Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Saturday Morning News

Head of Iraq's Biggest Shiite Muslim Group Has Returned From Exile

Aired May 10, 2003 - 08:33   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We want to check in on what's going on in Iraq today. The head of Iraq's biggest Shiite Muslim group has returned from exile and may hold the key to Iraq's future.
John Vause joins us from Baghdad with the latest -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Anderson.

Well, it was a homecoming fit for an ayatollah. After 23 years in exile, Mohammed Baqir Al-Hakim made the journey back across the border and was greeted by thousands of people as he arrived in the southern city of Basra. They jumped on his car, they beat their chests, which is a symbolic gesture among the Shia. Others just openly wept.

They've been waiting for this moment for quite some time. There were portraits of Al-Hakim put up all the way through Basra and other southern cities. There were banners, as well.

There is also a concern, though, among many in Washington that this man may try to establish a similar government that they have in Iran, an Islamic theocracy.

To his part, though, Al-Hakim says that he wants a democratically elected, broad-based government. Now, as he arrived in Basra he stopped and he spoke with reporters.

This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYATOLLAH BAQIR AL-HAKIM: It's the feeling of one going back to his people and his loved ones, taking the lead from the martyrs and the missing. I have great faith that god will restore Iraq to the way it was in the region and the world as a whole.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And he says his number one priority is restoring security for every day Iraqis. That, of course, is one of the biggest problems here. It still remains a problem. But he did say in an earlier television interview that the presence of foreign forces is "a big problem which needs to be dealt with" -- Anderson.

COOPER: John, speaking on that subject, I understand there's some military engagements going on north of Baghdad.

What can you tell us about that?

VAUSE: About 45 miles north of Baghdad, Anderson, there is a stand-off between U.S. forces and a group called the Mujahedeen Khalq. Now, they are, in fact, a militia group which has been fighting the Islamic leaders in Iran. They were backed by Saddam Hussein. They've been fighting them for more than a decade. They're heavily armed. The U.S. wants them to lay down their weapons.

Now, last month they negotiated a truce with this group, but the U.S. forces here said that that truce was merely the prelude to them laying down their weapons and surrendering completely. No sign that they're willing to do that, at least not yet -- Anderson.

COOPER: Now, this is the group that the Iranians had been very critical of the U.S. for trying to make some sort of a deal with. So the deal is off? Because I thought there already was some sort of a truce?

VAUSE: Well, there was that truce, which was negotiated April 15th. But a memo which was leaked to the Associated Press gives some pretty bleak options for this Mujahedeen Khalq group. It says they'll either be destroyed or they must completely surrender. And at this stage there are tanks, there are Black Hawk helicopters, there are spotters there to call in air strikes if needed, who have surrounded this camp. And, indeed, the State Department listed this group as a terrorist organization in the early '90s and, in fact, Iran has been critical of the United States for not doing more to disband this group.

But obviously that is now under way. The United States very keen to have as few weapons on the streets of Baghdad and other cities around Iraq as possible.

COOPER: All right, John Vause in Baghdad, thanks 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




From Exile>


Aired May 10, 2003 - 08:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We want to check in on what's going on in Iraq today. The head of Iraq's biggest Shiite Muslim group has returned from exile and may hold the key to Iraq's future.
John Vause joins us from Baghdad with the latest -- John.

JOHN VAUSE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Anderson.

Well, it was a homecoming fit for an ayatollah. After 23 years in exile, Mohammed Baqir Al-Hakim made the journey back across the border and was greeted by thousands of people as he arrived in the southern city of Basra. They jumped on his car, they beat their chests, which is a symbolic gesture among the Shia. Others just openly wept.

They've been waiting for this moment for quite some time. There were portraits of Al-Hakim put up all the way through Basra and other southern cities. There were banners, as well.

There is also a concern, though, among many in Washington that this man may try to establish a similar government that they have in Iran, an Islamic theocracy.

To his part, though, Al-Hakim says that he wants a democratically elected, broad-based government. Now, as he arrived in Basra he stopped and he spoke with reporters.

This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AYATOLLAH BAQIR AL-HAKIM: It's the feeling of one going back to his people and his loved ones, taking the lead from the martyrs and the missing. I have great faith that god will restore Iraq to the way it was in the region and the world as a whole.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And he says his number one priority is restoring security for every day Iraqis. That, of course, is one of the biggest problems here. It still remains a problem. But he did say in an earlier television interview that the presence of foreign forces is "a big problem which needs to be dealt with" -- Anderson.

COOPER: John, speaking on that subject, I understand there's some military engagements going on north of Baghdad.

What can you tell us about that?

VAUSE: About 45 miles north of Baghdad, Anderson, there is a stand-off between U.S. forces and a group called the Mujahedeen Khalq. Now, they are, in fact, a militia group which has been fighting the Islamic leaders in Iran. They were backed by Saddam Hussein. They've been fighting them for more than a decade. They're heavily armed. The U.S. wants them to lay down their weapons.

Now, last month they negotiated a truce with this group, but the U.S. forces here said that that truce was merely the prelude to them laying down their weapons and surrendering completely. No sign that they're willing to do that, at least not yet -- Anderson.

COOPER: Now, this is the group that the Iranians had been very critical of the U.S. for trying to make some sort of a deal with. So the deal is off? Because I thought there already was some sort of a truce?

VAUSE: Well, there was that truce, which was negotiated April 15th. But a memo which was leaked to the Associated Press gives some pretty bleak options for this Mujahedeen Khalq group. It says they'll either be destroyed or they must completely surrender. And at this stage there are tanks, there are Black Hawk helicopters, there are spotters there to call in air strikes if needed, who have surrounded this camp. And, indeed, the State Department listed this group as a terrorist organization in the early '90s and, in fact, Iran has been critical of the United States for not doing more to disband this group.

But obviously that is now under way. The United States very keen to have as few weapons on the streets of Baghdad and other cities around Iraq as possible.

COOPER: All right, John Vause in Baghdad, thanks 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




From Exile>