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More Questions Regarding Russian Convoy That Was Fired Upon
Aired April 07, 2003 - 12:14 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: In the meantime, there's more fallout developing from that incident over the weekend. A Russian motorcade or convoy leaving Baghdad, including the Russian ambassador, other Russian diplomats, Russian journalists, was fired upon. Unclear of the circumstances surrounding that incident.
But our Sheila MacVicar is now in Damascus. That convoy, that Russian convoy has reached Syria, and Sheila is joining us on the phone to update us on what's going on on that very sensitive issue. Sheila, what's the latest?
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, more questions I think is what the latest is. I'm out in front of the Russian embassy in Damascus. The remnants of that convoy have just returned here a short while ago, including the Russian ambassador to Baghdad.
The Russians had indicated initially that they were not being terribly clear about the circumstances. They are now saying that when they were attempting to leave Baghdad yesterday in what they say was a well marked diplomatic convoy, cars bearing diplomatic plates, clearly signaling that they were not either Iraqis or military forces, they came under fire, they say, by American armored vehicles.
There has been suggestions from a Russian journalist who was traveling in the same convoy to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Jordan last night that, in fact, they may have been caught in some kind of crossfire. The American ambassador saying today very clearly that the vehicles that they saw, that fired upon them were American armored vehicles.
Now there were a number of people injured in that incident, including the ambassador's driver, who underwent surgery in an Iraqi hospital in the town of Saluga (ph) last night. He is still not well enough to travel. They had to leave him in that hospital with one other member of the diplomatic staff who stayed behind to try to look after him.
Now, in terms of what we know, the Americans are saying so far CENTCOM has at this point indicated that they do not believe that there were any U.S. forces operating in the area. The Russians saying now very clearly that it was Americans and American armored vehicles that fired on them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Do they have any evidence of that in the nature of remnants from shells or ammunition or from bullets that clearly have U.S. markings? There was some speculation early in the day that the Russians might have that kind of evidence. But as far as you know, Sheila, do they?
MACVICAR: We have not yet been able to talk to the Russian ambassador himself or to the staff. Obviously that's something that we're trying to do in this very sensitive story. We have been told that they do have bullet fragments with them and that they were, they say, we are told, that they have identified those fragments as coming from American weapons.
Now again, we have not seen those fragments. We do not know whether they have American markings or if they indeed are bits of ammunition from U.S. weaponry. That's clearly one of the questions that will be asked.
But the Russians are saying very clearly that the armor that they confronted was not Iraqi armor, that it was American armor. And that they were in a convoy which was clearly marked as a diplomatic convoy, and that they clearly tried for a period of time to signal to the Americans that they were not a threat, that they were diplomats trying to leave Baghdad -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sheila MacVicar with the latest on that sensitive issue, reporting live from Damascus. We'll be checking back with you, Sheila, for more. Thanks very much.
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Aired April 7, 2003 - 12:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: In the meantime, there's more fallout developing from that incident over the weekend. A Russian motorcade or convoy leaving Baghdad, including the Russian ambassador, other Russian diplomats, Russian journalists, was fired upon. Unclear of the circumstances surrounding that incident.
But our Sheila MacVicar is now in Damascus. That convoy, that Russian convoy has reached Syria, and Sheila is joining us on the phone to update us on what's going on on that very sensitive issue. Sheila, what's the latest?
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, more questions I think is what the latest is. I'm out in front of the Russian embassy in Damascus. The remnants of that convoy have just returned here a short while ago, including the Russian ambassador to Baghdad.
The Russians had indicated initially that they were not being terribly clear about the circumstances. They are now saying that when they were attempting to leave Baghdad yesterday in what they say was a well marked diplomatic convoy, cars bearing diplomatic plates, clearly signaling that they were not either Iraqis or military forces, they came under fire, they say, by American armored vehicles.
There has been suggestions from a Russian journalist who was traveling in the same convoy to (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Jordan last night that, in fact, they may have been caught in some kind of crossfire. The American ambassador saying today very clearly that the vehicles that they saw, that fired upon them were American armored vehicles.
Now there were a number of people injured in that incident, including the ambassador's driver, who underwent surgery in an Iraqi hospital in the town of Saluga (ph) last night. He is still not well enough to travel. They had to leave him in that hospital with one other member of the diplomatic staff who stayed behind to try to look after him.
Now, in terms of what we know, the Americans are saying so far CENTCOM has at this point indicated that they do not believe that there were any U.S. forces operating in the area. The Russians saying now very clearly that it was Americans and American armored vehicles that fired on them -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Do they have any evidence of that in the nature of remnants from shells or ammunition or from bullets that clearly have U.S. markings? There was some speculation early in the day that the Russians might have that kind of evidence. But as far as you know, Sheila, do they?
MACVICAR: We have not yet been able to talk to the Russian ambassador himself or to the staff. Obviously that's something that we're trying to do in this very sensitive story. We have been told that they do have bullet fragments with them and that they were, they say, we are told, that they have identified those fragments as coming from American weapons.
Now again, we have not seen those fragments. We do not know whether they have American markings or if they indeed are bits of ammunition from U.S. weaponry. That's clearly one of the questions that will be asked.
But the Russians are saying very clearly that the armor that they confronted was not Iraqi armor, that it was American armor. And that they were in a convoy which was clearly marked as a diplomatic convoy, and that they clearly tried for a period of time to signal to the Americans that they were not a threat, that they were diplomats trying to leave Baghdad -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Sheila MacVicar with the latest on that sensitive issue, reporting live from Damascus. We'll be checking back with you, Sheila, for more. Thanks very much.
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