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CNN Live Sunday
What Role Will U.N. Play in Iraq's Reconstruction?
Aired June 15, 2003 - 16:30 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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The troubled stretch beyond the Baghdad area to the south and the port city of Basra, thousands of Iraqis were chanting in the streets today calling for U.S. and British forces to leave. They say they want to govern themselves. CNN's Jane Arraf says it's not the first clash over the administration of post- war Iraq, and it's a problem the United Nations is looking into.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trying to chart a course for the U.N. in Iraq. Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello has been sent here to find out what role the United Nations can play in an Iraq run by the United States.
The secretary general's special envoy took his first trip out of Baghdad on the weekend, flying over southern Iraq to the port city of Basra.
It's a different role for the U.N. Under 12 years of U.N. sanctions, it was responsible for the country. Now in an Iraq where many people are chafing at the U.S.-British occupation, Vieira de Mello told political leaders he had come to try to help Iraqis govern themselves.
SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO IRAQ: What we can offer you is the independence of the United Nations.
ARRAF: But these political leaders have much more immediate concerns. They told him Basra needs electricity, gasoline, and mostly jobs. A surgeon at a teaching hospital said they urgently need security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a patient who was shot dead four days ago, 5 a.m. in the morning.
ARRAF: They said they wanted help rejoining the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We would like to transport our culture to the world. We need newspapers and theaters and cinemas.
ARRAF: At a U.N. project that pays people to clean up the streets, the senior U.N. official came face to face with the anger of Iraqis who say their lives have gotten worse since the war, and blame the U.S.-led coalition. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why I don't work? What did I do? I don't have money. What do I do? I starve? Become a thief? No. I am graduated from university.
ARRAF: The city was once Iraq's window to the outside world. Heavily damaged in the Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War and mostly Shia, its people have been isolated and neglected for more than a decade. They're impatient for change.
(on camera): Despite the relief that Saddam is gone, there's a continuing resentment against America for not delivering on promises people believe it made. As the U.N. tries to carve out a new role in this new Iraq, perhaps its biggest advantage is that it's not the United States.
(voice-over): Vieira De Mello, with his long experience in trouble spots, is treading carefully in this difficult political landscape, working with rather than against the U.S. while he tries to gain the trust of Iraqis.
Jane Arraf, CNN, Basra.
(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 June 15, 2003 - 16:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The troubled stretch beyond the Baghdad area to the south and the port city of Basra, thousands of Iraqis were chanting in the streets today calling for U.S. and British forces to leave. They say they want to govern themselves. CNN's Jane Arraf says it's not the first clash over the administration of post- war Iraq, and it's a problem the United Nations is looking into.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trying to chart a course for the U.N. in Iraq. Brazilian diplomat Sergio Vieira de Mello has been sent here to find out what role the United Nations can play in an Iraq run by the United States.
The secretary general's special envoy took his first trip out of Baghdad on the weekend, flying over southern Iraq to the port city of Basra.
It's a different role for the U.N. Under 12 years of U.N. sanctions, it was responsible for the country. Now in an Iraq where many people are chafing at the U.S.-British occupation, Vieira de Mello told political leaders he had come to try to help Iraqis govern themselves.
SERGIO VIEIRA DE MELLO, U.N. SPECIAL ENVOY TO IRAQ: What we can offer you is the independence of the United Nations.
ARRAF: But these political leaders have much more immediate concerns. They told him Basra needs electricity, gasoline, and mostly jobs. A surgeon at a teaching hospital said they urgently need security.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We had a patient who was shot dead four days ago, 5 a.m. in the morning.
ARRAF: They said they wanted help rejoining the world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We would like to transport our culture to the world. We need newspapers and theaters and cinemas.
ARRAF: At a U.N. project that pays people to clean up the streets, the senior U.N. official came face to face with the anger of Iraqis who say their lives have gotten worse since the war, and blame the U.S.-led coalition. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why I don't work? What did I do? I don't have money. What do I do? I starve? Become a thief? No. I am graduated from university.
ARRAF: The city was once Iraq's window to the outside world. Heavily damaged in the Iran-Iraq War and the 1991 Gulf War and mostly Shia, its people have been isolated and neglected for more than a decade. They're impatient for change.
(on camera): Despite the relief that Saddam is gone, there's a continuing resentment against America for not delivering on promises people believe it made. As the U.N. tries to carve out a new role in this new Iraq, perhaps its biggest advantage is that it's not the United States.
(voice-over): Vieira De Mello, with his long experience in trouble spots, is treading carefully in this difficult political landscape, working with rather than against the U.S. while he tries to gain the trust of Iraqis.
Jane Arraf, CNN, Basra.
(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
