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CNN Wolf Blitzer Reports

Kidnappers Issue Death Threat, Warn Others to Leave Pakistan

Aired January 30, 2002 - 19:00   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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight on WOLF BLITZER REPORTS: "The War room."

Kidnappers of an American journalist issue a death threat and warn others to leave Pakistan, or else.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: These regimes pose a grave and growing danger.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: When the president branded Iran, Iraq and North Korea an "axis of evil," what did he have in mind?

We'll hear from our correspondents, and I'll speak live with Senator Evan Bayh of the intelligence committee, and retired General Wesley Clark, the former supreme commander of NATO, as we go into THE WAR ROOM.

Good evening. I'm Wolf Blitzer, reporting tonight from Washington. We'll also speak live with a member of the Iraqi opposition seeking to overthrow Saddam Hussein.

But we begin in Los Angeles, where there's been a serious traffic accident in the area. We're looking at live pictures, courtesy of our affiliate, KCVS. At least a dozen schoolchildren have been hit by a car in a school parking lot. We're told that fire officials say four of the children are critically injured.

A triage area to evaluate and care for the injured has been set up in the school's parking lot. They're at the Westminster Academy in the Eagle Rock area of Los Angeles. We're also told that the car simply went out of control. We'll continue to update this story out of Los Angeles throughout this program. And as we get more details, of course, we'll make those available.

But We begin now with the sad story of kidnapped "Wall Street Journal" reporter, Daniel Pearl. Tonight, a chilling threat from the kidnappers: do what we say, or he's dead within 24 hours. The kidnapers, a group known as the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, sent an e-mail spelling out their position, along with these new pictures of Pearl, who was abducted last week in Karachi.

In their e-mail, the group demands the release of all Pakistanis being held by the United States as a result of the war on terrorism. And they offered a stark warning to other journalists. In their own words, often misspelled, the e-mail reads: "We have interrogated mr.D.Parl and we have come to the conclusion that contrary to what we though earlier he is not working for the cia. in fact he is working for Mossaad. therefore we will execute him within 24 hours unless amreeka flfils our demands. We warn all amreekan journlsts 3 days to get out of pakstan. anyone remaining after that will be targetted."

Daniel Pearl's wife spoke a short while ago with our CNN's Ben Wedeman. He joins us now live from Karachi. Ben, give us the latest on what's going on.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, wolf, basically the situation is that, today, the Pakistani authorities took into custody one Mubarak Ali Gilani (ph), who is the leader of what's known as Jamaat al-Fuqra, which means the Group of the Poor. That's a hard- line Islamic group.

Now, as you mentioned earlier, we did speak with Marianne Pearl, who is the French wife, also a journalist, of Daniel Pearl, that journalist who is now missing, believed kidnapped -- obviously kidnaped -- now for a week. And I asked her, what would she say if she could speak to the kidnappers of her husband.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARIANNE PEARL, DANIEL PEARL'S WIFE: If they don't allow people like, you know, who take the risk, who are willing to go and create a dialogue, the last one to be held hostage, or to be suffering from that, because we are the ones who try to create that dialogue, right? And I mean, that's what I would tell them. And also tell him that I trust that he can understand me, because since I have been in Pakistan, we have been able to create that dialogue. It's a dialogue that existed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: And then, Wolf, I asked her how she was coping with this obviously very difficult ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

How are you coping with this?

PEARL: I haven't slept for six days, if that's what you are asking. I'm -- but I have hope. I mean, you know, I'm not desperate, because I -- if I stop believing in creating this dialogue, then I stop believing everything else. So I can't do that. I'm pregnant.

WEDEMAN: And if you could speak to your husband now, what would you tell him?

PEARL: I love you. (END VIDEO CLIP)

WEDEMAN: And, as you can see, this woman is a very strong person. She was very composed during the interview, despite the fact she hasn't seen her husband now for a week, and he is now under a death threat -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ben, what are you hearing from Pakistani authorities about their investigation into this matter?

