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American Morning

Jay Garner Holds a Town Hall Meeting with Prospective Leaders

Aired April 28, 2003 - 09:09   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: In Baghdad, retired U.S. Lieutenant General Jay Garner held a town hall style meeting with prospective leaders of the country. He says his aim is a Democratic Iraqi government representing all three of the country's groups, a huge challenge ahead.
Rym Brahimi, watching this and joins us live now in Baghdad with more.

Good afternoon there, Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Bill.

Indeed, Jay Garner chairing that meeting at the conference palace, very tight security. At least nine tanks outside of that location, and inside the halls and corridors, there was U.S. troops patrolling even. Now there are 250 prominent Iraqis gathered there to discuss the political future of Iraq.

Jay Garner says, as you mentioned, he wants to build a Democratic country for the children of Iraq. But before that, a lot of things have to be dealt with. First and foremost, security, facilities, water and electricity, and returning people back to work. One of the main concerns of most Iraqis here, of course.

That said, there is a group of people that were there. They include exiles who haven't been back to the country in some two decades. They include various representatives who have been in Iraq, Shiite, Sunni representatives, as well as Arab tribal chiefs and Kurds, but there are questions being raised by some Iraqis over how representative they are of the people of Iraq. Just a couple of hours ago, there was a demonstration in front of the Palestine Hotel here in central Baghdad. Several hundreds of people, Shiite Muslims, and they were demonstrating because they said their group, that's from the holy city of Najaf, the theological college of El Hawal (ph), was not properly represented, and what they were saying, they had banners, they were sending messages and talking to reporters, saying that unless their group was represented, they thought that that meeting that is taking place today was going to fail.

Back to you, Bill.

HEMMER: Rym, talk about the security right now in Baghdad. There was an incident over the weekend involving members of the U.S. military shot while on patrol, riding around in their Humvees. In a general sense, can you give us a better idea of how safe things are today in Baghdad? BRAHIMI: Well, the situation is still a little bit iffy, Bill. Indeed, there was that incident in which U.S. troops were assaulted or ambushed, if you will. The problem seems to be, there are a lot of weapons running around Baghdad and the rest of Iraq, lots of weapons there that are being sold on marketplaces. U.S. are troops trying to do what they can to curb that, but it's very, very difficult. A lot of people have been selling weapons, a lot of people are keeping them at home, and then there is the unexploded ordnance. There's also a lot tension. People feel they are not safe. People buy weapons because they afraid they'll be looted, or because they're afraid that they'll be attacked. Other people think that they might need this message to eventually fight the U.S. if they don't leave soon, really, a very tense and chaotic situation, which makes for things even less safe than they would in normal circumstance -- Bill.

HEMMER: Another indication of just how much work and hard work there is in the weeks and months to come. Rym Brahimi in Baghdad.

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




Leaders>


Aired April 28, 2003 - 09:09   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: In Baghdad, retired U.S. Lieutenant General Jay Garner held a town hall style meeting with prospective leaders of the country. He says his aim is a Democratic Iraqi government representing all three of the country's groups, a huge challenge ahead.
Rym Brahimi, watching this and joins us live now in Baghdad with more.

Good afternoon there, Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Bill.

Indeed, Jay Garner chairing that meeting at the conference palace, very tight security. At least nine tanks outside of that location, and inside the halls and corridors, there was U.S. troops patrolling even. Now there are 250 prominent Iraqis gathered there to discuss the political future of Iraq.

Jay Garner says, as you mentioned, he wants to build a Democratic country for the children of Iraq. But before that, a lot of things have to be dealt with. First and foremost, security, facilities, water and electricity, and returning people back to work. One of the main concerns of most Iraqis here, of course.

That said, there is a group of people that were there. They include exiles who haven't been back to the country in some two decades. They include various representatives who have been in Iraq, Shiite, Sunni representatives, as well as Arab tribal chiefs and Kurds, but there are questions being raised by some Iraqis over how representative they are of the people of Iraq. Just a couple of hours ago, there was a demonstration in front of the Palestine Hotel here in central Baghdad. Several hundreds of people, Shiite Muslims, and they were demonstrating because they said their group, that's from the holy city of Najaf, the theological college of El Hawal (ph), was not properly represented, and what they were saying, they had banners, they were sending messages and talking to reporters, saying that unless their group was represented, they thought that that meeting that is taking place today was going to fail.

Back to you, Bill.

HEMMER: Rym, talk about the security right now in Baghdad. There was an incident over the weekend involving members of the U.S. military shot while on patrol, riding around in their Humvees. In a general sense, can you give us a better idea of how safe things are today in Baghdad? BRAHIMI: Well, the situation is still a little bit iffy, Bill. Indeed, there was that incident in which U.S. troops were assaulted or ambushed, if you will. The problem seems to be, there are a lot of weapons running around Baghdad and the rest of Iraq, lots of weapons there that are being sold on marketplaces. U.S. are troops trying to do what they can to curb that, but it's very, very difficult. A lot of people have been selling weapons, a lot of people are keeping them at home, and then there is the unexploded ordnance. There's also a lot tension. People feel they are not safe. People buy weapons because they afraid they'll be looted, or because they're afraid that they'll be attacked. Other people think that they might need this message to eventually fight the U.S. if they don't leave soon, really, a very tense and chaotic situation, which makes for things even less safe than they would in normal circumstance -- Bill.

HEMMER: Another indication of just how much work and hard work there is in the weeks and months to come. Rym Brahimi in Baghdad.

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




Leaders>