Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Message from Hussein Calls for Jihad
Aired April 01, 2003 - 15:26 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, ANCHOR: We have some new casualty numbers to report at this hour. U.S. and British officials say 72 coalition troops have been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom; 46 of them are Americans, 26 Britons.
Nine more injured U.S. soldiers arrived at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany today; 96 war wounded have been taken to Germany for treatment so far. Seven Americans remain POWs and 16 are MIAs, missing in action.
Coalition officials say more than 8,000 Iraqis have been taken prisoner.
We have unconfirmed reports from Iraqi officials that more than 400 civilians have been killed in the war. Iraq has not released information on military deaths. No way to confirm those Iraqi numbers.
And as we've been reporting, Iraq's information minister read a statement earlier today on Iraqi state television, said to be written by President Saddam Hussein.
For more on the statement and the questions surrounding the health, the capabilities of the Iraqi leader, I'm joined by CNN's Nic Robertson. He's on the border between Jordan and Iraq.
Nic, you listened to that statement read by the information minister. What did it say to you?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Number one, Wolf, it was a very focused, very clear message to the people of Iraq that really nobody there could misunderstood, misinterpret. When they've heard statements from the Iraqi leader before, sometimes they've been poetic, they're been pages long, they've been talking in a very circuitous fashion about issues.
This was direct and to the point. It said our country, Iraq, has been invaded by infidel. It is your religious duty as Muslims to take up Jihad and fight back against those invaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): The religious men with all their fatwas (ph) -- today they all concur that the invaders and the aggressor is -- what they are doing is an aggression on religion and self, and on the Islamic nation.
Therefore, Jihad is a duty, and whoever dies will be rewarded by heaven, and God will be satisfied with their sacrifice. Take your chance. This is what God requested from you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now this message is likely to find most resonance among the community in Iraq who hold their religious teachings closest to their heart, the very faithful.
And it is likely here, although this appeal to all Muslims in Iraq, this appeal very much likely aimed at the Shiah community. They are 60 percent of the population in Iraq. They are the vast majority in the south of the country. Likely an appeal to them at this time to support the leadership.
And it was very interesting to listen a little bit later in the day to an interview given by the deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz. He said that the coalition forces had miscalculated on the support of the Shiah community. They said, where did they get this intelligence from that the Shiah would support them as they rose up in 1991 after the Gulf War? He said that uprising was sponsored and propagated from the outside of Iraq.
He said that right now the Shiah community leaders support the leaders in Iraq. He said we are all one country, we are one nation, we are all Iraqis. Indeed, he went on to say that at this time Iraqi forces still dominate the whole of the battlefield.
TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are confident that we will have victory. You ask me how? When you defeat the aggression, that victory will -- are not going to go and confront them in the desert. We will be victorious in our land.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We're going to interrupt Nic Robertson's report and go back to Judy Woodruff in Washington.
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 April 1, 2003 - 15:26 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, ANCHOR: We have some new casualty numbers to report at this hour. U.S. and British officials say 72 coalition troops have been killed in Operation Iraqi Freedom; 46 of them are Americans, 26 Britons.
Nine more injured U.S. soldiers arrived at the Ramstein Air Base in Germany today; 96 war wounded have been taken to Germany for treatment so far. Seven Americans remain POWs and 16 are MIAs, missing in action.
Coalition officials say more than 8,000 Iraqis have been taken prisoner.
We have unconfirmed reports from Iraqi officials that more than 400 civilians have been killed in the war. Iraq has not released information on military deaths. No way to confirm those Iraqi numbers.
And as we've been reporting, Iraq's information minister read a statement earlier today on Iraqi state television, said to be written by President Saddam Hussein.
For more on the statement and the questions surrounding the health, the capabilities of the Iraqi leader, I'm joined by CNN's Nic Robertson. He's on the border between Jordan and Iraq.
Nic, you listened to that statement read by the information minister. What did it say to you?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Number one, Wolf, it was a very focused, very clear message to the people of Iraq that really nobody there could misunderstood, misinterpret. When they've heard statements from the Iraqi leader before, sometimes they've been poetic, they're been pages long, they've been talking in a very circuitous fashion about issues.
This was direct and to the point. It said our country, Iraq, has been invaded by infidel. It is your religious duty as Muslims to take up Jihad and fight back against those invaders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMMED SAEED AL-SAHAF, IRAQI INFORMATION MINISTER (through translator): The religious men with all their fatwas (ph) -- today they all concur that the invaders and the aggressor is -- what they are doing is an aggression on religion and self, and on the Islamic nation.
Therefore, Jihad is a duty, and whoever dies will be rewarded by heaven, and God will be satisfied with their sacrifice. Take your chance. This is what God requested from you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now this message is likely to find most resonance among the community in Iraq who hold their religious teachings closest to their heart, the very faithful.
And it is likely here, although this appeal to all Muslims in Iraq, this appeal very much likely aimed at the Shiah community. They are 60 percent of the population in Iraq. They are the vast majority in the south of the country. Likely an appeal to them at this time to support the leadership.
And it was very interesting to listen a little bit later in the day to an interview given by the deputy prime minister Tariq Aziz. He said that the coalition forces had miscalculated on the support of the Shiah community. They said, where did they get this intelligence from that the Shiah would support them as they rose up in 1991 after the Gulf War? He said that uprising was sponsored and propagated from the outside of Iraq.
He said that right now the Shiah community leaders support the leaders in Iraq. He said we are all one country, we are one nation, we are all Iraqis. Indeed, he went on to say that at this time Iraqi forces still dominate the whole of the battlefield.
TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are confident that we will have victory. You ask me how? When you defeat the aggression, that victory will -- are not going to go and confront them in the desert. We will be victorious in our land.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BLITZER: We're going to interrupt Nic Robertson's report and go back to Judy Woodruff in Washington.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
