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New Tape of Saddam Surfaces

Aired April 18, 2003 - 15:02   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: Pretty much everyone has seen the pictures of Saddam Hussein's statue being toppled in Baghdad nine days ago. Now there are new tapes that purportedly feature Saddam himself on that very same day, not far from that statue.
Are those pictures authentic, however? Are they just old tapes? Is Saddam alive? Is it a body double? The questions are becoming familiar.

Plenty of questions being asked here and also in Iraq. Let's check in with CNN's Jim Clancy in Baghdad.

Jim, I know the powers' out there but nevertheless, has word circulated about this tape?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it will, there's no doubt about that. Some Iraqis did have satellite television capabilities, even though it landed them in jail for a few days or caused their dishes to be seized. Word will get out about this appearance and Iraqis will have many questions, as well.

Let's take a look at the tape. It shows President Saddam Hussein and somewhere in the crowd you can also see Qusay, his son. He was charged with protecting Baghdad. On the tape, Saddam is seen to be moving among the crowd. He's got a lot of armed gunmen all around him. That's a normal thing that you would see.

But there are probably close to 1,000 people, perhaps more, in the streets there, shouting their loyalty to him, as they most often did. It was said to be shot on the 9th of April, as you say, the same day that U.S. Marines toppled the statue right here near the Palestine Hotel where I am right now.

However, we went out to the Azamiyah district in Baghdad and people there, we talked with them, and they said that this videotape couldn't have been made on the 9th, because Saddam Hussein wasn't there on the 9th. They say he visited the neighborhood twice. It's a Sunni Muslim neighborhood, but they say it was not on 9th, it was shortly after the beginning of the war.

Indeed, one source, U.S. source telling CNN that this was probably shot around the 4th. Something from the videotape leads them to believe that they can put a more exact date on it. It may be that this was a convenient thing to talk about, coinciding with the toppling of the statue and what many people see as the watershed event that really put the nails in the coffin for his regime. Anyway, we're going to hear more about this. And of course, Miles, there's a lot of concern among the people in the streets of Baghdad, certainly a lot of rumors, is Saddam Hussein alive or dead? More importantly, could he ever come back? Most don't want to see that, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jim, nevertheless, a lot of protests in the city today. Big numbers, Sunnis, Shiites, kind of across the board spectrum. And while they probably aren't asking for Saddam's return, they are not apparently happy about the U.S. presence as it stands right now.

Is that something that is deep-rooted or is that going to wane as things get a little better in Baghdad?

CLANCY: It's not likely to wane. There was a unity -- show of unity, if you will, at a Sunni Muslim mosque. This mosque has sent before a message for an Islamic republic in Iraq. It was that same message, not a message that resonates or has a lot of support among the broader community of Iraqi people.

But this day, the unity issue, bringing Sunnis and Shi'a together, so many fears that they will be divided as the struggle for political power ensues, a lot of people welcome that. But you saw the cleric from the pulpit saying that the U.S. came in at the request of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

That political message resonated, poured into the streets, more than 10,000 people demonstrating against the U.S. there, but not necessarily representative of a broader Iraqi view. Still, it's showing the dangerous mix right now in this power vacuum of religion and politics, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jim, it's almost hard to keep up with all the factions, isn't it?

CLANCY: It is. And you've got to understand that none of the people in this country have any experience with multi-party democracy. They don't have the money to fund any campaigns.

A lot of this is going to be done from the pulpits and the danger is that it will turn -- there will be disputes between religious communities, between ethnic communities, between ethnic communities, even among those communities, because the fewer resources someone has, usually, the more bitter the fight.

That's something for the United States and for others that hope to see a stable democracy built here, that's something for them to be concerned about.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jim Clancy in Baghdad, good insights. Thank you very much.

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 18, 2003 - 15:02   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: Pretty much everyone has seen the pictures of Saddam Hussein's statue being toppled in Baghdad nine days ago. Now there are new tapes that purportedly feature Saddam himself on that very same day, not far from that statue.
Are those pictures authentic, however? Are they just old tapes? Is Saddam alive? Is it a body double? The questions are becoming familiar.

Plenty of questions being asked here and also in Iraq. Let's check in with CNN's Jim Clancy in Baghdad.

Jim, I know the powers' out there but nevertheless, has word circulated about this tape?

JIM CLANCY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Oh, it will, there's no doubt about that. Some Iraqis did have satellite television capabilities, even though it landed them in jail for a few days or caused their dishes to be seized. Word will get out about this appearance and Iraqis will have many questions, as well.

Let's take a look at the tape. It shows President Saddam Hussein and somewhere in the crowd you can also see Qusay, his son. He was charged with protecting Baghdad. On the tape, Saddam is seen to be moving among the crowd. He's got a lot of armed gunmen all around him. That's a normal thing that you would see.

But there are probably close to 1,000 people, perhaps more, in the streets there, shouting their loyalty to him, as they most often did. It was said to be shot on the 9th of April, as you say, the same day that U.S. Marines toppled the statue right here near the Palestine Hotel where I am right now.

However, we went out to the Azamiyah district in Baghdad and people there, we talked with them, and they said that this videotape couldn't have been made on the 9th, because Saddam Hussein wasn't there on the 9th. They say he visited the neighborhood twice. It's a Sunni Muslim neighborhood, but they say it was not on 9th, it was shortly after the beginning of the war.

Indeed, one source, U.S. source telling CNN that this was probably shot around the 4th. Something from the videotape leads them to believe that they can put a more exact date on it. It may be that this was a convenient thing to talk about, coinciding with the toppling of the statue and what many people see as the watershed event that really put the nails in the coffin for his regime. Anyway, we're going to hear more about this. And of course, Miles, there's a lot of concern among the people in the streets of Baghdad, certainly a lot of rumors, is Saddam Hussein alive or dead? More importantly, could he ever come back? Most don't want to see that, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jim, nevertheless, a lot of protests in the city today. Big numbers, Sunnis, Shiites, kind of across the board spectrum. And while they probably aren't asking for Saddam's return, they are not apparently happy about the U.S. presence as it stands right now.

Is that something that is deep-rooted or is that going to wane as things get a little better in Baghdad?

CLANCY: It's not likely to wane. There was a unity -- show of unity, if you will, at a Sunni Muslim mosque. This mosque has sent before a message for an Islamic republic in Iraq. It was that same message, not a message that resonates or has a lot of support among the broader community of Iraqi people.

But this day, the unity issue, bringing Sunnis and Shi'a together, so many fears that they will be divided as the struggle for political power ensues, a lot of people welcome that. But you saw the cleric from the pulpit saying that the U.S. came in at the request of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

That political message resonated, poured into the streets, more than 10,000 people demonstrating against the U.S. there, but not necessarily representative of a broader Iraqi view. Still, it's showing the dangerous mix right now in this power vacuum of religion and politics, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Jim, it's almost hard to keep up with all the factions, isn't it?

CLANCY: It is. And you've got to understand that none of the people in this country have any experience with multi-party democracy. They don't have the money to fund any campaigns.

A lot of this is going to be done from the pulpits and the danger is that it will turn -- there will be disputes between religious communities, between ethnic communities, between ethnic communities, even among those communities, because the fewer resources someone has, usually, the more bitter the fight.

That's something for the United States and for others that hope to see a stable democracy built here, that's something for them to be concerned about.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Jim Clancy in Baghdad, good insights. Thank you very much.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com