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Chemical Ali Captured; U.N. Considers Resolution on Iraq
Aired August 21, 2003 - 14:05 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: Now to Baghdad, where another blast rocked the U.N.'s bombed-out base of operations today, but this time we know who did it. We still don't know who turned the building to rubble, but in the past hours, somebody did claim responsibility.
CNN's Ben Wedeman, live now from Baghdad with all of that and Chemical Ali, also. A lot of developing news -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, regarding Ali Hassan Majid, otherwise known as Chemical Ali, United States has announced that they do have him into custody. Apparently, they took him into custody several days ago but only today have they announced that they have him.
Now of course, Ali Hassan Majid is a notorious figure who really was Saddam's prime henchman. He was the man oversaw the campaign against the Kurds in northern Iraq in the late 1980's, which left more than 100,000 Kurds dead, and many hundred thousands more homeless.
He was the man who allegedly masterminded the 1988 gassing of the Kurdish village of Halafja (ph). He was also responsible for the suppression of the Shiite rebellion that broke out after the Gulf War.
Obviously this is a man who the United States is very happy to have their hands on. Many Iraqis, however, would like to see him, in the words of one man I spoke with, torn to pieces. Another man wants to see Chemical Ali put in a cage in the zoo for people to come and see.
Now, regarding the bombing of the U.N. Headquarters, work continues out there. This evening, we saw as U.S. forces put together a controlled explosion, as you just heard, of the building because there was a part of the roof that was hanging down -- hanging precariously over the heads of the U.S. and Iraqi workers who are trying to clear away the rubble.
At this point, according to U.N. officials, the death toll from that attack stands at 23. They do believe, however, there still may be more bodies in the rubble.
Now, this evening the al-Ada Bayah (ph) satellite news channel received a claim of responsibility for that bombing. According to that claim, that was the Armed Vanguards of Mohammed's Second Army that said they were behind the blast and they swore -- rather they pledged to carry out similar attacks against foreigners in Iraq -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ben, do we know anything about this armed vanguard, the Mohammed Second Army?
WEDEMAN: No, really this is the first announcement of its type from this group. And at this point, we have to treat these sort of claims of responsibility with a good deal of salt because this is the first time we've heard from them.
Often times in the Middle East, there will be an event, an incident, a terrorist attack of some sort and several groups will claim responsibility. And it may come out later that it was just a hoax. So we really must be -- treat this one very carefully -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Understandably. Ben, meanwhile, does the search continue for the bodies beneath the rubble there and how many people do they believe may still be trapped in there? Has there been a count of who was inside at the time of this bombing?
WEDEMAN: Well, it's almost hard to really, when you after the fact to go out and figure out who was where and who was inside. But at this point, U.N. officials are saying there may be two more bodies, two people missing from this blast.
And really, the work continues. And the blast that took place this evening, the controlled explosion, was intended to allow the rescue workers to get better access to the building. Because after an explosion of that kind, the kind that took place the other day, the structure is very unsafe and a risk for anybody going inside in the event that the whole thing just falls to pieces.
So really we're going to have to watch very closely and see whether they do find more bodies -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: CNN's Ben Wedeman, live from Baghdad, thank you -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A day of high emotion at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where the diplomatic community remembers friends who will no longer walk the floors there, amid a resolve to keep working for a new Iraq.
Michael Okwu was there and is here to tell us about it.
Hello, Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, hello.
More extraordinary days here at the United Nations. The secretary-general, Kofi Annan, met earlier this morning with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. This meeting at the request, we are told, of Mr. Powell, who wanted to show solidarity between the United States and the United Nations.
But very clearly on the agenda, a possible resolution, another resolution that would basically authorize a multinational force of police, as well as security. In the past countries like France, Russia and Germany have said that they would not like to endorse an international force without getting a greater U.N. mandate. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're looking forward to language that might call on member states to do more. But the president has always felt that the U.N. has a vital role to play, and he has said that repeatedly. It is playing a vital role. That's what Sergio and his colleagues were doing. And so we are now just exploring language with our Security Council colleagues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: In the meantime, poignant moments from the secretary- general. He addressed some 45,000 U.N. staffers in a worldwide broadcast, essentially telling them that the death toll could rise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: We who are so wrapped up in the tragedies of others now face one of our own. The ache in our souls is almost too much to bear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Miles, the secretary-general went on to say that the United Nations would continue to do its work on the ground, that it would not be reckless, but at the same time, it would not be intimidated -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. With the secretary of state there, at least floating the idea of internationalizing and increasing the U.N. role there so much, the timing seems a little difficult and challenging. Does that idea have much traction within the halls there?
OKWU: Well, it's certainly something that has been discussed roughly in the past, but it was not a very popular notion, that because nobody here really wanted to be seen as endorsing the U.S.-led war, necessarily.
But the secretary making very clear fact that there is some 30 countries already involved in Iraq, providing troops. And the German ambassador saying so long as the language is phrased in the right way, so long as the language, for example, suggests that the troops would be there to fight terrorism and not just to be sent to supply more troops for the United States and Great Britain, then the resolution could be something that could see some traction -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right. Thank you very much, Michael Okwu at the United Nations.
