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CNN Live At Daybreak
Fallout From Deadly Baghdad Bombings
Aired October 28, 2003 - 05:09 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq and fallout from the deadly Baghdad bombings. This time yesterday, the Iraqi capital was reeling from a series of bombings at the Red Cross and several police stations. Suicide bombers killed about 30 people and wounded more than 20 -- 200 others, that is -- in four bombings, all within 45 minutes of each other.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the synchronized attacks suggest a new level of coordination and sophistication by the attackers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I think there's a likelihood that there's an increase in coordination. I don't have any evidence of that at the moment with respect to these attacks, but they certainly -- we've seen an increase in the number of attacks in the last three or four weeks. We know that. And to some degree, they show an increased sophistication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: President Bush is trying to put a positive spin on the attacks. He says U.S. successes are spurring the violence by making insurgents more desperate. A U.S. military official says the attacks were carried out by so-called foreign fighters.
We want to go live now to Baghdad and our Ben Wedeman for the very latest -- Ben, hello to you. BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Heidi.
Well, the bombings yesterday, the four car bombings really shook this city, not only physically, but it's also shaken the confidence of the many international organizations that are operating in Iraq. The Red Cross, which lost two of its staff members, insists that they will maintain their current level of activity in the country. But they are considering the possibility of reducing the number of international staff they have in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADA DOUMANI, RED CROSS SPOKESWOMAN: No decision has been taken so far and no decision -- the decision needs to be weighed and balanced very carefully. So it will take some time for us to take such a decision. We have already scaled down our staff a while ago so we will have to think about it very thoroughly on whether we can still scale it more. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: Now, this morning there's no one working at the Red Cross. That building was severely damaged in the blast. Apparently engineers have to look at the building to see if it's structurally sound.
Now, another international organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, a French organization, has declared this morning that it will be reducing somewhat the number of international staff it has in Iraq.
Now, Heidi, we are feeling real palpable anger among ordinary Iraqis at these bombings, especially against the police stations and the Red Cross. The Islamic Dawa Party, one of the main Shiite parties, accusing the bombers of feasting on the blood of Iraqis during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Now, the funerals have begun already for the more than 30 people who were killed in yesterday's wave of explosions. However, some of the bodies were so badly mangled in those attacks that they have yet to be identified -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Ben, I'm wondering also if you might be able to give us a bit of an update on suspects for this. We were talking yesterday about a Syrian national.
WEDEMAN: Yes. That Syrian national, we're told, is in the custody of the Iraqi police. We don't have any details of the outcome of his interrogations or where they stand now. Yesterday we did hear, however, several senior coalition commanders suggesting that foreign fighters may have been behind this attack. We heard, for instance, from people at the scene of the Red Cross saying they heard men speaking with Syrian accents. The Syrian accent very distinct from the Iraqi accent.
But there's no hard and fast evidence to point in any specific direction beyond indications of the nationalities of one or two of those who were involved in these attacks -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, the U.S. military is suspecting foreign fighters, as well.
We'll talk more about that later.
Ben Wedeman, thanks so much, live from Baghdad this morning.
And our Web site has a special report on Iraq. Log on for more on the bombing aftermath plus other items of interest, including life after war and the rebuilding plan. Our address, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 28, 2003 - 05:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq and fallout from the deadly Baghdad bombings. This time yesterday, the Iraqi capital was reeling from a series of bombings at the Red Cross and several police stations. Suicide bombers killed about 30 people and wounded more than 20 -- 200 others, that is -- in four bombings, all within 45 minutes of each other.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says the synchronized attacks suggest a new level of coordination and sophistication by the attackers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: I think there's a likelihood that there's an increase in coordination. I don't have any evidence of that at the moment with respect to these attacks, but they certainly -- we've seen an increase in the number of attacks in the last three or four weeks. We know that. And to some degree, they show an increased sophistication.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: President Bush is trying to put a positive spin on the attacks. He says U.S. successes are spurring the violence by making insurgents more desperate. A U.S. military official says the attacks were carried out by so-called foreign fighters.
We want to go live now to Baghdad and our Ben Wedeman for the very latest -- Ben, hello to you. BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Heidi.
Well, the bombings yesterday, the four car bombings really shook this city, not only physically, but it's also shaken the confidence of the many international organizations that are operating in Iraq. The Red Cross, which lost two of its staff members, insists that they will maintain their current level of activity in the country. But they are considering the possibility of reducing the number of international staff they have in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NADA DOUMANI, RED CROSS SPOKESWOMAN: No decision has been taken so far and no decision -- the decision needs to be weighed and balanced very carefully. So it will take some time for us to take such a decision. We have already scaled down our staff a while ago so we will have to think about it very thoroughly on whether we can still scale it more. (END VIDEO CLIP)
WEDEMAN: Now, this morning there's no one working at the Red Cross. That building was severely damaged in the blast. Apparently engineers have to look at the building to see if it's structurally sound.
Now, another international organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Doctors Without Borders, a French organization, has declared this morning that it will be reducing somewhat the number of international staff it has in Iraq.
Now, Heidi, we are feeling real palpable anger among ordinary Iraqis at these bombings, especially against the police stations and the Red Cross. The Islamic Dawa Party, one of the main Shiite parties, accusing the bombers of feasting on the blood of Iraqis during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
Now, the funerals have begun already for the more than 30 people who were killed in yesterday's wave of explosions. However, some of the bodies were so badly mangled in those attacks that they have yet to be identified -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Ben, I'm wondering also if you might be able to give us a bit of an update on suspects for this. We were talking yesterday about a Syrian national.
WEDEMAN: Yes. That Syrian national, we're told, is in the custody of the Iraqi police. We don't have any details of the outcome of his interrogations or where they stand now. Yesterday we did hear, however, several senior coalition commanders suggesting that foreign fighters may have been behind this attack. We heard, for instance, from people at the scene of the Red Cross saying they heard men speaking with Syrian accents. The Syrian accent very distinct from the Iraqi accent.
But there's no hard and fast evidence to point in any specific direction beyond indications of the nationalities of one or two of those who were involved in these attacks -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, the U.S. military is suspecting foreign fighters, as well.
We'll talk more about that later.
Ben Wedeman, thanks so much, live from Baghdad this morning.
And our Web site has a special report on Iraq. Log on for more on the bombing aftermath plus other items of interest, including life after war and the rebuilding plan. Our address, cnn.com, AOL keyword: CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