WEDEMAN: As I mentioned, they have one -- this Mr. Mubarak Ali Gilani, who they're describing as a prime suspect. Now, Mr. Pearl was in fact on his way to meet and interview Mr. Gilani, and that is when he essentially disappeared. So obviously, the Pakistani authorities are looking at him.

But it's worth mentioning that Karachi is a city that has a history of kidnapping. Many kidnapings have taken place here over the last year, some for political motives, many others simply for ransom. So there are many suspects in this country. But at the moment, to the best of our knowledge, they are no closer to actually finding the group that is holding Mr. Pearl -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Ben Wedeman in Karachi, thanks so much. Be careful over there yourself.

And earlier today, Pearl's editor at "The Wall Street Journal" went on CNN International with a plea for the life of his reporter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAUL STEIGER, MANAGING EDITOR, "WALL STREET JOURNAL": Danny Pearl is a journalist, pure and simply, nothing more, nothing less. And he doesn't have the power to bring about the demands of the people who have him captive. And he's is not an agent of any government. He is a journalist. And we think that it's in their interest, as well as in ours, to set him free.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Mr. Steiger also says if they harm Pearl, the kidnapers own cause will be hurt.

And turning now to the war against terrorism, President Bush has thrown down the gauntlet, mincing no words in accusing three nations of threatening world peace. Let's go live to our national security correspondent, David Ensor. He's here in our Washington bureau -- David.

DAVID ENSOR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, one thing is for certain. President Bush got the attention last night of the leaders in Baghdad, Tehran, and Pyongyang.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BUSH: All nations should know America will do what is necessary. ENSOR (voice-over): It was a war president, sounding like he may widen the war to cover Iraq, or Iran or North Korea, calling them an "axis of evil."

BUSH: I will not stand by as peril draws closer and closer. The United States of America will not permit the world's most dangerous regimes to threaten us with the world's most destructive weapons.

ENSOR: Certainly, opponents of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein took heart from the speech, and from talks at the State Department about more U.S. aid for them.

SHARIF ALI BIN AL HUSSEIN, IRAQI NATIONAL CONGRESS: We feel that things are going our way.

ENSOR: Conservative advocates of taking the war to Iraq also liked the president's approach in the speech.

CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER, SYNDICATED COLUMNIST: I think that between this State of the Union and next year's State of the Union, we will have a war in Iraq.

ENSOR: But asked whether the president really meant to suggest war with Iraq is likely, administration officials left it ambiguous.

DONALD RUMSFELD, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: He didn't suggest anything. If there was anything about last night's speech, it was that it had near perfect clarity.

ENSOR: As for Iran and North Korea, some analysts were surprised the president put them in the same category as Iraq. After all, Iran has even helped, at least some, on Afghanistan. And for some time now, North Korea has been offering talks and keeping its head down.

IVO DAALDER, BROOKINGS INSTITUTE: He has really closed down the road to diplomacy, to engagement, to a carrot, as well as a stick approach. And it's now all sticks, no carrots. You do as I tell, and otherwise we will make you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ENSOR: While Mr. Bush's language suggested to some he is contemplating war against Iraq if it doesn't give up weapons of mass destruction, one senior administration official warned against reading too much into his words. "The United States is not going to have a one-size-fits-all policy here," the official said, "so don't assume that the president is going to repeat Afghanistan all over the world" -- Wolf.

BLITZER: David Ensor here in Washington, thank you very much.

And the president, of course, when he called Iraq part of an axis of evil, brought strong reaction from an Iraqi official earlier today. And while the United States has not said it will strike Iraq, there are signs inside Iraq that some take the possibility of an attack very seriously. CNN's Jane Arraf reports from Baghdad. JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, a senior Iraqi leader says tonight that the U.S. has no evidence that Iraq is still developing weapons of mass destruction. That's the Vice President Taha Yassin Ramadan, who is very close to the Iraqi president.

