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CNN Saturday Morning News
Can Uday, Qusay bodies Help in Search for Saddam?
Aired August 02, 2003 - 07:32 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: In Iraq today, the sons of Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay, were buried near their hometown of Tikrit. And now that U.S. forces are armed with those new pictures of the former Iraqi president, will it help them track him down?
CNN's Harris Whitbeck joining us now from Tikrit with the very latest on all of this -- hello to you, Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society took custody of the remains of Saddam Hussein's and of his grandson. They were all killed during that raid on a house in Mosul over a week ago, a raid that was carried out by American troops.
The bodies had been held by the U.S. military at Baghdad International Airport since they were, since the sons and the grandson were killed, and the fact that they were held for so long has raised eyebrows in this Muslim country. Many people here say that according to Muslim tradition, the bodies should have been buried before sundown, as quickly as possible after they were killed, and that people are also concerned about the fact that they were embalmed, which also goes against Muslim tradition.
The bodies, according to the Reuters News Agency, were buried at a cemetery in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's homeland. That burial occurred early this morning. U.S. military sources say that they were hoping the ceremony would be small and discrete. They feared that a large funeral ceremony would provoke a backlash and possibly attacks against U.S. forces that are operating in Tikrit.
As you know, Tikrit has been the site of attacks against U.S. forces recently because it is a pocket of support for Saddam Hussein, as this is his ancestral homeland -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Harris, just curious to know, what is the overall atmosphere of the troops in Tikrit now? Are they really focusing in on trying to find Saddam Hussein in that area?
WHITBECK: They certainly seem to be focusing in on this area. There have been numerous raids conducted. There are raids practically every day. The last one, which occurred yesterday afternoon, netted two individuals considered to be of a certain degree of value to the U.S. forces here. They are considered to be close associates of Saddam Hussein. And U.S. commanders on the ground say that information they get from the people they detain helps them plan future missions and they feel that they are, in fact, getting closer to Saddam Hussein. They feel that logic would dictate that he would be hiding in this area, since, again, it is his ancestral homeland. He has a lot of support here and he would have a lot of places to hide -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, we will have to see.
Harris Whitbeck live from Tikrit this morning.
Thanks so much, Harris.
Well, later this morning we are expecting to hear from the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremmer. We'll have that live for you from Baghdad in just about an hour and a half.
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 2, 2003 - 07:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq today, the sons of Saddam Hussein, Uday and Qusay, were buried near their hometown of Tikrit. And now that U.S. forces are armed with those new pictures of the former Iraqi president, will it help them track him down?
CNN's Harris Whitbeck joining us now from Tikrit with the very latest on all of this -- hello to you, Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Heidi.
The Iraqi Red Crescent Society took custody of the remains of Saddam Hussein's and of his grandson. They were all killed during that raid on a house in Mosul over a week ago, a raid that was carried out by American troops.
The bodies had been held by the U.S. military at Baghdad International Airport since they were, since the sons and the grandson were killed, and the fact that they were held for so long has raised eyebrows in this Muslim country. Many people here say that according to Muslim tradition, the bodies should have been buried before sundown, as quickly as possible after they were killed, and that people are also concerned about the fact that they were embalmed, which also goes against Muslim tradition.
The bodies, according to the Reuters News Agency, were buried at a cemetery in Tikrit, Saddam Hussein's homeland. That burial occurred early this morning. U.S. military sources say that they were hoping the ceremony would be small and discrete. They feared that a large funeral ceremony would provoke a backlash and possibly attacks against U.S. forces that are operating in Tikrit.
As you know, Tikrit has been the site of attacks against U.S. forces recently because it is a pocket of support for Saddam Hussein, as this is his ancestral homeland -- Heidi.
COLLINS: Harris, just curious to know, what is the overall atmosphere of the troops in Tikrit now? Are they really focusing in on trying to find Saddam Hussein in that area?
WHITBECK: They certainly seem to be focusing in on this area. There have been numerous raids conducted. There are raids practically every day. The last one, which occurred yesterday afternoon, netted two individuals considered to be of a certain degree of value to the U.S. forces here. They are considered to be close associates of Saddam Hussein. And U.S. commanders on the ground say that information they get from the people they detain helps them plan future missions and they feel that they are, in fact, getting closer to Saddam Hussein. They feel that logic would dictate that he would be hiding in this area, since, again, it is his ancestral homeland. He has a lot of support here and he would have a lot of places to hide -- Heidi.
COLLINS: All right, we will have to see.
Harris Whitbeck live from Tikrit this morning.
Thanks so much, Harris.
Well, later this morning we are expecting to hear from the U.S. civil administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremmer. We'll have that live for you from Baghdad in just about an hour and a half.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
