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CNN Saturday Morning News
Rumors of a New Wave of Attacks in Baghdad
Aired November 01, 2003 - 07:01 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Iraq now. Security is tight in Baghdad amid rumors of a new wave of attacks, and warnings of a day of resistance. U.N. staffers now pulling out, and the State Department is warning Americans not to travel to Iraq, saying civil aviation could be one terrorist target.
CNN's Ben Wedeman live in a very tense Baghdad this morning. Hello, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Yes, it's actually a relatively quiet day here in Baghdad. But up in the northern part of the country, outside the city of Mosul, two soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division were wounded and two were killed when their convoy drove by a roadside bomb.
Now, the number of attacks on coalition forces in Iraq have increased dramatically in recent weeks. According to the coalition's own estimate, they're running at about 33 attacks a day.
In Baghdad, it's a quiet day, this following reports that today and tomorrow would be days of resistance, during which schools and hotels, police stations, markets, and nongovernmental organizations would be targeted by suicide bombers.
Now, the U.S. consulate here had warned Americans to be vigilant when going around the city in this period. The Australian government warning its citizens that for the next two weeks, there is an increased threat against them in the Iraqi capital.
And the U.S. State Department warning that there is what they call "credible information" that there could be terrorists targeting civil aviation in Iraq.
Now, despite these warnings, so far today, there have been no reports of anything out of the ordinary in Baghdad. Now, even though it's Saturday, you go out on the streets of this city, and it looks very much like a weekend. Of course, Saturday is the first day of the working day in Iraq.
Many people avoiding going to work, going to school, going out anywhere, really, to avoid (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or basically out of fear of attacks.
I'm sorry, just heard something strange (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's an airplane in the background.
Now, security is much tighter at the moment in the Iraqi capital. We've seen more checkpoints, more roadblocks and patrols around the city. Heightened security, in other words, but by and large, it's pretty quiet here today, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, but tense for you. Ben Wedeman. And it is just an airplane, everything's OK. Ben Wedeman live from Baghdad.
And by the way, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, plans to meet with reporters at 9:30 Eastern this morning. CNN does plan to carry that live.
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 November 1, 2003 - 07:01 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Iraq now. Security is tight in Baghdad amid rumors of a new wave of attacks, and warnings of a day of resistance. U.N. staffers now pulling out, and the State Department is warning Americans not to travel to Iraq, saying civil aviation could be one terrorist target.
CNN's Ben Wedeman live in a very tense Baghdad this morning. Hello, Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Carol.
Yes, it's actually a relatively quiet day here in Baghdad. But up in the northern part of the country, outside the city of Mosul, two soldiers with the 101st Airborne Division were wounded and two were killed when their convoy drove by a roadside bomb.
Now, the number of attacks on coalition forces in Iraq have increased dramatically in recent weeks. According to the coalition's own estimate, they're running at about 33 attacks a day.
In Baghdad, it's a quiet day, this following reports that today and tomorrow would be days of resistance, during which schools and hotels, police stations, markets, and nongovernmental organizations would be targeted by suicide bombers.
Now, the U.S. consulate here had warned Americans to be vigilant when going around the city in this period. The Australian government warning its citizens that for the next two weeks, there is an increased threat against them in the Iraqi capital.
And the U.S. State Department warning that there is what they call "credible information" that there could be terrorists targeting civil aviation in Iraq.
Now, despite these warnings, so far today, there have been no reports of anything out of the ordinary in Baghdad. Now, even though it's Saturday, you go out on the streets of this city, and it looks very much like a weekend. Of course, Saturday is the first day of the working day in Iraq.
Many people avoiding going to work, going to school, going out anywhere, really, to avoid (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or basically out of fear of attacks.
I'm sorry, just heard something strange (UNINTELLIGIBLE), it's an airplane in the background.
Now, security is much tighter at the moment in the Iraqi capital. We've seen more checkpoints, more roadblocks and patrols around the city. Heightened security, in other words, but by and large, it's pretty quiet here today, Carol.
COSTELLO: Oh, but tense for you. Ben Wedeman. And it is just an airplane, everything's OK. Ben Wedeman live from Baghdad.
And by the way, the U.S. administrator in Iraq, Paul Bremer, plans to meet with reporters at 9:30 Eastern this morning. CNN does plan to carry that live.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
