, he said he's feeling a bit older on this day. Asked if he's feeling a little wiser and considering changing his August vacation plans, deciding to spend four weeks in Maine as opposed to Texas, the president saying, no, he's looking forward to going to his ranch in Crawford -- Fredricka.
WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks very much, Kelly Wallace in Kennebunkport this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