Now, he was speaking to an internal audience, which means that his comments were quite a bit more hard-line. He said, in fact, that they want the spies to return because Bush says we still have weapons. Now, those so-called spies he's referring to are U.N. weapons inspectors. And in fact, the Iraqi government has made a point of reaching out to the United Nations and to its Arab and other neighbors in recent months, to try and shore up support against any U.S. attack, indicating that they could even be prepared, perhaps, to let those weapons inspectors back in, under certain circumstances.

The only reaction at the end of the day though that really matters here is that of President Saddam Hussein. And he has been silent since the State of the Union address. He has been keeping a policy lately of keeping a low profile and not engaging in name- calling. Officials say that's in order not to provoke further the United States and create any unintended crisis. And we may not actually hear a response from him to the State of the Union.

Regarding the Iraqi people, we're not allowed to go out and ask them what they think, since they haven't yet heard the official Iraqi line on what they're supposed to say. But one thing that does resonate here is the phrase "axis of evil." Now, that's the phrase that's quite likely to have been used very much by President Saddam Hussein and others here. More likely, perhaps, than by a western leader. And in terms of the perception here, it's proof to many people who were convinced of this in the first place, that this U.S. war on terror is based on emotion, based on revenge, rather than reason, and that it does have religious overtones -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Jane Arraf in Baghdad, thank you very much.

An axis of evil -- much of the talk following the State of the Union address concerns the president's blunt warning to Iraq, Iran and North Korea. Joining me now here in the CNN War Room: Sharif Ali Bin Al-Hussein, a leader of the Iraqi National Congress, an opposition group seeking the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, retired General Wesley Clark, CNN military analyst and the former supreme commander of NATO and Senator Evan Bayh, a member of the Senate intelligence committee.

Remember, you can e-mail your War Room questions to us. Go to my Web page, cnn.com/wolf. That's also where you can read my daily on- line column. Gentlemen, thanks for joining us. Sharif Ali, let me begin with you. So much talk over all of these years for more than a decade, of overthrowing Saddam Hussein. He seems to be more entrenched than ever.

SHARIF ALI BIN AL-HUSSEIN, IRAQI NATIONAL CONGRESS: Quite the contrary. Over a third of the country is out of his control. In the north and the south, there is constant insurrection against his rule. At nighttime there are many cities that he can't go into. Iraq is no longer ruled with a steel hand that he used to. He is vulnerable, and the Iraqi people are quite capable of overthrowing him, given enough support.

BLITZER: Senator Bayh, you're a member of the Senate intelligence committee. Is that the kind of briefing you're getting from U.S. officials?

SEN. EVAN BAYH (D-IN), INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE: Well, we have our work cut out for us with regard to Iraq, Wolf. But our Iraqi friend here is correct. We have potential allies in the north with the Kurds, the Shiites in the south. But over the years Saddam has been very ruthless in eliminating most domestic opposition, so it's going to take some time to develop the wherewithal for a real regime change there. I think it's called for and we need to work toward it, but it's not going to happen overnight.

BLITZER: Militarily speaking, General, this would be a Gulf War two, perhaps in spades.

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET), FMR. NATO SUPREME COMMANDER: It might be, it might not be. There are different ways to go after this. You could line up forces and do another Gulf War. But you could also do a variant of the pattern in Afghanistan. You could find local opposition, you could create it, you could take down this command and control structure. You could take out the air defense, you could insert special forces teams.

You could bring precision strikes against those presidential sites, where he's got those weapons hidden. And then challenge his army to come after you and use air power to pick it out. It wouldn't be as clean. It wouldn't be as easy as it was in the case of Afghanistan, because you're dealing with a real armed forces here. But it could be done.

BLITZER: Sharif Ali, you don't believe the Afghan model, the U.S. and others working with the Northern Alliance, the rebels opposed to the Taliban, that that necessarily would work in Iraq.

