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Your World Today

Iraq Reconstruction

Aired June 22, 2005 - 12:41   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JIM CLANCY, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our U.S. and international viewers. I'm Jim Clancy, alongside Zain Verjee and this is YOUR WORLD TODAY.
We're going to look at news in Asia now for a moment. North and South Korea, resuming their ministerial-level talks in Seoul after being deadlocked for the past year. Those talks normally focus on inter-Korean issues that are aimed at improving ties. But South Korea is hoping to discuss stalled disarmament talks, as well, with the hope of pushing Pyongyang back the six-party negotiating table. And of the resumption of family reunions and military talks also expected to be topics. The Pyongyang delegation is scheduled to meet with South Korea's president a bit later.

Now to the international efforts to help Iraq. A conference on the issue wrapped up in Brussels just a short while ago. Delegates from some 80 countries heard calls for them to back their words of support with action in reconstruction of Iraq. The needs are many. According to World Bank, Iraq needs almost $36 billion in reconstruction through much of this decade. That includes $387 million for government institutions, $24 million for infrastructure and $3 million for agriculture, among other things.

For more on this, Saad Saraf from the Iraqi reconstruction group Arabia Line joins us now. Thank you so much. Mr. Saraf, there's about $5 billion in aid spent in Iraq. Where has all that money gone? What's been built?

SAAD SARAF, ARABIA LINE: Not much really. I mean, there's -- money has been spent on three elements. One is infrastructure and the other one is security. And there has been bit about corruption, as well. So if you consider infrastructure, there's been initially, quite a lot of projects and money spent on consultants and Western companies who have got contracts that are delinquent. And other money spent on projects like pipes and sewage, that people can't see them, affecting their daily life.

ZAIN VERJEE, CNN ANCHOR: OK. You have two companies...

SARAF: So despite all this money has been spent...

VERJEE: ... that you run in Iraq, reconstruction companies. First of all, security. What do you face in Iraq and how do you handle it?

SARAF: A number of issues. A, it's slightly easier for Iraqis to travel. But, if you consider, for example, some of the contractors are based in remote places or military camps, in desolate place, you cannot be seen to be travelling there frequently, because you become targeted. That's one.

And then, I want as well to highlight -- for example, six weeks ago, I was 18 other potential contractors in the Telekon (ph) Tower project. There were two guys from PCO, around 4 jeeps and 12 body guards. So, when you ask about where the money is being spent, there's quite lot of money being pulled down on security. There are certain contractors being -- sort of moved by helicopters, you know, to go to southern city and other places. So, this is what's draining some of that money that has been spent so far.

VERJEE: And the other issue that you raised, a very serious one, is corruption really undermining reconstruction efforts, where many Iraqi and American officials take kickbacks. What have you faced?

SARAF: Well, there are people, actually, it's not my story only. I mean, any local Iraqi contractor will tell you that there have been certain demands made by, you know, few Americans, not all. And then, you've got -- sometimes, when you sign a contract with the Americans, then you get the local Iraqi officials demanding some kickbacks, so they'll make your life difficult by adding various bits and pieces.

So you're really caught between these two things, you know. And there has been, for example, if I tell you an issue of an Iraqi- American who found out there certain schools in Kut (ph) and Hilla, which has been done three times, you know. I think in the absence of a monitoring sort of framework, American contractors are relying on digital photographs supplied by contractors.

VERJEE: Saad Saraf from the Iraqi reconstruction group. Thank you so much.

CLANCY: Well, a science project in need of a search party. The experts aren't quite exactly sure where a $4 million research satellite is, but they do know where it is not -- that is, where it's supposed to do. The privately-funded Cosmos One was launched Tuesday from a Russian submarine in the Barents Sea. it was supposed to test the theory of powering interplanetary flight by the use of solar wind.

