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CNN Sunday Morning
Kuwait Rejects Iraq's Apology
Aired December 08, 2002 - 09:34 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As Baghdad was releasing its declaration on mass destruction weapons, Saddam Hussein's information minister went on TV to apologize to Kuwait for Iraq's 1990 invasion.
But Kuwait is brushing the apology aside, as you might expect.
Walter Rodgers reports live from Kuwait City via video phone.
Kind of a remarkable speech, Walter.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, but the people of Kuwait are seeing Saddam's apology, albeit through one of his ministers, as an attempt to destabilize this oil-rich kingdom.
What Saddam Hussein did was go around or over the heads of the ruling family here in Kuwait and appeal to the Kuwaiti people, asking them to join in a Jihad, a holy war, to purge Kuwaiti soil of the American forces here, now numbering some 12,000.
Now, Western intelligence officials in this area have long held that Saddam Hussein had aspirations of being the leader of the entire Arab world, and that may be what we were seeing in that apology, not so much an apology to the people of Kuwait, but an appeal and an apology to other Arabs in the area to support him, now that he is under the gun. One Western intelligence officer told me in recent years, that Saddam Hussein sees himself as the reincarnation of the Babylonian King Nebuchadenezzar.
Now the Kuwaitis, of course, have rejected any credibility in Saddam Hussein's apology. They have said, among other things, that if he was really sincere, that he ought to begin by apologizing to the Iraqi people for leading them into the folly of numerous losing wars.
Others point out that the man has no credibility. One newspaper called Saddam Hussein a liar. So perhaps Saddam Hussein really didn't gain many points in this part of the world.
He did appeal to Arab fraternalism, but it should be noted that there's no one in Kuwait and probably not many Arabs elsewhere, outside Kuwait, who would like to live under Saddam Hussein.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Yes, but having said that, Walter, how much of a representation would the Islamist faction be in Kuwait? Are there a lot of al Qaeda sympathizers there who might have listened to that message?
RODGERS: Well, there's an Islamist faction in the parliament here. This is a fairly democratic country, as Arab countries go. There's an Islamist faction here. They have absolutely no sympathy for Saddam Hussein at all.
And it's unwise to confuse Islamists with Saddam Hussein. I know there's a political attempt to do that.
But I was talking to an Afghan Imam, an Imam of the Muslim faith in London at the radical St. Berry Park (ph) mosque a few months ago and this guy is, in fact, an al Qaeda sympathizer. He told me that Saddam Hussein is an apostate and should be killed.
So be careful about assuming that al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein are one and the same. There are many al Qaeda supporters that I've talked to, one or two in recent months, who have no truck with Saddam Hussein at all, call him an apostate, that is a betrayer of Islam, and say he should be killed.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Walter Rodgers via the videophone in Kuwait city. Thank you very much.
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 December 8, 2002 - 09:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: As Baghdad was releasing its declaration on mass destruction weapons, Saddam Hussein's information minister went on TV to apologize to Kuwait for Iraq's 1990 invasion.
But Kuwait is brushing the apology aside, as you might expect.
Walter Rodgers reports live from Kuwait City via video phone.
Kind of a remarkable speech, Walter.
WALTER RODGERS, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Indeed, but the people of Kuwait are seeing Saddam's apology, albeit through one of his ministers, as an attempt to destabilize this oil-rich kingdom.
What Saddam Hussein did was go around or over the heads of the ruling family here in Kuwait and appeal to the Kuwaiti people, asking them to join in a Jihad, a holy war, to purge Kuwaiti soil of the American forces here, now numbering some 12,000.
Now, Western intelligence officials in this area have long held that Saddam Hussein had aspirations of being the leader of the entire Arab world, and that may be what we were seeing in that apology, not so much an apology to the people of Kuwait, but an appeal and an apology to other Arabs in the area to support him, now that he is under the gun. One Western intelligence officer told me in recent years, that Saddam Hussein sees himself as the reincarnation of the Babylonian King Nebuchadenezzar.
Now the Kuwaitis, of course, have rejected any credibility in Saddam Hussein's apology. They have said, among other things, that if he was really sincere, that he ought to begin by apologizing to the Iraqi people for leading them into the folly of numerous losing wars.
Others point out that the man has no credibility. One newspaper called Saddam Hussein a liar. So perhaps Saddam Hussein really didn't gain many points in this part of the world.
He did appeal to Arab fraternalism, but it should be noted that there's no one in Kuwait and probably not many Arabs elsewhere, outside Kuwait, who would like to live under Saddam Hussein.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: Yes, but having said that, Walter, how much of a representation would the Islamist faction be in Kuwait? Are there a lot of al Qaeda sympathizers there who might have listened to that message?
RODGERS: Well, there's an Islamist faction in the parliament here. This is a fairly democratic country, as Arab countries go. There's an Islamist faction here. They have absolutely no sympathy for Saddam Hussein at all.
And it's unwise to confuse Islamists with Saddam Hussein. I know there's a political attempt to do that.
But I was talking to an Afghan Imam, an Imam of the Muslim faith in London at the radical St. Berry Park (ph) mosque a few months ago and this guy is, in fact, an al Qaeda sympathizer. He told me that Saddam Hussein is an apostate and should be killed.
So be careful about assuming that al Qaeda and Saddam Hussein are one and the same. There are many al Qaeda supporters that I've talked to, one or two in recent months, who have no truck with Saddam Hussein at all, call him an apostate, that is a betrayer of Islam, and say he should be killed.
Back to you.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Walter Rodgers via the videophone in Kuwait city. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
