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Terror in Iraq: Baghdad Car Bombing

Aired September 02, 2003 - 15:32   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, CNN ANCHOR: Deadly violence once again mars U.S. coalition efforts in Iraq. Two more U.S. troops were killed when their Humvee hit planted explosives. But new concerns focused on a series of deadly car bombings.
As CNN's Rym Brahimi reports from Baghdad, the targets seems to be Iraqis themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fourth car bomb in Iraq in four weeks. The target this time: a police station. The casualties: at least one person killed and, according to a hospital that took in the wounded, at least 18 people injured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Flying debris, glass, iron everything flying. It was a big explosion.

BRAHIMI: Having heard of the explosion, this woman came frantically looking for her son who works there. The police said a thick wall between the building and the carpark where the bomb off prevented this latest attack from doing more damage.

The bomb exploded in the morning, on a day when former Iraqi policemen come to collect their salaries and look for jobs with the new Iraqi police force.

YAHYA IBRAHIM, IRAQI POLICE OFFICER (through translator): Those targeted were the police and, in general, the police came not to serve a certain person, but the country. They're not serving the Americans or a certain group or party. They're serving Iraq.

BRAHIMI (on camera): In a country where unemployment is high, getting trained as a policeman is a job. But policeman have been threatened by militants that are calling on Iraqis to kill them, as so-called collaborators, saying they're traitors for working with coalition forces.

(voice-over): Speaking to reporters, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said the coalition would continue to fight terrorists in Iraq with the help, he said, of the Iraqi people.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: As twice before in the past month, the terrorists have taken innocent lives. Once again, the terrorists have shown they will stop at nothing in the pursuit of their aims. But they shall be stopped. We will stop them. We shall combat them and we shall overcome them.

BRAHIMI: This latest car bomb comes only four days after two simultaneous car bombs killed at least 83 people in the holy city of Najaf.

Rym Brahimi, 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 September 2, 2003 - 15:32   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Deadly violence once again mars U.S. coalition efforts in Iraq. Two more U.S. troops were killed when their Humvee hit planted explosives. But new concerns focused on a series of deadly car bombings.
As CNN's Rym Brahimi reports from Baghdad, the targets seems to be Iraqis themselves.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The fourth car bomb in Iraq in four weeks. The target this time: a police station. The casualties: at least one person killed and, according to a hospital that took in the wounded, at least 18 people injured.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Flying debris, glass, iron everything flying. It was a big explosion.

BRAHIMI: Having heard of the explosion, this woman came frantically looking for her son who works there. The police said a thick wall between the building and the carpark where the bomb off prevented this latest attack from doing more damage.

The bomb exploded in the morning, on a day when former Iraqi policemen come to collect their salaries and look for jobs with the new Iraqi police force.

YAHYA IBRAHIM, IRAQI POLICE OFFICER (through translator): Those targeted were the police and, in general, the police came not to serve a certain person, but the country. They're not serving the Americans or a certain group or party. They're serving Iraq.

BRAHIMI (on camera): In a country where unemployment is high, getting trained as a policeman is a job. But policeman have been threatened by militants that are calling on Iraqis to kill them, as so-called collaborators, saying they're traitors for working with coalition forces.

(voice-over): Speaking to reporters, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, said the coalition would continue to fight terrorists in Iraq with the help, he said, of the Iraqi people.

PAUL BREMER, U.S. CIVILIAN ADMINISTRATOR: As twice before in the past month, the terrorists have taken innocent lives. Once again, the terrorists have shown they will stop at nothing in the pursuit of their aims. But they shall be stopped. We will stop them. We shall combat them and we shall overcome them.

BRAHIMI: This latest car bomb comes only four days after two simultaneous car bombs killed at least 83 people in the holy city of Najaf.

Rym Brahimi, 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