HUSSEIN: I think it would be easier in Iraq.

BLITZER: Easier than in Afghanistan?

HUSSEIN: Absolutely.

BLITZER: Afghanistan, within two, three months, the Taliban is destroyed.

HUSSEIN: Well, you see, the difference is that in Afghanistan, with all the evils of that regime, they had people who were willing to fight and die for a cause they believed in. This doesn't exist in Iraq. The Iraqi Army will not fight for Saddam Hussein.

BLITZER: They fought for him during the Gulf War.

HUSSEIN: That was 10 years ago. They were in the trenches, and they didn't have a choice. Now, if you are asking about a battle of maneuver, of standing up against the U.S. air force, on the contrary. The Iraqi -- and including the Republican Guard -- will turn against Saddam Hussein. The people -- the most happy about President Bush's statements last night are the Iraqi people. They are overjoyed. They look to the United States to help them overthrow they tyrant.

BLITZER: So many U.S. military officials, Pentagon analysts, have said that going into Baghdad would be an enormous undertaking. It would result in the loss of a lot of U.S. military personnel. That's the main reason the U.S. didn't do it at the end of the Gulf War. Are you convinced, as Sharif Ali is, that it would be easier this time around?

BAYH: Well, unfortunately, I'm not, Wolf. I hope that Sharif Ali would be right. I share his objective. But I think we need go into this with our eyes wide open. It is a much larger army. As I said, he's been ruthless in eliminating most potential adversaries there at home.

And I assume the way we would go about this is the gradual application of pressure, continuing to ratchet up, arming his domestic opponents in the north and the south, developing covert capabilities. And then bringing more traditional forces to bear. But, Wolf, I think we have to assume that it will be more difficult than Afghanistan.

BLITZER: General Clark, we have an e-mail question from New Hope, Pennsylvania: "Is our military ready to wage war on the three nations named in the president's speech as well as others that were not singled out?"

CLARK: Well, ready, yes. But simultaneously, no. No, we have to stage this. We have to organize it, we'd have to bring allies in. It's going to take diplomatic, it's going to take international law, and it's going to take time. And just to follow up on something the senator said, I do think it's important that if we were to undertake a campaign that would look like the Afghanistan campaign, we understand that once we get into something like this, there is no alternative to success. You have to win, and that means you have to have behind a campaign like that, the kind of conventional forces that can do the job, let's call it, the old-fashioned way, with lots of boots on the ground, if necessary.

(CROSSTALK)

BAYH: May I add one thing to what the general was saying? The Turks will be very important in this. And I'm told that one of their requirements for going forward with this sort of thing is that we are dedicated to seeing it through to the end this time, to a successful conclusion. No more halfway measures.

BLITZER: I'm sure a lot of people are looking for that. Sharif Ali, another e-mail question from Johnny in College Station, Texas. You're an Iraqi. You can probably answer this question: "What is the possibility of Iraq and Iran forming a coalition to combat U.S. forces? Is it likely that other Arab states would join such a coalition?" HUSSEIN: Absolutely out of the question. Everybody in the region knows that Saddam Hussein is a terrible threat to them. And he has developed weapons of mass destruction and instills fear in their hearts. And they all desire that Saddam Hussein be removed from power. What they're looking at is the commitment of the United States -- whether the United States is willing to follow through.

We fully understand that a great deal of preparation needs to be done, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) diplomatically and political. But it is doable, and the whole region will support the United States and the Iraqi people, removing the regional threat.

BLITZER: All right, we're going to continue this conversation. We have a lot more to talk about when we come back. We'll also talk about the Daniel Pearl kidnaping. What can the United States do about it? Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Welcome back. Sharif Ali Bin al-Hussein, what do you need from the U.S. government right now? Your Iraqi National Congress, the opposition to Saddam Hussein, to overthrow that regime?

HUSSEIN: Well, we need a very clear message that the president was giving, that...

BLITZER: Beyond the message -- what practical things do you need?

