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A Saddam Comeback?

Aired June 16, 2003 - 15:06   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.


JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq. U.S.-led forces swept through two towns west of Baghdad early today, arresting suspected resistance leaders and searching for outlawed weapons. It was the second day of Operation Desert Scorpion, a mission to crack down on Saddam Hussein loyalists and others organizing attacks on U.S. troops.
While many Iraqis celebrated Saddam's fall, some hope that he is alive and may someday return to power.

CNN's Jane Arraf is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His face has almost disappeared, but even with Americans in the palaces, Saddam Hussein is impossible to forget and unwise to dismiss. In the Baghdad teahouse that a young Saddam used to frequent when he was only dreaming of power, the owner and many of the patrons say they long for his return.

"We talk about him 24 hours a day," says owner Furaq Asam (ph). "We always say there's no one like Saddam who can lead this country."

Two months after the end of the war, the former president remains an elusive target. On April 7, the U.S. bombed this house in Baghdad, believing he was there. They're still doing DNA tests to see if he was.

(on camera): Saddam Hussein might have die under this rubble, or he could be somewhere in hiding. But until he's found, dead or alive, he remains a powerful force hanging over Iraq.

(voice-over): The fear and hope that he might return is kept alive through supported sitings. At the Al Chardak (ph) teahouse, where Ba'ath members secretly met in the 1960s, several people said they saw Saddam after the bombing intended to kill him. Some said they saw him in the street as recently as this week.

Engineer Kamal Anwar (ph) says he and his brother were walking down the street on April 9, when Saddam got out of a car. "He said, 'Do you have weapons? Throw them away.' We threw them. He stood in the middle of us; no guards, nothing."

"My brother said, 'Sir, won't we see you anymore?' He said, 'No. Why wouldn't you see me?"

Anwar (ph) and others said they were waiting for Saddam to return and to return them to a time when gasoline was cheap and the streets were clean and safe. U.S. officials acknowledge that, while Saddam is unaccounted for, the Ba'ath Party will exert a dangerous influence.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. IRAQ ADMINISTRATOR: Because it allows the Ba'athists to go around in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and in the villages, as they're doing, saying Saddam is alive and he's going to come back and we're going to come back. And the effect of that is to make it more difficult for people who are afraid of the Ba'athists, and that's just about everybody. It makes it more difficult for them to come forward and cooperate with us.

ARRAF: With the U.S. pledging to pull the Ba'ath Party up by their roots as operations have been driven underground. The name Ba'ath means rebirth. Originally intended to awaken nationalism, diehard Ba'ath Party supporters await another resurrection.

Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.

(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 June 16, 2003 - 15:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq. U.S.-led forces swept through two towns west of Baghdad early today, arresting suspected resistance leaders and searching for outlawed weapons. It was the second day of Operation Desert Scorpion, a mission to crack down on Saddam Hussein loyalists and others organizing attacks on U.S. troops.
While many Iraqis celebrated Saddam's fall, some hope that he is alive and may someday return to power.

CNN's Jane Arraf is in Baghdad.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): His face has almost disappeared, but even with Americans in the palaces, Saddam Hussein is impossible to forget and unwise to dismiss. In the Baghdad teahouse that a young Saddam used to frequent when he was only dreaming of power, the owner and many of the patrons say they long for his return.

"We talk about him 24 hours a day," says owner Furaq Asam (ph). "We always say there's no one like Saddam who can lead this country."

Two months after the end of the war, the former president remains an elusive target. On April 7, the U.S. bombed this house in Baghdad, believing he was there. They're still doing DNA tests to see if he was.

(on camera): Saddam Hussein might have die under this rubble, or he could be somewhere in hiding. But until he's found, dead or alive, he remains a powerful force hanging over Iraq.

(voice-over): The fear and hope that he might return is kept alive through supported sitings. At the Al Chardak (ph) teahouse, where Ba'ath members secretly met in the 1960s, several people said they saw Saddam after the bombing intended to kill him. Some said they saw him in the street as recently as this week.

Engineer Kamal Anwar (ph) says he and his brother were walking down the street on April 9, when Saddam got out of a car. "He said, 'Do you have weapons? Throw them away.' We threw them. He stood in the middle of us; no guards, nothing."

"My brother said, 'Sir, won't we see you anymore?' He said, 'No. Why wouldn't you see me?"

Anwar (ph) and others said they were waiting for Saddam to return and to return them to a time when gasoline was cheap and the streets were clean and safe. U.S. officials acknowledge that, while Saddam is unaccounted for, the Ba'ath Party will exert a dangerous influence.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. IRAQ ADMINISTRATOR: Because it allows the Ba'athists to go around in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and in the villages, as they're doing, saying Saddam is alive and he's going to come back and we're going to come back. And the effect of that is to make it more difficult for people who are afraid of the Ba'athists, and that's just about everybody. It makes it more difficult for them to come forward and cooperate with us.

ARRAF: With the U.S. pledging to pull the Ba'ath Party up by their roots as operations have been driven underground. The name Ba'ath means rebirth. Originally intended to awaken nationalism, diehard Ba'ath Party supporters await another resurrection.

Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.

(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