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CNN Saturday Morning News
Hikmat al-Azzawi Captured
Aired April 19, 2003 - 08:05 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: Let's turn now to the situation in Iraq. Another most wanted Iraqi is in U.S. military custody now.
Our Rula Amin joins us from Baghdad with the details on that -- hello, Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.
Hikmat al-Azzawi was Saddam Hussein's finance minister as well as his deputy prime minister. He was captured by former Iraqi policemen who are helping the Marines now. They found him at a house that belonged to one of his relatives and they were able to find him because an Iraqi told them where he is.
When they went in, he just opened the door and he turned himself in without any resistance and he said that he was actually considering going to the Marines and surrendering.
The Iraqi policemen took him and they handed him over to the Marines, who are questioning him now. They want to know from him any information that he has on where Saddam Hussein is and maybe where his money is, since this guy was his finance minister.
He is the fifth Iraqi official to be captured out of 55 Iraqi officials on the U.S. most wanted list.
Now, as we do know, some Iraqis have been coming forward to the Marines and to the Iraqi policemen, telling them tips on where to find other Iraqi officials.
But there are also other Iraqis who come to the Palestine Hotel, where the Marines are staying, every day to protest the U.S. troops' presence here in Iraq. They call them an occupying force. They demand that they leave Iraq and they insist it's only Iraqis who are entitled to rule Iraq and determine its future.
Those people, we have been hearing them almost every day. But every day there are more people coming out and making this position very clear.
We also heard today from Iraq's neighbors -- Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, along with Egypt and Bahrain. They also, they all met in Saudi Arabia and they said that the U.S. troops here are an occupying power and after they restore law and order in Iraq, they should leave, because it's an occupation. They also oppose the U.S. presence, call for a quick lifting of the U.N. sanctions. In their perspective, no sanctions should be lifted until there is an Iraqi government in place. They are worried if sanctions are lifted without an Iraqi government in place, that means that the U.S. will be in control of Iraq's oil and they say the U.S. is not entitled to that. That's their position and they're trying hard to have a say in the future of Iraq -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Rula Amin live in Baghdad this morning.
Thanks so 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 April 19, 2003 - 08:05 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to the situation in Iraq. Another most wanted Iraqi is in U.S. military custody now.
Our Rula Amin joins us from Baghdad with the details on that -- hello, Rula.
RULA AMIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Heidi.
Hikmat al-Azzawi was Saddam Hussein's finance minister as well as his deputy prime minister. He was captured by former Iraqi policemen who are helping the Marines now. They found him at a house that belonged to one of his relatives and they were able to find him because an Iraqi told them where he is.
When they went in, he just opened the door and he turned himself in without any resistance and he said that he was actually considering going to the Marines and surrendering.
The Iraqi policemen took him and they handed him over to the Marines, who are questioning him now. They want to know from him any information that he has on where Saddam Hussein is and maybe where his money is, since this guy was his finance minister.
He is the fifth Iraqi official to be captured out of 55 Iraqi officials on the U.S. most wanted list.
Now, as we do know, some Iraqis have been coming forward to the Marines and to the Iraqi policemen, telling them tips on where to find other Iraqi officials.
But there are also other Iraqis who come to the Palestine Hotel, where the Marines are staying, every day to protest the U.S. troops' presence here in Iraq. They call them an occupying force. They demand that they leave Iraq and they insist it's only Iraqis who are entitled to rule Iraq and determine its future.
Those people, we have been hearing them almost every day. But every day there are more people coming out and making this position very clear.
We also heard today from Iraq's neighbors -- Kuwait, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Saudi Arabia, along with Egypt and Bahrain. They also, they all met in Saudi Arabia and they said that the U.S. troops here are an occupying power and after they restore law and order in Iraq, they should leave, because it's an occupation. They also oppose the U.S. presence, call for a quick lifting of the U.N. sanctions. In their perspective, no sanctions should be lifted until there is an Iraqi government in place. They are worried if sanctions are lifted without an Iraqi government in place, that means that the U.S. will be in control of Iraq's oil and they say the U.S. is not entitled to that. That's their position and they're trying hard to have a say in the future of Iraq -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Rula Amin live in Baghdad this morning.
Thanks so 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
