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CNN Sunday Morning
Funeral for Najaf Bombing Victims Under Way
Aired August 31, 2003 - 07:59 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour in Iraq, where a massive funeral march is under way for the victims of the car bombing outside a Shiite mosque. As mourners proceed from near Baghdad to Najaf, police widen their investigation into the bombing.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is live now in Najaf. Ben, hello to you.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. Hello, Heidi.
Well, it's becoming increasingly difficult to really pin down the details on this investigation. Now just a short while ago I spoke to a coalition officer involved in this investigation who told me at this point they are holding two people, and these people he described as non-Iraqi Arabs. Regarding the Pakistanis, this is coming from the Iraqi side of the investigation.
You speak to one officer he'll confirm it; another one, he'll deny it. So a good deal of disarray as far as that is concerned. But there is still a high level of tension in this Shiite holy city.
Overnight, the bodyguards to a senior cleric who lives on the outskirts of the town apparently killed two people. One of them was driving his mother to the hospital to deliver a baby. However, all the guard saw was a car racing down the street, so they opened fire with their automatic machine guns and hand grenades, killing the driver and his mother.
Meanwhile, the city is getting ready to receive what is expected to be a massive crowd. Tens of thousands of people who are making their way to Najaf to attend the funeral of the late Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. Of course, the Ayatollah was killed in Friday's bomb blast, along with at least 100 other people; 500 people were wounded.
Now, the funeral procession that began in Baghdad today is expected to reach Najaf on Tuesday. About 400 Iraqi police have been brought out of reserves to provide some sort of order during this march. There is going to be a joint coalition, Iraqi police emergency operations room to try to keep some sort of order because it's expected, Heidi, to be a very difficult day.
COLLINS: Difficult, I'm sure. And Ben, also just wondering if you can give us a little bit of an update on the hospital situation. I know that the hospitals were certainly overwhelmed with this bomb blast. Can you give us some insight on that? WEDEMAN: Yes. We know that, for instance, in the hours after the bombing, that the Ministry of Health in Baghdad put together basically a caravan of trucks full of medical supplies and whatnot and that they did ferry in a lot of medical personnel into the city. At the same time, they were ferrying out of Najaf to neighboring cities, medical -- rather the wounded to be treated elsewhere.
It does appear that the crisis in Najaf's hospital has abated somewhat, and certainly the way they were dealing with the wounded in the hours after the blast was anyone who could be treated and sent home was sent home. And it was only the critical cases they were actually keeping in hospital. So it seems that the situation in the hospitals in Najaf has eased somewhat -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And video we're seeing now incredibly disturbing, of course. All right. Ben Wedeman, live for us this morning from Najaf. Thanks, Ben.
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 31, 2003 - 07:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: We begin this hour in Iraq, where a massive funeral march is under way for the victims of the car bombing outside a Shiite mosque. As mourners proceed from near Baghdad to Najaf, police widen their investigation into the bombing.
CNN's Ben Wedeman is live now in Najaf. Ben, hello to you.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CAIRO BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. Hello, Heidi.
Well, it's becoming increasingly difficult to really pin down the details on this investigation. Now just a short while ago I spoke to a coalition officer involved in this investigation who told me at this point they are holding two people, and these people he described as non-Iraqi Arabs. Regarding the Pakistanis, this is coming from the Iraqi side of the investigation.
You speak to one officer he'll confirm it; another one, he'll deny it. So a good deal of disarray as far as that is concerned. But there is still a high level of tension in this Shiite holy city.
Overnight, the bodyguards to a senior cleric who lives on the outskirts of the town apparently killed two people. One of them was driving his mother to the hospital to deliver a baby. However, all the guard saw was a car racing down the street, so they opened fire with their automatic machine guns and hand grenades, killing the driver and his mother.
Meanwhile, the city is getting ready to receive what is expected to be a massive crowd. Tens of thousands of people who are making their way to Najaf to attend the funeral of the late Ayatollah Mohammed Baqir al-Hakim. Of course, the Ayatollah was killed in Friday's bomb blast, along with at least 100 other people; 500 people were wounded.
Now, the funeral procession that began in Baghdad today is expected to reach Najaf on Tuesday. About 400 Iraqi police have been brought out of reserves to provide some sort of order during this march. There is going to be a joint coalition, Iraqi police emergency operations room to try to keep some sort of order because it's expected, Heidi, to be a very difficult day.
COLLINS: Difficult, I'm sure. And Ben, also just wondering if you can give us a little bit of an update on the hospital situation. I know that the hospitals were certainly overwhelmed with this bomb blast. Can you give us some insight on that? WEDEMAN: Yes. We know that, for instance, in the hours after the bombing, that the Ministry of Health in Baghdad put together basically a caravan of trucks full of medical supplies and whatnot and that they did ferry in a lot of medical personnel into the city. At the same time, they were ferrying out of Najaf to neighboring cities, medical -- rather the wounded to be treated elsewhere.
It does appear that the crisis in Najaf's hospital has abated somewhat, and certainly the way they were dealing with the wounded in the hours after the blast was anyone who could be treated and sent home was sent home. And it was only the critical cases they were actually keeping in hospital. So it seems that the situation in the hospitals in Najaf has eased somewhat -- Heidi.
COLLINS: And video we're seeing now incredibly disturbing, of course. All right. Ben Wedeman, live for us this morning from Najaf. Thanks, Ben.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