But the Russian Space Agency says the solar sail vehicle was lost when the booster rocket failed shortly after lift-off. U.S. scientists, however, say they may have picked up signals from the spacecraft, although it's going to take a while to determine exactly where the signals are coming from.

VERJEE: Let's check some other stories now making news in the United States. President George W. Bush is calling on Republicans and Democrats to work together to reform the U.S. benefits system known as Social Security. Mr. Bush is backing a Republican-sponsored bill that does not include personal retirement accounts, an idea he has championed. But the White House says that didn't signal a retreat from the proposal.

Democratic Senator Dick Durbin's apologizing for remarks comparing the actions of some U.S. interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to those of Nazis. He offered an emotional retraction on the Senate floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK DURBIN, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRAT: When you look into the eyes of those soldiers, you see your son, you see your daughter. They're the best. I never, ever, intended any disrespect for them. Some may believe that my remarks crossed the line. To them, I extend my heartfelt apologies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VERJEE: The White House, which says prisoners at Guantanamo are treated in accordance with the Geneva Conventions, had called Durbin's remarks reprehensible.

And not so fast, San Antonio Spurs. The Detroit Pistons showed they're not ready to give up their shot at an NBA championship belt. They beat the Spurs, 95-86, in game six of the NBA Finals. That means the Spurs, who had scheduled a victory parade for Thursday, will instead be playing game seven.

(WEATHER REPORT)

VERJEE: Many people involved in reconstruction of Iraq often talk about just how much the Iraqi people can withstand.

Despite all the violence, all of the insecurity, uncertainty about everyday life and the lack of basic services, the Iraqis are determined to live their lives as normally as possible.

Now that included couples who say that the war isn't going to interfere with their plans.

Jennifer Eccleston reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JENNIFER ECCLESTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Piras Odisho and Nahrain Esho (ph) romanced each other for six months, through suicide car bombings and firefights. The Christian couple, both in their 20s, met by chance, and say it was love at first sight. They could have delayed their marriage, hoping security would improve, but they decided not to wait.

PIRAS ODISHO, GROOM (through translator): Life must go on. There must be marriage and happiness. Although there is sadness on one side, there is also happiness on the other side.

ECCLESTON: The deadly spasm of violence in Iraq, especially in Baghdad, spurred many people to put major life plans like finishing college or building a home, on hold.

But despite the unrest, or perhaps because of it, marriages have soared, thirty percent since the invasion according to Judge Ghani Al- Isaa (ph). At his central Baghdad chambers, Judge Al-Isaa receives a steady stream of young couples. Today it's 22 in under three hours. Among them, Ala Lufti (ph) and Ashma Abdullah (ph). The judge, married himself for 29 years, offers the Sunni couple a few words of advice, issues their vows, and signs their marriage contract.

Judge Al Issa says one improvement in postwar Iraq accounts for the nuptial boom.

GHANI AL-ISAA, JUDGE (through translator): There is an increase since the income of all sectors of Iraqi people have gone up.

ECCLESTON: So Iraqis are better equipped to afford to what can be a costly endeavor. The dowry, the groom's family cash gift to the couple, is part of the official marriage contract in Iraq. The going rate, $300.

And there's cost of trappings to mark that special day.

At this Shiite wedding in Sadr City, trappings with a distinctive Iraqi flair.

Piras and Nahrain's wedding celebration seems tame by comparison, 200 guests enjoying the rhythms of DJ Azzat (ph) and the appropriately named Lover Band.

The chaos of life just outside the hall a distant memory, at least for a few hours.

For the young couple, the moment couldn't be more perfect.

ODISHO (through translator): You see day after day, the situation in Iraq is getting better, and living standards are improving. Generally, things are getting better, God willing.

ECCLESTON: There's no doubt they face an uncertain future, but, they say, at least they face it together.

Jennifer Eccleston, CNN, Baghdad.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CLANCY: More news straight ahead here on CNN. I'm Jim Clancy.

VERJEE: And I'm Zain Verjee. This is CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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