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Kirkuk Attack
Aired February 23, 2004 - 15:04 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: A United Nations reports says that elections are not possible in Iraq this year. That report also says the idea of regional caucuses as a way to pick a transitional government doesn't have enough support among Iraqis. June 30 is the coalition's goal for handing authority back over to Iraq. The U.N. says it will help come up with a Plan B.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY GREENSTOCK, BRITISH REP. TO IRAQ: I think the first effect will be to confirm some of the timetables that Washington and London and the CPA have set out. That is, that in the middle of 2004, authority will come to a fully sovereign Iraqi government. Iraqis will be sovereign in their own land from July onwards. Second, that full national elections need time to prepare, and therefore won't happen before the end of 2004.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Elsewhere in Iraq, a New blow to efforts to bring order to that nation. This time, insurgents strike the city of Kirkuk.
CNN's Brent Sadler brings us the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A deadly attack like so many others in recent weeks targeting an Iraqi police station in the northern city of Kirkuk, detonated by a suicide bomber. The explosion was apparently timed to coincide with a shift change, when police officers were starting their day.
U.S. military officials say a vehicle packed with explosives crashed through an entrance, drawing gunfire from guards who tried but failed to stop the bomber. Suicide attacks are hammering Iraq's newly emerging security forces. Especially the police.
The latest bomber struck as U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in the region, traveling from Kuwait to Baghdad for a first-hand update of military and political development. He met with top commanders who told him the upsurge in suicide attacks may be linked to greater involvement in Iraq by international terror groups like al Qaeda. And Iraq's newborn police force finds itself in the front line of what may be a mutating conflict in which outside terror groups are striking with or alongside Iraqi insurgents. In a sign of discontent, though, members of another Iraqi security force, the Facilities Protection Service, marched in Baghdad, complaining they also risk their lives but don't get paid on time.
(on camera): There's no doubt, say coalition forces, that Iraq's police are showing courage under fire. But it's widely acknowledged that neither the police nor other branches Iraq's security forces can cope alone by the time the U.S. occupation is expected to end.
Brent Sadler, 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 February 23, 2004 - 15:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A United Nations reports says that elections are not possible in Iraq this year. That report also says the idea of regional caucuses as a way to pick a transitional government doesn't have enough support among Iraqis. June 30 is the coalition's goal for handing authority back over to Iraq. The U.N. says it will help come up with a Plan B.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEREMY GREENSTOCK, BRITISH REP. TO IRAQ: I think the first effect will be to confirm some of the timetables that Washington and London and the CPA have set out. That is, that in the middle of 2004, authority will come to a fully sovereign Iraqi government. Iraqis will be sovereign in their own land from July onwards. Second, that full national elections need time to prepare, and therefore won't happen before the end of 2004.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIPS: Elsewhere in Iraq, a New blow to efforts to bring order to that nation. This time, insurgents strike the city of Kirkuk.
CNN's Brent Sadler brings us the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BRENT SADLER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A deadly attack like so many others in recent weeks targeting an Iraqi police station in the northern city of Kirkuk, detonated by a suicide bomber. The explosion was apparently timed to coincide with a shift change, when police officers were starting their day.
U.S. military officials say a vehicle packed with explosives crashed through an entrance, drawing gunfire from guards who tried but failed to stop the bomber. Suicide attacks are hammering Iraq's newly emerging security forces. Especially the police.
The latest bomber struck as U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was in the region, traveling from Kuwait to Baghdad for a first-hand update of military and political development. He met with top commanders who told him the upsurge in suicide attacks may be linked to greater involvement in Iraq by international terror groups like al Qaeda. And Iraq's newborn police force finds itself in the front line of what may be a mutating conflict in which outside terror groups are striking with or alongside Iraqi insurgents. In a sign of discontent, though, members of another Iraqi security force, the Facilities Protection Service, marched in Baghdad, complaining they also risk their lives but don't get paid on time.
(on camera): There's no doubt, say coalition forces, that Iraq's police are showing courage under fire. But it's widely acknowledged that neither the police nor other branches Iraq's security forces can cope alone by the time the U.S. occupation is expected to end.
Brent Sadler, 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
