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CNN Saturday Morning News
Iraqi Opposition Groups Make Strategy For Post-Hussein Iraq
Aired December 14, 2002 - 07:18 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.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: In London, Iraqi opposition groups are holding a conference to map out strategy for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
CNN's Jim Bitterman joins us now live from London with more -- Jim.
JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Arthelle.
The meetings here have been going on for something over two hours now at this central London hotel, about 300 delegates are here who represent virtually every strand of the Iraqi opposition. Everything from monarchists to ex-military officers are here, from Kurds in northeastern Iraq to the Shi'ites in the south, all represented here.
And when you look at some of the faces and at the dress of the delegates, you sort of get an understanding of the problem of unifying the opposition. We've got everything here, we have all sorts of delegates from every part of Iraq, both geographically and culturally, religious groups are represented here.
And as a consequence, you know, unifying everyone behind something other than just simply toppling Saddam Hussein, everybody agrees that's the goal, but through unifying them behind something more specific than that may be a very difficult task indeed.
There's been a lot of talk about unity and democracy this morning, and we're starting to see just the first couple of threads that may come out here, some talk about staking out territories.
For instance, the Kurdish delegate here, one of the -- head of the one of the largest Kurdish delegations, said that in fact one should never forget that the Kurds have opposition groups on the ground in northeastern Iraq, and military organizations on the ground, and the head of the large Shi'ite organization that's represented here reminded everybody that more than half of Iraq's population are Shi'ites.
So people sort of jockeying a bit for -- positioning themselves for later on. But at the moment, it's a good show of unity, unity in the name of democracy -- Arthel.
NEVILLE: OK, Jim Bitterman, thank you so much for that live report from London.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Iraq>
Aired December 14, 2002 - 07:18 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ARTHEL NEVILLE, CNN ANCHOR: In London, Iraqi opposition groups are holding a conference to map out strategy for a post-Saddam Hussein Iraq.
CNN's Jim Bitterman joins us now live from London with more -- Jim.
JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Morning, Arthelle.
The meetings here have been going on for something over two hours now at this central London hotel, about 300 delegates are here who represent virtually every strand of the Iraqi opposition. Everything from monarchists to ex-military officers are here, from Kurds in northeastern Iraq to the Shi'ites in the south, all represented here.
And when you look at some of the faces and at the dress of the delegates, you sort of get an understanding of the problem of unifying the opposition. We've got everything here, we have all sorts of delegates from every part of Iraq, both geographically and culturally, religious groups are represented here.
And as a consequence, you know, unifying everyone behind something other than just simply toppling Saddam Hussein, everybody agrees that's the goal, but through unifying them behind something more specific than that may be a very difficult task indeed.
There's been a lot of talk about unity and democracy this morning, and we're starting to see just the first couple of threads that may come out here, some talk about staking out territories.
For instance, the Kurdish delegate here, one of the -- head of the one of the largest Kurdish delegations, said that in fact one should never forget that the Kurds have opposition groups on the ground in northeastern Iraq, and military organizations on the ground, and the head of the large Shi'ite organization that's represented here reminded everybody that more than half of Iraq's population are Shi'ites.
So people sort of jockeying a bit for -- positioning themselves for later on. But at the moment, it's a good show of unity, unity in the name of democracy -- Arthel.
NEVILLE: OK, Jim Bitterman, thank you so much for that live report from London.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Iraq>
