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Search for Bombing Survivors Continues

Aired August 20, 2003 - 14:00   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour: hard questions about soft targets in Iraq.
In the ruins of the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters the search does go on for victims of yesterday's catastrophic bombing. And for now that takes priority over a painstaking search for clues. Already, though, we know a little bit about the bomb itself and U.S. officials have some unpleasant theory on the bombers.

CNN's Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, now live from Baghdad with the latest - Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, they are still working on trying to pull out what they had hoped would be survivors but most likely will be victims of that huge truck bombing.

Now, earlier today they did pull out one body, apparently trapped by what could have been tons of rubble that came down as that truck, packed with a huge variety and number of explosives, detonated just beneath the office of the U.N. special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Now the entire U.N. community, of course, is mourning the loss of Vieira de Mello, who had been due to go home in September, as well the loss of many other of their colleagues.

At least 18 people now are believed killed and that number could rise to more than 20. There are still several people unaccounted for. Dozens more, up to a hundred, were wounded.

The other search, of course, is as to what exactly may have been behind that blast. And that involves searching through that rubble for pieces of the detonated truck, as well as the trigger mechanism and other things that could provide clues as to what group or what individual might have been behind it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jane Arraf, live from Baghdad. Thank you.

Well, the FBI is on the scene of the Canal Hotel and has already reached some conclusions about the explosives that turned the place to rubble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FUENTES, FBI: It's a little too early to speculate on the exact group that may have been responsible.

We have determined that the explosive devices consisted of military grade munitions, and we have found a number of pieces of ordnance that were Soviet era manufacture. And we've had fragments here from mortars, artillery shells, grenades, one 500-pound bomb and then the main component of explosive here.

So we have a large quantity in excess of a thousand pound of explosives that was military grade munitions. This was not a homemade bomb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN is being told an extremist group with known ties to al Qaeda is leading the pack of suspects, but it's a big pack. Pentagon officials say the U.N. bombing may have been beyond the capabilities of run-of-the-mill Saddam loyalists.

As far as who is responsible, the U.S. civil administrator fears a new era of terror is posted on Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: It does not mean, I think, that we can exclude the possibility that the Fedayeen Saddam or some of the old Saddam guys did it. They had very substantial explosive capabilities in parts of their intelligence services, and it's not impossible that it was done by them.

It's also possible, and that's the second list, that it was done by some foreign terrorist group like Ansar al Islam, which is a group with close ties to al Qaeda, which was operating in the north of Iraq before the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on his way back to New York this hour, having scrapped his European vacation. He's due to huddle with the Security Council, never more appropriately named, about three hours from now.

In the meantime, we turn to CNN's Michael Okwu at U.N. headquarters in lower Manhattan for an update from there.

Hello, Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

The secretary-general, Kofi Annan, is expected to meet behind closed doors with the Security Council at about 5:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. But we expect that he will also stop briefly to talk to reporters on his way into the building, we are told, at about 3 or so.

The big question being asked as well wishers continue to drop flowers off here for the dead is how could this have happened? Who was responsible? Did the United Nations take the necessary precautions for security?

Earlier today the secretary-general spoke to through his spokesman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED ECKHARD, U.N. SPOKESMAN: The United Nations had hoped that the coalition forces would have secured the environment so that U.N. staff could carry out economic reconstruction and institution building.

The security around our location was not as secure as you might find at the U.S. compound. And that was a decision we made so that our offices could be more accessible to people. We did not think at the time we were taking an unnecessary risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: Now, Annan said that his colleagues gave their lives for peace. At least 18 U.N. staffers are dead, close to a hundred injured. That number may, in fact, rise by the end of the day.

The very big question the Security Council might be talking about is what about the role of U.N. blue-helmeted peacekeepers? Or will someone on the Security Council ask for the deployment of a rapid reaction force? Some of the questions that the Security Council will likely face this afternoon.

But all of the Security Council diplomats we have spoken to today, Miles, say they are waiting to get the call from the secretary- general to see specifically what his request might be -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Michael, the reason security was low there, relatively, is very deliberate. The United Nations didn't want to present a fortress to the people of Baghdad. Is there much talk about changing that philosophy?

OKWU: Absolutely. There has been some talk about that today. The secretary-general's spokesperson really being hammered by the media here about that specific issue.

He said that he wanted to make sure, at least the U.N. officials wanted to make sure that the building was accessible to Iraqis, that any Iraqi could just walk in. But at the same time, he said, this should not be a lethal assignment for U.N. staffers, and that is why they were actually in the process of building a low wall to surround the building just before this attack happened -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: That's an interesting point. OK. Michael Okwu at the United Nations. Thanks 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 August 20, 2003 - 14:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Up first this hour: hard questions about soft targets in Iraq.
In the ruins of the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters the search does go on for victims of yesterday's catastrophic bombing. And for now that takes priority over a painstaking search for clues. Already, though, we know a little bit about the bomb itself and U.S. officials have some unpleasant theory on the bombers.

