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The Arab World Speaks to Saddam Hussein's Capture
Aired December 15, 2003 - 15:01 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 the reaction. Even governments that fiercely oppose the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime are hailing what Iran calls the miserable surrender of Saddam. On the streets, however, the Arab world speaks with many voices, as CNN's Brent Sadler reports from Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arabic television channels are filled with the story of Saddam Hussein's capture. The video proof seen by many here as deliberate humiliation by U.S. forces of the once all-powerful Iraqi president.
JAMIL MROUE, "BEIRUT DAILY STAR": It bursts a 30-year-old image of a Saddam.
SADLER: An image of apparent compliance and surrender that has shocked countless millions of Arabs, perhaps shattering the supposed concept of what invincible leadership in the Mideast really is.
MROUE: That charade of greatness is gone on everybody. Nobody is now beyond people's pity, people's wrath, people's accountability. No one. You cannot hide anymore.
SADLER: Trapped, cornered, imprisoned, but above all else, giving up without a fight. Just some of the newspaper comments reported in capitals throughout the Arab world. Some front-page headlines screaming varying levels of utter disbelief that Saddam Hussein, the fugitive, was run to ground without a shot being fired.
For many, like these students at the American University of Beirut, it's hard to believe. Hibat Rustan (ph) is a post-graduate student in engineering management.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After all, this man has been in power more than 20 years. And he once was a president. And now all he is somebody just living down in a hole.
SADLER: Or at least trying to evade capture by hiding in one. "Getting what he deserves," says Diana Azzam, studying biochemistry.
DIANA AZZAM, STUDENT: He was very bad. He did many bad things in his life. So that's -- he deserves what he got. He has to be treated this way.
SADLER: Not all Arabs think like that. In the slums of a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Mohammed Abu Rudaina explains that many here feel pity for the former Iraqi leader. At least he stood up against Israel, they say, and its U.S. ally.
MOHAMMED ABU RUDAINA: It was a big shock for all of us. It was like a black day for all Palestinians.
SADLER: A day no one is likely to forget, neither the victors, nor the vanquished.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.
(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 December 15, 2003 - 15:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now the reaction. Even governments that fiercely oppose the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime are hailing what Iran calls the miserable surrender of Saddam. On the streets, however, the Arab world speaks with many voices, as CNN's Brent Sadler reports from Beirut.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Arabic television channels are filled with the story of Saddam Hussein's capture. The video proof seen by many here as deliberate humiliation by U.S. forces of the once all-powerful Iraqi president.
JAMIL MROUE, "BEIRUT DAILY STAR": It bursts a 30-year-old image of a Saddam.
SADLER: An image of apparent compliance and surrender that has shocked countless millions of Arabs, perhaps shattering the supposed concept of what invincible leadership in the Mideast really is.
MROUE: That charade of greatness is gone on everybody. Nobody is now beyond people's pity, people's wrath, people's accountability. No one. You cannot hide anymore.
SADLER: Trapped, cornered, imprisoned, but above all else, giving up without a fight. Just some of the newspaper comments reported in capitals throughout the Arab world. Some front-page headlines screaming varying levels of utter disbelief that Saddam Hussein, the fugitive, was run to ground without a shot being fired.
For many, like these students at the American University of Beirut, it's hard to believe. Hibat Rustan (ph) is a post-graduate student in engineering management.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: After all, this man has been in power more than 20 years. And he once was a president. And now all he is somebody just living down in a hole.
SADLER: Or at least trying to evade capture by hiding in one. "Getting what he deserves," says Diana Azzam, studying biochemistry.
DIANA AZZAM, STUDENT: He was very bad. He did many bad things in his life. So that's -- he deserves what he got. He has to be treated this way.
SADLER: Not all Arabs think like that. In the slums of a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon, Mohammed Abu Rudaina explains that many here feel pity for the former Iraqi leader. At least he stood up against Israel, they say, and its U.S. ally.
MOHAMMED ABU RUDAINA: It was a big shock for all of us. It was like a black day for all Palestinians.
SADLER: A day no one is likely to forget, neither the victors, nor the vanquished.
Brent Sadler, CNN, Beirut.
(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
