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American Morning

Iraqi Killed, Three More Wounded When Roadside Bomb Exploded

Aired December 30, 2003 - 08:22   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An Iraqi was killed today and three more were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded. No Americans were injured when the bomb detonated under a U.S. convoy. But Iraqis could have been the preferred target, signaling a change in insurgent tactics.
Hassan Fatah is the editor of "Iraq Today" and he joins us this morning from Baghdad.

Hassan, nice to see you, as always.

Thanks for being with us.

HASSAN FATAH, EDITOR, "IRAQ TODAY": Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: So give me a sense, do you think this is a change in targets or do you think that this attack is essentially more of the same, of what we have seen over the last nine months?

FATAH: It's probably going to be far more of the same, in fact. Look, we've been seeing a lot of attacks against Iraqis, Iraqis working with the coalition and helping to rebuild this country. And it's clear that there is now a definitive effort to try to affect everybody involved in the reconstruction. We had an interview with a resistance fighter, a gentleman who was involved with the Fedayeen. And just a day after Saddam was captured, essentially, they were told it's time to rethink your strategies, it's time to spread out, it's time to redo -- rethink how you're going to be fighting this thing.

We've already seen a lot of attacks in the past week itself. But it also highlights that there's so many different groups involved and doing different things, in fact.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of these reports we've heard about Saddam Hussein saying that he has squirreled away some $40 billion in foreign accounts.

When Iraqis hear those reports, one, do they find them credible? And, two, what's their reaction to that news?

FATAH: In some ways there is a lot of credibility being given to these reports. They originated through Iyad Allawi, who is a Governing Council member. They all do actually believe them and I think that the Iraqis are sort of being reminded of how their future has basically been squandered away into so many different bank accounts and into so many different insane building projects and what have you. O'BRIEN: You mentioned that it feels as if the attacks are coming from all different sides, all different directions and, of course, three suspected members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam were killed in a firefight with U.S. troops. That happened in Mosul I believe on Sunday.

FATAH: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Is there a sense that al Qaeda -- or what is the extent to which it's believed that al Qaeda is spread through that area?

FATAH: Well, I think it's clear that al Qaeda or al Qaeda like groups are involved here. In essence, we now basically know that the resistance is made of four different types of groups. You've got Fedayeen, former Baathists, former regime loyalists. But you've also got foreign fighters that have been here and have been -- some of whom have continued to pour in, according to some reports. You've also got the tribal leaders who have been -- well, tribal factors or tribal forces who feel stepped on or who are taking revenge at having relatives killed or that sort of thing. And, of course, you've got the guys who are sitting in a basement feeling very frustrated by this entire process and how this process has gone and who are taking their own form of revenge against American soldiers and as well as against Iraqis themselves.

It's a mixture of different methods of operation. It's a mixture of agendas. And that's what makes it especially dangerous and especially difficult.

The good thing that's happened in Iraq in the past several weeks, in fact, is that Saddam has been caught. What that means is it's a closure on the former regime. But it certainly doesn't mean the end of the resistance. And, in fact, we've seen in the past week that it's far from over from -- for resistance and for all the rebels and continued terrorism that's going on here.

O'BRIEN: Clearly.

All right, Hassan Fatah, the editor of "Iraq Today," thanks for your time.

Always nice to see you, Hassan.

Thank you.

FATAH: Thank you so much.

Thank you.

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





Exploded>


Aired December 30, 2003 - 08:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: An Iraqi was killed today and three more were wounded when a roadside bomb exploded. No Americans were injured when the bomb detonated under a U.S. convoy. But Iraqis could have been the preferred target, signaling a change in insurgent tactics.
Hassan Fatah is the editor of "Iraq Today" and he joins us this morning from Baghdad.

Hassan, nice to see you, as always.

Thanks for being with us.

HASSAN FATAH, EDITOR, "IRAQ TODAY": Good morning, Soledad.

O'BRIEN: So give me a sense, do you think this is a change in targets or do you think that this attack is essentially more of the same, of what we have seen over the last nine months?

FATAH: It's probably going to be far more of the same, in fact. Look, we've been seeing a lot of attacks against Iraqis, Iraqis working with the coalition and helping to rebuild this country. And it's clear that there is now a definitive effort to try to affect everybody involved in the reconstruction. We had an interview with a resistance fighter, a gentleman who was involved with the Fedayeen. And just a day after Saddam was captured, essentially, they were told it's time to rethink your strategies, it's time to spread out, it's time to redo -- rethink how you're going to be fighting this thing.

We've already seen a lot of attacks in the past week itself. But it also highlights that there's so many different groups involved and doing different things, in fact.

O'BRIEN: Give me a sense of these reports we've heard about Saddam Hussein saying that he has squirreled away some $40 billion in foreign accounts.

When Iraqis hear those reports, one, do they find them credible? And, two, what's their reaction to that news?

FATAH: In some ways there is a lot of credibility being given to these reports. They originated through Iyad Allawi, who is a Governing Council member. They all do actually believe them and I think that the Iraqis are sort of being reminded of how their future has basically been squandered away into so many different bank accounts and into so many different insane building projects and what have you. O'BRIEN: You mentioned that it feels as if the attacks are coming from all different sides, all different directions and, of course, three suspected members of the Islamic militant group Ansar al-Islam were killed in a firefight with U.S. troops. That happened in Mosul I believe on Sunday.

FATAH: That's right.

O'BRIEN: Is there a sense that al Qaeda -- or what is the extent to which it's believed that al Qaeda is spread through that area?

FATAH: Well, I think it's clear that al Qaeda or al Qaeda like groups are involved here. In essence, we now basically know that the resistance is made of four different types of groups. You've got Fedayeen, former Baathists, former regime loyalists. But you've also got foreign fighters that have been here and have been -- some of whom have continued to pour in, according to some reports. You've also got the tribal leaders who have been -- well, tribal factors or tribal forces who feel stepped on or who are taking revenge at having relatives killed or that sort of thing. And, of course, you've got the guys who are sitting in a basement feeling very frustrated by this entire process and how this process has gone and who are taking their own form of revenge against American soldiers and as well as against Iraqis themselves.

It's a mixture of different methods of operation. It's a mixture of agendas. And that's what makes it especially dangerous and especially difficult.

The good thing that's happened in Iraq in the past several weeks, in fact, is that Saddam has been caught. What that means is it's a closure on the former regime. But it certainly doesn't mean the end of the resistance. And, in fact, we've seen in the past week that it's far from over from -- for resistance and for all the rebels and continued terrorism that's going on here.

O'BRIEN: Clearly.

All right, Hassan Fatah, the editor of "Iraq Today," thanks for your time.

Always nice to see you, Hassan.

Thank you.

FATAH: Thank you so much.

Thank you.

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





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