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CNN Live Sunday

Kurds Mark Anniversary of Halabja Massacre

Aired March 16, 2003 - 18:38   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 ANCHOR: The possibility of war sends a shudder of dread through the Kurdish population in northern Iraq. It's triggered not so much by a U.S. led coalition but rather by what Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein might do and what the Kurds might lose in an after war settlement.
CNN's Ben Wedeman found out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Street performers in the Kurdish stronghold of Urbil cry out a name that stirs the deepest of emotions within Iraq's Kurds. Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the single most traumatic day in modern Kurdish history. On March 16, 1988, Iraqi aircraft dropped mustard and nerve gas on the Kurdish town of Halabja killing around 5,000 civilians, injuring more than 10,000.

"I wanted to save my son" says this actor, "but my dream went to the grave and today I am dying." The price of disloyalty to Saddam Hussein then engaged in a long, grinding war with Iran. The massacre left a permanent and deep emotional scar and has come to symbolize the plight of the Kurds and the indifference of the west which at the time was backing Iraq against revolutionary Iran.

The scars of Halabja are more than psychological. Doctors say many of the survivors are chronically ill and that congenital birth defects are common in the ill-fated town.

According to Human Rights Watch, Iraqi forces attacked more than 20 Kurdish villages with chemical weapons during the 1980s, part of Baghdad's (unintelligible) campaign, an attempt to uproot Iraq's restive Kurds and break their resistance.

(on camera): With war in Iraq looking increasingly likely, fears are mounting here that Saddam Hussein in one final act of spite and revenge could again unleash chemical weapons against the Kurds.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Urbil, Northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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 March 16, 2003 - 18:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The possibility of war sends a shudder of dread through the Kurdish population in northern Iraq. It's triggered not so much by a U.S. led coalition but rather by what Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein might do and what the Kurds might lose in an after war settlement.
CNN's Ben Wedeman found out.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Street performers in the Kurdish stronghold of Urbil cry out a name that stirs the deepest of emotions within Iraq's Kurds. Sunday, the 15th anniversary of the single most traumatic day in modern Kurdish history. On March 16, 1988, Iraqi aircraft dropped mustard and nerve gas on the Kurdish town of Halabja killing around 5,000 civilians, injuring more than 10,000.

"I wanted to save my son" says this actor, "but my dream went to the grave and today I am dying." The price of disloyalty to Saddam Hussein then engaged in a long, grinding war with Iran. The massacre left a permanent and deep emotional scar and has come to symbolize the plight of the Kurds and the indifference of the west which at the time was backing Iraq against revolutionary Iran.

The scars of Halabja are more than psychological. Doctors say many of the survivors are chronically ill and that congenital birth defects are common in the ill-fated town.

According to Human Rights Watch, Iraqi forces attacked more than 20 Kurdish villages with chemical weapons during the 1980s, part of Baghdad's (unintelligible) campaign, an attempt to uproot Iraq's restive Kurds and break their resistance.

(on camera): With war in Iraq looking increasingly likely, fears are mounting here that Saddam Hussein in one final act of spite and revenge could again unleash chemical weapons against the Kurds.

Ben Wedeman, CNN, Urbil, Northern Iraq.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com