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Looting, Fires Continue in Iraqi Capital
Aired April 11, 2003 - 12:47 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I couldn't do this alone. Octavia here, as our viewers may know by now, has been monitoring for us Arab network television throughout this whole war, and you've been able to identify exactly what's been going on and have been listening to the reports.
What exactly is it we're watching right here?
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: We are watching the Ministry of Planning. This is, of course, according to Abu Dhabi TV. You see the picture coming to us, courtesy of Abu Dhabi TV. We're taking reporting, we're looking at the picture. They're saying this is the Ministry of Planning. This fire started in the land bank as Wolf just said. It started, you know, a small fire, started getting bigger and bigger. Then now they're saying because, of course, it's very dangerous to even get close to this fire. They're saying it is possibly the same fire that spread into the ministry of planning.
Now, of course, earlier we were watching a lot more fires. Abu Dhabi TV was reporting the Central Bank is on fire. Other government buildings are on fire. And again, this is...
HARRIS: Who's setting the fires? Is this the result of people in the streets rampaging or is this a matter of more military action on the streets there or what?
NASR: No, no military action according to the Arab networks we're monitoring. They are saying people are setting these buildings on fire. It is a very dangerous situation right now in Baghdad. The Arab TV reporters are saying it's even more than dangerous. A lot of calls are going out to the coalition forces to please take control of the streets of Baghdad, a lot of looting, a lot of arson. This is getting out of control at this point.
HARRIS: Now we know that much of the regime, of course, has been wiped out there, but other basic structures and basic functions of government, like fire service. Do we know whether or not that is still operating? We know hospitals are still working. But are the fire stations still working? Are they capable of actually addressing something like this right now?
NASR: It's interesting. You say the hospitals are still working. They are working, but people are going into hospitals, but they are looting medications, supplies. And overnight, we heard reports that medical students and doctors went out in the streets following looters, telling them to bring the stuff back. HARRIS: Funny you should say that, our Walter Rodgers this morning was reporting, saying that he saw next to his reporter's position people rolling down the street with a gurney from a hospital.
NASR: It's a very serious situation. People are scared. They're staying in their homes. They're not going to work. So these fires, we've been watching them rage for the last hour or so, you don't see any fire hoses around. You don't hear sirens. No one is coming to the rescue. And people right now are calling on the coalition forces, because they don't see anybody who could control the situation better than them, or other than them. Everybody is staying home. Everybody's scared. The looting has gotten...
HARRIS: What are you hearing about the looting? What are they saying?
NASR: It's very serious. It's very dramatic. We saw pictures courtesy of Abu Dhabi showing Iraqis taking matters into their own hands. You have ordinary Iraqis following the looters, stopping them, beating them up, insulting them, telling them, you're not Iraqis, you don't represent the honest Iraqis.
Here, look at these pictures, people are just grabbing whatever they can and running with it, and this is insulting to a lot of ordinary Iraqis. I want to say the majority of Iraqis who are, you know, good honest people. They are very upset by these images. They are very upset by these actions. They're following these looters, stopping them, telling them to return the stuff back.
We did also hear incidents of shootouts between looters and shop owners. People were taken to hospitals, again, according to Arab television stations today. People were taken to hospitals, because they were injured as far as -- because of clashes between them and the shop owners, trying to protect their shops.
HARRIS: Reports we've gotten in from Martin Savidge and Walter Rodgers, who have been talking about the lawlessness that they have been witnessing in the streets of Baghdad. Are you hearing anything at all, since you've been listening to reports about what's happening at the hospitals, anything at all about casualties? What are you hearing about that?
NASR: Unfortunately, we're not hearing much about casualties. A lot of people want to know how many civilian casualties, Iraqi civilians, have fallen because of this conflict. We're not getting any information. We were getting some kind of numbers from the Iraqi minister of information who no longer does press conferences. We don't even know where he is right now.
So right now, we are waiting on Arab stations to report, to show pictures. We're not seeing pictures. We're not hearing reports. That's concerning to a lot of people. We're not hearing much. And people want to know if civilians are okay. We get calls sometimes from Iraqi exiles or Iraqi immigrants, who want to find out more about the families back home in Iraq. They're saying, do you have any numbers? Do you have any names? Unfortunately, we are not an authority on this. We don't have the names or numbers. And we're waiting again, just like everybody else, for the coalition forces. to take charge of the situation and perhaps give us some numbers and some more information to go on.
HARRIS: Thanks, Octavia. Appreciate that.
