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American Morning
Saddam Audiotape?
Aired September 01, 2003 - 9:06 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A new audiotape purportedly from Saddam Hussein. Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera aired some of the tape this morning. And the speaker on the tape claimed to be Saddam Hussein and denied responsibility for Friday's mosque bombing in Najaf.
For more on the situation, let's go now to CNN's Ben Wedeman, who is joining us now from Najaf -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Leon. That tape was broadcast just a little while ago. And as you said, Saddam Hussein, or the purported voice of Saddam Hussein, denied any responsibility for this blast which left at least 83 people dead and more than 170 wounded.
Now, in that tape, he said that that Saddam Hussein is not the leader of a minority or a group. He is the leader of the great Iraqi people. Now, what he's doing is responding to the accusations of almost every Iraqi you speak to that he represented a very tiny minority of Arab Sunnis from his hometown of Tikrit, that, by and large, he neglected and oppressed the Shiite Iraqis who make up the majority of the population of Najaf and about 60 percent of the population.
Now, here in Najaf today, security has been significantly beefed up in anticipation for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of mourners who are converging on this Shiite holy city for the funeral of the senior Ayatollah, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, who was killed in that blast.
We've seen checkpoints going up all over the city. And apparently one of those checkpoints was able to stop a car, which in the words of the police there, was full of bombs. Now, there's been rumors going around the city for the last three days that there are other car bombs in addition to the two that went off outside the mosque on Friday, and that -- so these rumors have really put this town even more on edge than it already is -- Leon.
HARRIS: Ben Wedeman reporting live from Najaf, Iraq. Thanks, Ben. Be careful. We'll see you soon.
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 September 1, 2003 - 9:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: A new audiotape purportedly from Saddam Hussein. Arab broadcaster Al-Jazeera aired some of the tape this morning. And the speaker on the tape claimed to be Saddam Hussein and denied responsibility for Friday's mosque bombing in Najaf.
For more on the situation, let's go now to CNN's Ben Wedeman, who is joining us now from Najaf -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes, Leon. That tape was broadcast just a little while ago. And as you said, Saddam Hussein, or the purported voice of Saddam Hussein, denied any responsibility for this blast which left at least 83 people dead and more than 170 wounded.
Now, in that tape, he said that that Saddam Hussein is not the leader of a minority or a group. He is the leader of the great Iraqi people. Now, what he's doing is responding to the accusations of almost every Iraqi you speak to that he represented a very tiny minority of Arab Sunnis from his hometown of Tikrit, that, by and large, he neglected and oppressed the Shiite Iraqis who make up the majority of the population of Najaf and about 60 percent of the population.
Now, here in Najaf today, security has been significantly beefed up in anticipation for the arrival of hundreds of thousands of mourners who are converging on this Shiite holy city for the funeral of the senior Ayatollah, Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim, who was killed in that blast.
We've seen checkpoints going up all over the city. And apparently one of those checkpoints was able to stop a car, which in the words of the police there, was full of bombs. Now, there's been rumors going around the city for the last three days that there are other car bombs in addition to the two that went off outside the mosque on Friday, and that -- so these rumors have really put this town even more on edge than it already is -- Leon.
HARRIS: Ben Wedeman reporting live from Najaf, Iraq. Thanks, Ben. Be careful. We'll see you soon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
