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American Morning
Forming New Iraqi Government
Aired May 05, 2003 - 07:41 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: An interim leadership group could be in place by the middle of this month in Iraq. That's the assessment of the retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, who is in charge of getting the country back on its feet.
Rym Brahimi is now in Baghdad with the latest on that.
Good afternoon to you there -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.
Well, Jay Garner, who is in charge of the civil administration here, says that group will include some nine Iraqis. Some of them returned exiles and some of them local Iraqis. He says they'll be representing various ethnic and religious groups that are here in Iraq.
Now, another sign that maybe things are coming back again gradually, the British embassy reopened, but we're not allowed to say it's a British embassy, because there is no Iraqi government. So, they're calling it a "British office" for now. And the man who actually closed the office back in '91 just before the Gulf War is back again to reopen it. He says he hopes they'll be issuing visas in the next few weeks -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Rym, have you had a chance to speak with more people on the streets? I know that the sentiment there has been somewhat mixed about how welcoming they are going to be of this interim government. Any change in that sentiment that you can tell?
BRAHIMI: Well, for the time being, no. There are very, very mixed feelings.
You know, I spoke to a family today, a family that I had known from before the war, and I asked them what they thought about all of these changes. And they were very skeptical. They said, well, you know, people are coming in, and they could be locals or they could be exiles who have just returned. But the bottom line is they're just setting up offices and taking over houses, saying that they've just gone to the political party. But we don't know who they are. We don't know what they've done for us or if they've done anything for us. And so, we don't know who to vote for, and if they're going to be representing our interests.
So, a lot of confusion there, and again, a lot of questions about who is going to be in that government and whether they will truly represent the Iraqis that have gone through so much in the past two decades or so -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Rym Brahimi live in Baghdad this morning. Thanks, Rym.
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 May 5, 2003 - 07:41 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: An interim leadership group could be in place by the middle of this month in Iraq. That's the assessment of the retired U.S. Army lieutenant general, who is in charge of getting the country back on its feet.
Rym Brahimi is now in Baghdad with the latest on that.
Good afternoon to you there -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.
Well, Jay Garner, who is in charge of the civil administration here, says that group will include some nine Iraqis. Some of them returned exiles and some of them local Iraqis. He says they'll be representing various ethnic and religious groups that are here in Iraq.
Now, another sign that maybe things are coming back again gradually, the British embassy reopened, but we're not allowed to say it's a British embassy, because there is no Iraqi government. So, they're calling it a "British office" for now. And the man who actually closed the office back in '91 just before the Gulf War is back again to reopen it. He says he hopes they'll be issuing visas in the next few weeks -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Rym, have you had a chance to speak with more people on the streets? I know that the sentiment there has been somewhat mixed about how welcoming they are going to be of this interim government. Any change in that sentiment that you can tell?
BRAHIMI: Well, for the time being, no. There are very, very mixed feelings.
You know, I spoke to a family today, a family that I had known from before the war, and I asked them what they thought about all of these changes. And they were very skeptical. They said, well, you know, people are coming in, and they could be locals or they could be exiles who have just returned. But the bottom line is they're just setting up offices and taking over houses, saying that they've just gone to the political party. But we don't know who they are. We don't know what they've done for us or if they've done anything for us. And so, we don't know who to vote for, and if they're going to be representing our interests.
So, a lot of confusion there, and again, a lot of questions about who is going to be in that government and whether they will truly represent the Iraqis that have gone through so much in the past two decades or so -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, Rym Brahimi live in Baghdad this morning. Thanks, Rym.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
