Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Saddam on Tape?

Aired May 07, 2003 - 07:03   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: Back now to that audiotape, said to be that of Saddam Hussein. The "Sydney Morning Herald" says that tape was given to a pair of reporters in Baghdad staying at the Palestine Hotel. The voice on that tape calls on Iraqis to force what it calls "the enemy" out of Iraq.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Through this secret means, I'm talking to you from inside Great Iraq, and I say to you, the main task for you, Arab and Kurd, Shia and Sunni, Muslim and Christian, and the whole Iraqi people of all religions, your main task is to kick the enemy out from our country.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HEMMER: One of the reporters who says he was given that tape is Ed O'Loughlin. He is live now in Baghdad with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Ed, how did you get this tape?

ED O'LOUGHLIN, "SYDNEY MORNING HERALD": Well, really by luck. I happened to be standing outside the back of the Palestine Hotel on Monday evening, when a couple of gentlemen in a Baghdad taxi arrived, who were trying to find their way towards, as they said, the major networks. And they mentioned the Arab networks, Al-Jazeera and Al Arabiya.

They were told by my translator that those agencies are all located here in the Palestine Hotel, and they seemed to get quite (UNINTELLIGIBLE) then, because this hotel is part of a U.S. security compound. You can't get in or out without going past an American security check.

So, at that point, they basically gave us the tape and drove away.

HEMMER: Did they tell you that it was Saddam Hussein at the time?

O'LOUGHLIN: They told my interpreter, although not initially. We actually had to go after them to find out what they wanted. They were quite indirect about what they were trying to do initially. But when I sent my interpreter after them, they told him that it was Saddam Hussein's latest speech and that it had been recorded that morning, which was to say Monday morning. HEMMER: You give the indication that this transaction was something that took place maybe in a matter of seconds, perhaps minutes. Where did the two men go after that?

O'LOUGHLIN: As soon as they gave the tape to my driver, they told him it was a message for the world -- or my interpreter rather, and they sped off around the corner, and we never saw them again.

HEMMER: Yes, did they say what was on the tape? Or did they just tell you, through your interpreter, that this was the voice of Saddam Hussein?

O'LOUGHLIN: When they gave him the tape, they said, this is Saddam Hussein's latest speech. That's when we found out potentially what we were dealing with.

HEMMER: What have you done with the tape? Have you played it for people on the streets of Iraq, who are familiar with Saddam's voice? And if so, what was their reaction, Ed?

O'LOUGHLIN: Well, we've done that. We've also yesterday managed to get a copy of the tape to a voice analyst lab in Melbourne, Australia, and they spent some hours examining it and doing, I guess, running programs on it, checking it against previous speeches by Saddam. And they came out with the interim finding that they reckoned it was 70 to 80 percent likely that the voice was the voice of Saddam.

And playing it to Iraqi people, including I found one gentleman who had known him when he was in exile in Egypt. Their rating was even higher. The Iraqi people we spoke to were pretty convinced, most of them, that it was Saddam Hussein.

And a very interesting thing which happened was on two occasions, I had played the tape in people's gardens, and we had neighbors coming to the fence saying, "Which radio station is Saddam Hussein on?" They weren't told it was supposed to be Saddam Hussein.

HEMMER: Ed O'Loughlin live in Baghdad. It could be the voice of Saddam Hussein. If it is, where is he? We'll look at that a bit later this morning. Ed, thanks for that.

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 7, 2003 - 07:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Back now to that audiotape, said to be that of Saddam Hussein. The "Sydney Morning Herald" says that tape was given to a pair of reporters in Baghdad staying at the Palestine Hotel. The voice on that tape calls on Iraqis to force what it calls "the enemy" out of Iraq.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Through this secret means, I'm talking to you from inside Great Iraq, and I say to you, the main task for you, Arab and Kurd, Shia and Sunni, Muslim and Christian, and the whole Iraqi people of all religions, your main task is to kick the enemy out from our country.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HEMMER: One of the reporters who says he was given that tape is Ed O'Loughlin. He is live now in Baghdad with us here on AMERICAN MORNING.

Ed, how did you get this tape?

ED O'LOUGHLIN, "SYDNEY MORNING HERALD": Well, really by luck. I happened to be standing outside the back of the Palestine Hotel on Monday evening, when a couple of gentlemen in a Baghdad taxi arrived, who were trying to find their way towards, as they said, the major networks. And they mentioned the Arab networks, Al-Jazeera and Al Arabiya.

They were told by my translator that those agencies are all located here in the Palestine Hotel, and they seemed to get quite (UNINTELLIGIBLE) then, because this hotel is part of a U.S. security compound. You can't get in or out without going past an American security check.

So, at that point, they basically gave us the tape and drove away.

HEMMER: Did they tell you that it was Saddam Hussein at the time?

O'LOUGHLIN: They told my interpreter, although not initially. We actually had to go after them to find out what they wanted. They were quite indirect about what they were trying to do initially. But when I sent my interpreter after them, they told him that it was Saddam Hussein's latest speech and that it had been recorded that morning, which was to say Monday morning. HEMMER: You give the indication that this transaction was something that took place maybe in a matter of seconds, perhaps minutes. Where did the two men go after that?

O'LOUGHLIN: As soon as they gave the tape to my driver, they told him it was a message for the world -- or my interpreter rather, and they sped off around the corner, and we never saw them again.

HEMMER: Yes, did they say what was on the tape? Or did they just tell you, through your interpreter, that this was the voice of Saddam Hussein?

O'LOUGHLIN: When they gave him the tape, they said, this is Saddam Hussein's latest speech. That's when we found out potentially what we were dealing with.

HEMMER: What have you done with the tape? Have you played it for people on the streets of Iraq, who are familiar with Saddam's voice? And if so, what was their reaction, Ed?

O'LOUGHLIN: Well, we've done that. We've also yesterday managed to get a copy of the tape to a voice analyst lab in Melbourne, Australia, and they spent some hours examining it and doing, I guess, running programs on it, checking it against previous speeches by Saddam. And they came out with the interim finding that they reckoned it was 70 to 80 percent likely that the voice was the voice of Saddam.

And playing it to Iraqi people, including I found one gentleman who had known him when he was in exile in Egypt. Their rating was even higher. The Iraqi people we spoke to were pretty convinced, most of them, that it was Saddam Hussein.

And a very interesting thing which happened was on two occasions, I had played the tape in people's gardens, and we had neighbors coming to the fence saying, "Which radio station is Saddam Hussein on?" They weren't told it was supposed to be Saddam Hussein.

HEMMER: Ed O'Loughlin live in Baghdad. It could be the voice of Saddam Hussein. If it is, where is he? We'll look at that a bit later this morning. Ed, thanks for that.

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