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 11, 2003 - 12:47 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: I couldn't do this alone. Octavia here, as our viewers may know by now, has been monitoring for us Arab network television throughout this whole war, and you've been able to identify exactly what's been going on and have been listening to the reports.
What exactly is it we're watching right here?
OCTAVIA NASR, SR. ASSIGNMENT EDITOR: We are watching the Ministry of Planning. This is, of course, according to Abu Dhabi TV. You see the picture coming to us, courtesy of Abu Dhabi TV. We're taking reporting, we're looking at the picture. They're saying this is the Ministry of Planning. This fire started in the land bank as Wolf just said. It started, you know, a small fire, started getting bigger and bigger. Then now they're saying because, of course, it's very dangerous to even get close to this fire. They're saying it is possibly the same fire that spread into the ministry of planning.
Now, of course, earlier we were watching a lot more fires. Abu Dhabi TV was reporting the Central Bank is on fire. Other government buildings are on fire. And again, this is...
HARRIS: Who's setting the fires? Is this the result of people in the streets rampaging or is this a matter of more military action on the streets there or what?
NASR: No, no military action according to the Arab networks we're monitoring. They are saying people are setting these buildings on fire. It is a very dangerous situation right now in Baghdad. The Arab TV reporters are saying it's even more than dangerous. A lot of calls are going out to the coalition forces to please take control of the streets of Baghdad, a lot of looting, a lot of arson. This is getting out of control at this point.
HARRIS: Now we know that much of the regime, of course, has been wiped out there, but other basic structures and basic functions of government, like fire service. Do we know whether or not that is still operating? We know hospitals are still working. But are the fire stations still working? Are they capable of actually addressing something like this right now?
NASR: It's interesting. You say the hospitals are still working. They are working, but people are going into hospitals, but they are looting medications, supplies. And overnight, we heard reports that medical students and doctors went out in the streets following looters, telling them to bring the stuff back. HARRIS: Funny you should say that, our Walter Rodgers this morning was reporting, saying that he saw next to his reporter's position people rolling down the street with a gurney from a hospital.
NASR: It's a very serious situation. People are scared. They're staying in their homes. They're not going to work. So these fires, we've been watching them rage for the last hour or so, you don't see any fire hoses around. You don't hear sirens. No one is coming to the rescue. And people right now are calling on the coalition forces, because they don't see anybody who could control the situation better than them, or other than them. Everybody is staying home. Everybody's scared. The looting has gotten...
HARRIS: What are you hearing about the looting? What are they saying?
NASR: It's very serious. It's very dramatic. We saw pictures courtesy of Abu Dhabi showing Iraqis taking matters into their own hands. You have ordinary Iraqis following the looters, stopping them, beating them up, insulting them, telling them, you're not Iraqis, you don't represent the honest Iraqis.
Here, look at these pictures, people are just grabbing whatever they can and running with it, and this is insulting to a lot of ordinary Iraqis. I want to say the majority of Iraqis who are, you know, good honest people. They are very upset by these images. They are very upset by these actions. They're following these looters, stopping them, telling them to return the stuff back.
We did also hear incidents of shootouts between looters and shop owners. People were taken to hospitals, again, according to Arab television stations today. People were taken to hospitals, because they were injured as far as -- because of clashes between them and the shop owners, trying to protect their shops.
HARRIS: Reports we've gotten in from Martin Savidge and Walter Rodgers, who have been talking about the lawlessness that they have been witnessing in the streets of Baghdad. Are you hearing anything at all, since you've been listening to reports about what's happening at the hospitals, anything at all about casualties? What are you hearing about that?
NASR: Unfortunately, we're not hearing much about casualties. A lot of people want to know how many civilian casualties, Iraqi civilians, have fallen because of this conflict. We're not getting any information. We were getting some kind of numbers from the Iraqi minister of information who no longer does press conferences. We don't even know where he is right now.
So right now, we are waiting on Arab stations to report, to show pictures. We're not seeing pictures. We're not hearing reports. That's concerning to a lot of people. We're not hearing much. And people want to know if civilians are okay. We get calls sometimes from Iraqi exiles or Iraqi immigrants, who want to find out more about the families back home in Iraq. They're saying, do you have any numbers? Do you have any names? Unfortunately, we are not an authority on this. We don't have the names or numbers. And we're waiting again, just like everybody else, for the coalition forces. to take charge of the situation and perhaps give us some numbers and some more information to go on.
HARRIS: Thanks, Octavia. Appreciate that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
