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Arab Journalists Safe After Being Ambushed, Taken Captive
Aired March 31, 2003 - 15:50 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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Three Arab journalists are on their way home today after a harrowing experience inside Iraq. They started as an embedded crew with the U.S. military, but they ended up as captives in southern Iraq.
CNN's Daryn Kagan has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Reporter Wael Awaad and his crew had big goals during this war. They work for a brand new network: Al Arabiya based in Dubai. They wanted to make their mark.
WAEL AWAAD, REPORTER, AL ARABIYA: We wanted to do a good coverage for our channel in the news, to make ourselves as a new news channel.
KAGAN: So they embedded in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. They crossed from Kuwait into Iraq when the war began on March 20th.
AWAAD: We interviewed the prisoners of war. American troops, their job, the firing, the soldiers.
KAGAN: But what they really wanted, access to the Iraqi people.
(on camera): So at a certain point, you decided you weren't getting the story that you wanted?
AWAAD: We got -- because what happened with the Americans, they thought that if they keep us with this unit, we could see what they are doing and if the are doing a good job for the people there.
KAGAN (voice-over): Awaad says the U.S. military told him and his crew that it was safe to go into a town south of Basra without a military escort. But very soon after they entered Zabayir (ph), the trouble began.
AWAAD: And we were ambushed and we were shot at.
KAGAN (on camera): Just the three of you?
AWAAD: Yes.
KAGAN: Were you in your car at this point? AWAAD: Yes, we were in the car. And my friend screamed from the back, "Firing at us. Firing at us."
I knew they were firing. We weren't safe because of equipment was all iron (ph), you know? And we moved to a place. We stopped local people and we asked them, "Why are they firing at us?" They said, "Well, you are American." I said, "No, we are not American. We are Arab journalists. We're trying to cover the news."
KAGAN (voice-over): The Iraqis took the Al Arabiya crew into custody. Meanwhile, back at network headquarters in Dubai, their coworkers feared the worst. Al Arabiya had no idea that the crew was first held at a school in Zabayir (ph). They said the Iraqis moved them before the Americans bombed that school.
(on camera): If you had stayed at that school, you would be dead today.
AWAAD: Yes.
KAGAN: Because that school has been bombed.
AWAAD: Yes, we were safe. That moment, we were really safe. I mean, even themselves, they sensed the danger, you know? And I don't know how they moved us to another place.
KAGAN: This is where we need to stop the tape. The crew has asked us not to say where they were held for the next week. They say that during the week certain Iraqis actually helped save their lives, and they don't want to endanger those people by giving away clues to their identity.
(voice-over): Still, they had to wait until the British moved into town and chaos broke out.
AWAAD: We were not released. In fact, we run away.
KAGAN: All the way to a British checkpoint and eventually back across the Kuwaiti border. They were greeted by the Kuwaiti information minister and phoned home.
AWAAD: At that moment, we called our parents, and you won't believe that everybody was starting reciting Quran in our places that we are the three dead journalists. The family are in bad shape. They didn't hear anything from us.
KAGAN (on camera): Your family thought you were dead?
AWAAD: Everybody fainted. You talked to any person, they think you're a visitor from another heaven, somebody's calling them.
KAGAN (voice-over): Awaad, cameraman Telal Masri (ph) and technician Ali Safa (ph) all say they hope to return Iraq one day. But hopefully during a more peaceful time. Daryn Kagan, CNN, Kuwait City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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 March 31, 2003 - 15:50 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Three Arab journalists are on their way home today after a harrowing experience inside Iraq. They started as an embedded crew with the U.S. military, but they ended up as captives in southern Iraq.
CNN's Daryn Kagan has their story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Reporter Wael Awaad and his crew had big goals during this war. They work for a brand new network: Al Arabiya based in Dubai. They wanted to make their mark.
WAEL AWAAD, REPORTER, AL ARABIYA: We wanted to do a good coverage for our channel in the news, to make ourselves as a new news channel.
KAGAN: So they embedded in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division. They crossed from Kuwait into Iraq when the war began on March 20th.
AWAAD: We interviewed the prisoners of war. American troops, their job, the firing, the soldiers.
KAGAN: But what they really wanted, access to the Iraqi people.
(on camera): So at a certain point, you decided you weren't getting the story that you wanted?
AWAAD: We got -- because what happened with the Americans, they thought that if they keep us with this unit, we could see what they are doing and if the are doing a good job for the people there.
KAGAN (voice-over): Awaad says the U.S. military told him and his crew that it was safe to go into a town south of Basra without a military escort. But very soon after they entered Zabayir (ph), the trouble began.
AWAAD: And we were ambushed and we were shot at.
KAGAN (on camera): Just the three of you?
AWAAD: Yes.
KAGAN: Were you in your car at this point? AWAAD: Yes, we were in the car. And my friend screamed from the back, "Firing at us. Firing at us."
I knew they were firing. We weren't safe because of equipment was all iron (ph), you know? And we moved to a place. We stopped local people and we asked them, "Why are they firing at us?" They said, "Well, you are American." I said, "No, we are not American. We are Arab journalists. We're trying to cover the news."
KAGAN (voice-over): The Iraqis took the Al Arabiya crew into custody. Meanwhile, back at network headquarters in Dubai, their coworkers feared the worst. Al Arabiya had no idea that the crew was first held at a school in Zabayir (ph). They said the Iraqis moved them before the Americans bombed that school.
(on camera): If you had stayed at that school, you would be dead today.
AWAAD: Yes.
KAGAN: Because that school has been bombed.
AWAAD: Yes, we were safe. That moment, we were really safe. I mean, even themselves, they sensed the danger, you know? And I don't know how they moved us to another place.
KAGAN: This is where we need to stop the tape. The crew has asked us not to say where they were held for the next week. They say that during the week certain Iraqis actually helped save their lives, and they don't want to endanger those people by giving away clues to their identity.
(voice-over): Still, they had to wait until the British moved into town and chaos broke out.
AWAAD: We were not released. In fact, we run away.
KAGAN: All the way to a British checkpoint and eventually back across the Kuwaiti border. They were greeted by the Kuwaiti information minister and phoned home.
AWAAD: At that moment, we called our parents, and you won't believe that everybody was starting reciting Quran in our places that we are the three dead journalists. The family are in bad shape. They didn't hear anything from us.
KAGAN (on camera): Your family thought you were dead?
AWAAD: Everybody fainted. You talked to any person, they think you're a visitor from another heaven, somebody's calling them.
KAGAN (voice-over): Awaad, cameraman Telal Masri (ph) and technician Ali Safa (ph) all say they hope to return Iraq one day. But hopefully during a more peaceful time. Daryn Kagan, CNN, Kuwait City.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