CNN's Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf, now live from Baghdad with the latest - Jane.

JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, they are still working on trying to pull out what they had hoped would be survivors but most likely will be victims of that huge truck bombing.

Now, earlier today they did pull out one body, apparently trapped by what could have been tons of rubble that came down as that truck, packed with a huge variety and number of explosives, detonated just beneath the office of the U.N. special envoy Sergio Vieira de Mello.

Now the entire U.N. community, of course, is mourning the loss of Vieira de Mello, who had been due to go home in September, as well the loss of many other of their colleagues.

At least 18 people now are believed killed and that number could rise to more than 20. There are still several people unaccounted for. Dozens more, up to a hundred, were wounded.

The other search, of course, is as to what exactly may have been behind that blast. And that involves searching through that rubble for pieces of the detonated truck, as well as the trigger mechanism and other things that could provide clues as to what group or what individual might have been behind it -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Jane Arraf, live from Baghdad. Thank you.

Well, the FBI is on the scene of the Canal Hotel and has already reached some conclusions about the explosives that turned the place to rubble.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TOM FUENTES, FBI: It's a little too early to speculate on the exact group that may have been responsible.

We have determined that the explosive devices consisted of military grade munitions, and we have found a number of pieces of ordnance that were Soviet era manufacture. And we've had fragments here from mortars, artillery shells, grenades, one 500-pound bomb and then the main component of explosive here.

So we have a large quantity in excess of a thousand pound of explosives that was military grade munitions. This was not a homemade bomb.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PHILLIPS: CNN is being told an extremist group with known ties to al Qaeda is leading the pack of suspects, but it's a big pack. Pentagon officials say the U.N. bombing may have been beyond the capabilities of run-of-the-mill Saddam loyalists.

As far as who is responsible, the U.S. civil administrator fears a new era of terror is posted on Iraq.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: It does not mean, I think, that we can exclude the possibility that the Fedayeen Saddam or some of the old Saddam guys did it. They had very substantial explosive capabilities in parts of their intelligence services, and it's not impossible that it was done by them.

It's also possible, and that's the second list, that it was done by some foreign terrorist group like Ansar al Islam, which is a group with close ties to al Qaeda, which was operating in the north of Iraq before the war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan on his way back to New York this hour, having scrapped his European vacation. He's due to huddle with the Security Council, never more appropriately named, about three hours from now.

In the meantime, we turn to CNN's Michael Okwu at U.N. headquarters in lower Manhattan for an update from there.

Hello, Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles.

The secretary-general, Kofi Annan, is expected to meet behind closed doors with the Security Council at about 5:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. But we expect that he will also stop briefly to talk to reporters on his way into the building, we are told, at about 3 or so.

The big question being asked as well wishers continue to drop flowers off here for the dead is how could this have happened? Who was responsible? Did the United Nations take the necessary precautions for security?

Earlier today the secretary-general spoke to through his spokesman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FRED ECKHARD, U.N. SPOKESMAN: The United Nations had hoped that the coalition forces would have secured the environment so that U.N. staff could carry out economic reconstruction and institution building.

The security around our location was not as secure as you might find at the U.S. compound. And that was a decision we made so that our offices could be more accessible to people. We did not think at the time we were taking an unnecessary risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: Now, Annan said that his colleagues gave their lives for peace. At least 18 U.N. staffers are dead, close to a hundred injured. That number may, in fact, rise by the end of the day.

The very big question the Security Council might be talking about is what about the role of U.N. blue-helmeted peacekeepers? Or will someone on the Security Council ask for the deployment of a rapid reaction force? Some of the questions that the Security Council will likely face this afternoon.

But all of the Security Council diplomats we have spoken to today, Miles, say they are waiting to get the call from the secretary- general to see specifically what his request might be -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Michael, the reason security was low there, relatively, is very deliberate. The United Nations didn't want to present a fortress to the people of Baghdad. Is there much talk about changing that philosophy?

OKWU: Absolutely. There has been some talk about that today. The secretary-general's spokesperson really being hammered by the media here about that specific issue.

He said that he wanted to make sure, at least the U.N. officials wanted to make sure that the building was accessible to Iraqis, that any Iraqi could just walk in. But at the same time, he said, this should not be a lethal assignment for U.N. staffers, and that is why they were actually in the process of building a low wall to surround the building just before this attack happened -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: That's an interesting point. OK. Michael Okwu at the United Nations. Thanks 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