Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
One of Iraq's Most Prominent Clerics Dead
Aired August 29, 2003 - 13:02 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq, another deadly bombing, another shockwave through the country. One of Iraq's most prominent clerics is dead in the killing field next to a sacred Islamic shrine.
It happened today in Najaf, far from the struggle in the Baghdad region that has claimed the life of another American soldier.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is live from Najaf now to tell us what's happening there.
Good afternoon to you, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Heidi.
Well, that senior cleric Baqir Al Hakim was killed today when a car bomb apparently went off outside the Imam Ali mosque. That is one of the most holy sites of Shia Islam. Now at this point, the death toll is unclear, but according to at least the director general of one of Najaf's main hospital, they have 75 people there dead, as well as more than 100 wounded. We were at that hospital earlier today, and It is truly a scene of carnage. The morgue is full of bodies, to the point where they had to put the bodies outside the morgue. I saw about 30 or 40 of them covered with bloody blankets.
Inside the hospital itself, every room, every hospital room, is full of the wounded. The operating rooms are filled to capacity. I watched as a doctor operated on a man's leg in a room full of other patients who were trying to recover.
Now, meanwhile, at the scene of the blast itself, there are apparently still people there trying to dig through the ruins there. It is believed there are still bodies there. There certainly are human remains splattered all over the area. One of our cameramen went there without a camera, because the people here are so emotional that they are very angry at any foreign presence, so he had to go without a camera, and he described a scene where there are body parts all over the place, cars had been just blown to pieces, buildings completely destroyed. Now the atmosphere in Najaf is very tense at the moment, people pointing fingers in every possible direction, blaming the United States, blaming Israel, blaming the remnants of the old regime. A very tense atmosphere here in Najaf -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, Ben, and on that very same point, we've been looking at the pictures all morning long. An unbelievable sight, as I'm sure you know, being where you are. How does this incident change the face of the conflict as far as what's going on at the moment in Iraq? WEDEMAN: Well, Heidi, what it does, is it refocuses attention on an area until now has been relatively quiet. The southern part of Iraq, the predominantly Shiite part of Iraq has had, certainly relative to what's call the Sunni Triangle, very few problems.
Now the problem in the south with the Shiites is really, clearly, one of the biggest problems. This is the largest incident with the highest death toll in Iraq since the end of the war. There are struggles for leadership within the Shiite community, and it's not clear at this point whether this bomb was part of those struggles, or not part of it, whether this was a bomb that was planted by Sunni opponents of the Shiites who definitely, at this point, want to take power in this country. They make up about 60 percent of the population. Under Saddam Hussein, they were severely oppressed, and they feel that now is their time for power -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Ben Wedeman, live from Najaf for us. Thanks so much, Ben.
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 29, 2003 - 13:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq, another deadly bombing, another shockwave through the country. One of Iraq's most prominent clerics is dead in the killing field next to a sacred Islamic shrine.
It happened today in Najaf, far from the struggle in the Baghdad region that has claimed the life of another American soldier.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is live from Najaf now to tell us what's happening there.
Good afternoon to you, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hello, Heidi.
Well, that senior cleric Baqir Al Hakim was killed today when a car bomb apparently went off outside the Imam Ali mosque. That is one of the most holy sites of Shia Islam. Now at this point, the death toll is unclear, but according to at least the director general of one of Najaf's main hospital, they have 75 people there dead, as well as more than 100 wounded. We were at that hospital earlier today, and It is truly a scene of carnage. The morgue is full of bodies, to the point where they had to put the bodies outside the morgue. I saw about 30 or 40 of them covered with bloody blankets.
Inside the hospital itself, every room, every hospital room, is full of the wounded. The operating rooms are filled to capacity. I watched as a doctor operated on a man's leg in a room full of other patients who were trying to recover.
Now, meanwhile, at the scene of the blast itself, there are apparently still people there trying to dig through the ruins there. It is believed there are still bodies there. There certainly are human remains splattered all over the area. One of our cameramen went there without a camera, because the people here are so emotional that they are very angry at any foreign presence, so he had to go without a camera, and he described a scene where there are body parts all over the place, cars had been just blown to pieces, buildings completely destroyed. Now the atmosphere in Najaf is very tense at the moment, people pointing fingers in every possible direction, blaming the United States, blaming Israel, blaming the remnants of the old regime. A very tense atmosphere here in Najaf -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Yes, Ben, and on that very same point, we've been looking at the pictures all morning long. An unbelievable sight, as I'm sure you know, being where you are. How does this incident change the face of the conflict as far as what's going on at the moment in Iraq? WEDEMAN: Well, Heidi, what it does, is it refocuses attention on an area until now has been relatively quiet. The southern part of Iraq, the predominantly Shiite part of Iraq has had, certainly relative to what's call the Sunni Triangle, very few problems.
Now the problem in the south with the Shiites is really, clearly, one of the biggest problems. This is the largest incident with the highest death toll in Iraq since the end of the war. There are struggles for leadership within the Shiite community, and it's not clear at this point whether this bomb was part of those struggles, or not part of it, whether this was a bomb that was planted by Sunni opponents of the Shiites who definitely, at this point, want to take power in this country. They make up about 60 percent of the population. Under Saddam Hussein, they were severely oppressed, and they feel that now is their time for power -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, CNN's Ben Wedeman, live from Najaf for us. Thanks so much, Ben.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
