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American Morning
New Tikrit Raids Net Possible Fedayeen Members
Aired August 25, 2003 - 09:32 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: Militaries officials in Iraq say two Saddam Hussein loyalists have been captured in the town of Tikrit. More on that now. Back to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi, who's tracking developments there still breaking now and developing. Rym, good afternoon.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill. And indeed that series of overnight raids in Tikrit by the 4th I.D. seem to have netted some seven men, captured seven people. Two of them, we understand, probably Saddam loyalists and members of the Fedayeen.
You probably know, Bill, that the Fedayeen was a group of militias set up by Uday Hussein, the eldest son before the war. Uday, of course, was killed in a raid last month, of course when he and his brother were both encircled and killed.
Now there was also something else there that the raids have netted in several areas, not just in Tikrit but in several parts of the country as weapon caches. And a spokesman for the U.S. military told us a little while ago they found several weapons caches in several areas, lots of weapons, again. So that's basically a lot of what they're doing to try and improve the security situation in the country -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym, on another topic, I understand investigators have completed that search and recovery mission, U.N. headquarters bombed last week. What are they saying right now about it?
BRAHIMI: Well, there was just a briefing at the site of the United Nation bomb, that took place, as you know. The bomb attack of the United Nations compound here in Baghdad last Tuesday. And the U.S. Army investigator as well as the U.N. field security coordinator told reporters that the search and recovery part of the mission is over. They said, however, the forensic examinations still continues. They confirmed 20 people dead, implying two people are still missing from that blast.
But seven bodies have been handed over to the relatives of the Iraqi local staff that were killed in that blast. And that's a big -- that was a big issue, Bill, as you know because it's been almost a week since the blast and many of the relatives were becoming increasingly frustrated, because they hadn't been able to bury their loved ones which goes against the local traditions. As you know, People need to bury their relatives as soon as possible after death here -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym Brahimi in Baghdad, thanks.
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 August 25, 2003 - 09:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Militaries officials in Iraq say two Saddam Hussein loyalists have been captured in the town of Tikrit. More on that now. Back to Baghdad and Rym Brahimi, who's tracking developments there still breaking now and developing. Rym, good afternoon.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good afternoon to you, Bill. And indeed that series of overnight raids in Tikrit by the 4th I.D. seem to have netted some seven men, captured seven people. Two of them, we understand, probably Saddam loyalists and members of the Fedayeen.
You probably know, Bill, that the Fedayeen was a group of militias set up by Uday Hussein, the eldest son before the war. Uday, of course, was killed in a raid last month, of course when he and his brother were both encircled and killed.
Now there was also something else there that the raids have netted in several areas, not just in Tikrit but in several parts of the country as weapon caches. And a spokesman for the U.S. military told us a little while ago they found several weapons caches in several areas, lots of weapons, again. So that's basically a lot of what they're doing to try and improve the security situation in the country -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym, on another topic, I understand investigators have completed that search and recovery mission, U.N. headquarters bombed last week. What are they saying right now about it?
BRAHIMI: Well, there was just a briefing at the site of the United Nation bomb, that took place, as you know. The bomb attack of the United Nations compound here in Baghdad last Tuesday. And the U.S. Army investigator as well as the U.N. field security coordinator told reporters that the search and recovery part of the mission is over. They said, however, the forensic examinations still continues. They confirmed 20 people dead, implying two people are still missing from that blast.
But seven bodies have been handed over to the relatives of the Iraqi local staff that were killed in that blast. And that's a big -- that was a big issue, Bill, as you know because it's been almost a week since the blast and many of the relatives were becoming increasingly frustrated, because they hadn't been able to bury their loved ones which goes against the local traditions. As you know, People need to bury their relatives as soon as possible after death here -- Bill.
HEMMER: Rym Brahimi in Baghdad, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
