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American Morning

The New Iraq: Scene in Baghdad

Aired April 17, 2003 - 07:16   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Want to keep it in Baghdad right now where the power continues to be a major priority.
Rula Amin is watching things there in the Iraqi capital, and she joins us now for an update.

Good afternoon, Rula, what's happening?

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.

Well, Bill, the residents here in Baghdad are now concerned about their basic needs, frustration among many because of the lack of running water, the lack of medical services and the crucial problem of power outage. In most of Baghdad, there is still no power, despite efforts by the Marines to recruit the local civil servants here in order to try to restore this power. They've been working on this for the last week, but very small progress has been made. Only a few substations have been running so far.

The major grid power is still crippled. The reason is it's a multiple problem, there's a lack of equipment, lack of workers, the lack of central authority that would tell workers what to do, where is the damage. And one of the main obstacles is that many of the transmission lines that bring power from the major grid to the substations have been downed. They have been damaged along so many and different spots and that's why it's difficult to restore power to all of Baghdad.

What the Marines are going to try to do tomorrow is to fly Iraqi workers along the line from Kirkuk, the northern city of Kirkuk, which doesn't have a power problem. They believe there is enough power there to bring it to the capital in order to jumpstart the big power station here. However, in order to do that, they need the transmission lines to be operating. And so they will be flying Iraqi workers in a helicopter along the transmission lines to check where is the damage, to try to fix it in order to bring this power from the northern city of Kirkuk to Baghdad.

It's a major challenge, but it's a much-needed, desperate need for Iraqis, because without power, there's no clean water, no sewage and the hospitals are working on very minimum electrical supplies. And so this has been a major concern for many. They've been trying to fix it. They have been calling on the Marines to have -- to play an active role in order to fix it, but so far, it's still not working -- Bill.

HEMMER: Rula, we know Saddam Hussein had a number of hideouts in that city of Baghdad. Five million people there, an easy place to hide, in many respects. We're watching video right now from Al Jazeera from inside of one of these secret hideaways. What are we learning about this location -- Rula?

AMIN: Well the significant part about this location is it's only a few feet from where a missile hit at the beginning of the war ,because the U.S. then said that they believed that Saddam Hussein was hiding in a bunker in the neighborhood of al-Mansour. So they hit that place with bunker-busting missiles.

We don't know what happened then. Some believe that Saddam Hussein was there and that he died. Others said that he was not there. However, when the people now in the capital discovered this hideout, there are more people who believe that he had managed to run away.

And there are signs that this is the place that he was using. We can see a table that looks very much like the desk he used in his last address to the Iraqis. People who went there found papers, official papers with Iraqi government letterhead. They also think that the residents there in the neighborhood have been saying that they have spotted Saddam Hussein, they have spotted his son in that same neighborhood. But again, there are so many rumors here.

Many Iraqis are just wondering and amazed where did Saddam Hussein go. His two sons are still -- have -- are not there, they don't know where they are, his aides, his ministers. So people are very curious to know where did they all go -- Bill.

HEMMER: Rula Amin live in Baghdad. Thanks, Rula.

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 April 17, 2003 - 07:16   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Want to keep it in Baghdad right now where the power continues to be a major priority.
Rula Amin is watching things there in the Iraqi capital, and she joins us now for an update.

Good afternoon, Rula, what's happening?

RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon, Bill.

Well, Bill, the residents here in Baghdad are now concerned about their basic needs, frustration among many because of the lack of running water, the lack of medical services and the crucial problem of power outage. In most of Baghdad, there is still no power, despite efforts by the Marines to recruit the local civil servants here in order to try to restore this power. They've been working on this for the last week, but very small progress has been made. Only a few substations have been running so far.

The major grid power is still crippled. The reason is it's a multiple problem, there's a lack of equipment, lack of workers, the lack of central authority that would tell workers what to do, where is the damage. And one of the main obstacles is that many of the transmission lines that bring power from the major grid to the substations have been downed. They have been damaged along so many and different spots and that's why it's difficult to restore power to all of Baghdad.

What the Marines are going to try to do tomorrow is to fly Iraqi workers along the line from Kirkuk, the northern city of Kirkuk, which doesn't have a power problem. They believe there is enough power there to bring it to the capital in order to jumpstart the big power station here. However, in order to do that, they need the transmission lines to be operating. And so they will be flying Iraqi workers in a helicopter along the transmission lines to check where is the damage, to try to fix it in order to bring this power from the northern city of Kirkuk to Baghdad.

It's a major challenge, but it's a much-needed, desperate need for Iraqis, because without power, there's no clean water, no sewage and the hospitals are working on very minimum electrical supplies. And so this has been a major concern for many. They've been trying to fix it. They have been calling on the Marines to have -- to play an active role in order to fix it, but so far, it's still not working -- Bill.

HEMMER: Rula, we know Saddam Hussein had a number of hideouts in that city of Baghdad. Five million people there, an easy place to hide, in many respects. We're watching video right now from Al Jazeera from inside of one of these secret hideaways. What are we learning about this location -- Rula?

AMIN: Well the significant part about this location is it's only a few feet from where a missile hit at the beginning of the war ,because the U.S. then said that they believed that Saddam Hussein was hiding in a bunker in the neighborhood of al-Mansour. So they hit that place with bunker-busting missiles.

We don't know what happened then. Some believe that Saddam Hussein was there and that he died. Others said that he was not there. However, when the people now in the capital discovered this hideout, there are more people who believe that he had managed to run away.

And there are signs that this is the place that he was using. We can see a table that looks very much like the desk he used in his last address to the Iraqis. People who went there found papers, official papers with Iraqi government letterhead. They also think that the residents there in the neighborhood have been saying that they have spotted Saddam Hussein, they have spotted his son in that same neighborhood. But again, there are so many rumors here.

Many Iraqis are just wondering and amazed where did Saddam Hussein go. His two sons are still -- have -- are not there, they don't know where they are, his aides, his ministers. So people are very curious to know where did they all go -- Bill.

HEMMER: Rula Amin live in Baghdad. Thanks, Rula.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com