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 21, 2003 - 14:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Baghdad, where another blast rocked the U.N.'s bombed-out base of operations today, but this time we know who did it. We still don't know who turned the building to rubble, but in the past hours, somebody did claim responsibility.
CNN's Ben Wedeman, live now from Baghdad with all of that and Chemical Ali, also. A lot of developing news -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Kyra, regarding Ali Hassan Majid, otherwise known as Chemical Ali, United States has announced that they do have him into custody. Apparently, they took him into custody several days ago but only today have they announced that they have him.
Now of course, Ali Hassan Majid is a notorious figure who really was Saddam's prime henchman. He was the man oversaw the campaign against the Kurds in northern Iraq in the late 1980's, which left more than 100,000 Kurds dead, and many hundred thousands more homeless.
He was the man who allegedly masterminded the 1988 gassing of the Kurdish village of Halafja (ph). He was also responsible for the suppression of the Shiite rebellion that broke out after the Gulf War.
Obviously this is a man who the United States is very happy to have their hands on. Many Iraqis, however, would like to see him, in the words of one man I spoke with, torn to pieces. Another man wants to see Chemical Ali put in a cage in the zoo for people to come and see.
Now, regarding the bombing of the U.N. Headquarters, work continues out there. This evening, we saw as U.S. forces put together a controlled explosion, as you just heard, of the building because there was a part of the roof that was hanging down -- hanging precariously over the heads of the U.S. and Iraqi workers who are trying to clear away the rubble.
At this point, according to U.N. officials, the death toll from that attack stands at 23. They do believe, however, there still may be more bodies in the rubble.
Now, this evening the al-Ada Bayah (ph) satellite news channel received a claim of responsibility for that bombing. According to that claim, that was the Armed Vanguards of Mohammed's Second Army that said they were behind the blast and they swore -- rather they pledged to carry out similar attacks against foreigners in Iraq -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Ben, do we know anything about this armed vanguard, the Mohammed Second Army?
WEDEMAN: No, really this is the first announcement of its type from this group. And at this point, we have to treat these sort of claims of responsibility with a good deal of salt because this is the first time we've heard from them.
Often times in the Middle East, there will be an event, an incident, a terrorist attack of some sort and several groups will claim responsibility. And it may come out later that it was just a hoax. So we really must be -- treat this one very carefully -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Understandably. Ben, meanwhile, does the search continue for the bodies beneath the rubble there and how many people do they believe may still be trapped in there? Has there been a count of who was inside at the time of this bombing?
WEDEMAN: Well, it's almost hard to really, when you after the fact to go out and figure out who was where and who was inside. But at this point, U.N. officials are saying there may be two more bodies, two people missing from this blast.
And really, the work continues. And the blast that took place this evening, the controlled explosion, was intended to allow the rescue workers to get better access to the building. Because after an explosion of that kind, the kind that took place the other day, the structure is very unsafe and a risk for anybody going inside in the event that the whole thing just falls to pieces.
So really we're going to have to watch very closely and see whether they do find more bodies -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: CNN's Ben Wedeman, live from Baghdad, thank you -- Miles.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: A day of high emotion at the United Nations headquarters in New York, where the diplomatic community remembers friends who will no longer walk the floors there, amid a resolve to keep working for a new Iraq.
Michael Okwu was there and is here to tell us about it.
Hello, Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, hello.
More extraordinary days here at the United Nations. The secretary-general, Kofi Annan, met earlier this morning with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell. This meeting at the request, we are told, of Mr. Powell, who wanted to show solidarity between the United States and the United Nations.
But very clearly on the agenda, a possible resolution, another resolution that would basically authorize a multinational force of police, as well as security. In the past countries like France, Russia and Germany have said that they would not like to endorse an international force without getting a greater U.N. mandate. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We're looking forward to language that might call on member states to do more. But the president has always felt that the U.N. has a vital role to play, and he has said that repeatedly. It is playing a vital role. That's what Sergio and his colleagues were doing. And so we are now just exploring language with our Security Council colleagues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: In the meantime, poignant moments from the secretary- general. He addressed some 45,000 U.N. staffers in a worldwide broadcast, essentially telling them that the death toll could rise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: We who are so wrapped up in the tragedies of others now face one of our own. The ache in our souls is almost too much to bear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Miles, the secretary-general went on to say that the United Nations would continue to do its work on the ground, that it would not be reckless, but at the same time, it would not be intimidated -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: All right. With the secretary of state there, at least floating the idea of internationalizing and increasing the U.N. role there so much, the timing seems a little difficult and challenging. Does that idea have much traction within the halls there?
OKWU: Well, it's certainly something that has been discussed roughly in the past, but it was not a very popular notion, that because nobody here really wanted to be seen as endorsing the U.S.-led war, necessarily.
But the secretary making very clear fact that there is some 30 countries already involved in Iraq, providing troops. And the German ambassador saying so long as the language is phrased in the right way, so long as the language, for example, suggests that the troops would be there to fight terrorism and not just to be sent to supply more troops for the United States and Great Britain, then the resolution could be something that could see some traction -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. All right. Thank you very much, Michael Okwu at the United Nations.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