HUSSEIN: Practically, we need to be empowered inside Iraq. We are working inside Iraq now. We are fighting and dying inside Iraq. We need U.S. help to improve our capabilities inside Iraq. That means more training, more material, more funding, to reduce or casualties inside Iraq and increase our ability.

BLITZER: You know, Senator, that members of Congress, including yourself, ready to support the Iraqi National Congress. But the Clinton administration, now the Bush administration, is not that convinced that the Iraqi National Congress can do it.

BAYH: Well, I think we'll be willing to support every group, Wolf, that's dedicated to changing the situation in Iraq, including the Iraqi congress, others. I think that we need to employ all of the potential allies that we have at our disposal.

BLITZER: Let's talk about Daniel Pearl, the "Wall Street Journal" reporter kidnaped in Karachi. We heard his wife make a very emotional appeal for his release. What, if anything, can the U.S. do, in a sad situation like this?

CLARK: Well, I'm sure we've got all our ears up and all our eyes out, and we're looking for everything, we're listening to everything. We're working with the Pakistanis. They've got a very good special forces, special operations capability. We have trained with them for many years. We have seen them execute operations. We know they're good. I would be surprised if they would let us intervene in a case like that, but if they did, we'd probably do it.

BLITZER: Are you convinced, Senator, the Pakistani government of President Musharraf is doing everything possible to free Daniel Pearl?

BAYH: Absolutely, Wolf. His government has really stood tall during this whole crisis. They reached a very critical fork in the road, with regard to Pakistan's future. And they've clearly staked their flag in the fight against terrorism. I'm confident that they will do everything they can to help free this man, with our assistance, if necessary.

BLITZER: You're from the region, Sharif Ali. You know something about Islamic militants, what they may or may not be capable of doing. The whole capture of this American, you've been watching it. What, if anything, can be done to save him?

HUSSEIN: It's very difficult. I mean, you need to have professional negotiators in there to start the process.

BLITZER: But it doesn't look like it's a money issue. They're not asking for a million dollars. They want the U.S. to release all Pakistani prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, for example.

HUSSEIN: Well, for those that know the region, we knew that this was coming. And the thing to watch out for, that worse may be coming. When you have prisoners, organizations like these take hostages, all the world has to be alert to that fact, that danger does exist. And this may just be the beginning.

BLITZER: We heard that same message last night from President Bush, minced no words. Worse may be coming.

CLARK: Oh, I think we have to be prepared for that. It's especially dangerous for our journalists and other Americans who are in there, because it just really ups the security demands. And it's their way of striking back and isolating America from the region, and showing a certain -- they're trying to humiliate American power and embarrass Musharraf in the process. So, it's a multidimensional weapon, taking and threatening journalists.

BLITZER: General Clark, Senator Bayh, Sharif Ali, thanks so much for all three of you joining us. Appreciate it very much.

When we come back, we'll have a news alert, including the latest on that breaking news in California, where a car rammed into a group of schoolchildren waiting to go home. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: An accelerating car injures at least 17 children and one adult in California. That tops today's "News Alert." It happened in the parking lot at a Los Angeles area hospital. You're looking at live pictures, courtesy our affiliate, KCBS. Apparently the car ran out of control, ran into a number of people at the Westminster Academy, while children were waiting for rides home. Four children were critically injured and taken by helicopter to local hospitals. Fire crews began the process of treating the rest of the injured on the grounds of the school.

Between 2,000 and 3,000 passengers had to leave an airport terminal at San Francisco International Airport this morning and go through security again. That was after screeners found residue on an man's shoes that could have come from explosives, but allowed him to leave before he could be questioned further. Dozens of flights were delayed.

That's all the time we have tonight. Please join me again tomorrow, twice, at both 5:00 and 7:00 p.m. Eastern. Until then, thanks very much for watching. I'm Wolf Blitzer in Washington. "CROSSFIRE" begins right now.

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