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American Morning
Fighting Saddam Hussein's Loyalists
Aired June 11, 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: Two more of the most-wanted officials from Saddam's regime have been captured. This comes as U.S. forces start a large-scale crackdown on loyalists to the former dictator.
A lot of news out of Iraq today, let's get right to it in Baghdad and Matthew Chance.
Matthew -- good afternoon. How many on the list of 55 right now have been accounted for there?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the net is certainly tightening around all of them. The latest information we have is that two further officials, two further figures of Iraq's most-wanted have been brought into U.S. custody -- that information coming to us from U.S. military officials.
The circumstances of the two latest captures have not been disclosed to us, but their names have. One of those in custody is Latif Nusayyif Jasm Al-Dulaymi, a Baath Party official and deputy chairman of the party's military bureau. He's also described as being involved in suicide operations and security for Iraq's defense facilities under the former regime. He is the 10 of clubs in the Pentagon's deck of cards of most-wanted Iraqis, and he's listed as No. 18 on their list of most-wanted people in this country, according to the Pentagon.
The other captured Iraqi was listed as No. 53 and he's not on the deck of cards. He's Brigadier General Qaid Husseini al-Awadi, a Baath Party regional commander and a brigadier general in Iraq's Chemical Corps. Al-Awadi has been linked to the Iraqi regime's brutal repression of Shiite Muslims and Kurds, according to sources that we've been speaking to.
So, the net, as I say, is tightening around those top figures. But still, the main figures in the regime, Saddam Hussein himself, of course, and his two sons, are still very, very much at-large -- Bill.
HEMMER: Matthew, we just mentioned the civilian casualty number. There are a number of organizations trying to get a more firm grip on the actual numbers. What are you learning there in Baghdad?
CHANCE: Well, it is a very, very difficult issue to try and tackle. There have been, first, priorities, of course, for all of the organizations that normally deal with this, have been providing medical care to those who survived the processes, only really just begun in trying to plot how many civilian Iraqi casualties and indeed military casualties were suffered in this country throughout the course of the war with the U.S.-led coalition.
The Associated Press, as you mentioned earlier, has come up with a figure of 3,240 across Iraq -- that coming from its own independent research visiting various sites, including 60 of Iraq's more than 120 hospitals spread around the country. So, plenty of scope, and the Associated Press acknowledges this, plenty of scope for that figure to move upwards.
I recently spoke to the head of the Iraqi Red Crescent here in Baghdad. He said it's the only organization with the authority to conduct this kind of research. He said it started that process, but at the moment it only has 200 confirmed deaths. Obviously, the figure is much higher than that, though.
HEMMER: Matthew Chance live 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.
Aired June 11, 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: Two more of the most-wanted officials from Saddam's regime have been captured. This comes as U.S. forces start a large-scale crackdown on loyalists to the former dictator.
A lot of news out of Iraq today, let's get right to it in Baghdad and Matthew Chance.
Matthew -- good afternoon. How many on the list of 55 right now have been accounted for there?
MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the net is certainly tightening around all of them. The latest information we have is that two further officials, two further figures of Iraq's most-wanted have been brought into U.S. custody -- that information coming to us from U.S. military officials.
The circumstances of the two latest captures have not been disclosed to us, but their names have. One of those in custody is Latif Nusayyif Jasm Al-Dulaymi, a Baath Party official and deputy chairman of the party's military bureau. He's also described as being involved in suicide operations and security for Iraq's defense facilities under the former regime. He is the 10 of clubs in the Pentagon's deck of cards of most-wanted Iraqis, and he's listed as No. 18 on their list of most-wanted people in this country, according to the Pentagon.
The other captured Iraqi was listed as No. 53 and he's not on the deck of cards. He's Brigadier General Qaid Husseini al-Awadi, a Baath Party regional commander and a brigadier general in Iraq's Chemical Corps. Al-Awadi has been linked to the Iraqi regime's brutal repression of Shiite Muslims and Kurds, according to sources that we've been speaking to.
So, the net, as I say, is tightening around those top figures. But still, the main figures in the regime, Saddam Hussein himself, of course, and his two sons, are still very, very much at-large -- Bill.
HEMMER: Matthew, we just mentioned the civilian casualty number. There are a number of organizations trying to get a more firm grip on the actual numbers. What are you learning there in Baghdad?
CHANCE: Well, it is a very, very difficult issue to try and tackle. There have been, first, priorities, of course, for all of the organizations that normally deal with this, have been providing medical care to those who survived the processes, only really just begun in trying to plot how many civilian Iraqi casualties and indeed military casualties were suffered in this country throughout the course of the war with the U.S.-led coalition.
The Associated Press, as you mentioned earlier, has come up with a figure of 3,240 across Iraq -- that coming from its own independent research visiting various sites, including 60 of Iraq's more than 120 hospitals spread around the country. So, plenty of scope, and the Associated Press acknowledges this, plenty of scope for that figure to move upwards.
I recently spoke to the head of the Iraqi Red Crescent here in Baghdad. He said it's the only organization with the authority to conduct this kind of research. He said it started that process, but at the moment it only has 200 confirmed deaths. Obviously, the figure is much higher than that, though.
HEMMER: Matthew Chance live 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.
