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Background of Uday, Qusay Hussein

Aired July 22, 2003 - 13:05   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Someone who knows the background history of Qusay and Uday Hussein extremely well is our Baghdad bureau correspondent Rym Brahimi.
Rym, what more can you tell us?

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, all we know for now, as you mentioned, is there is no confirmation of whether or not Qusay or Uday Saddam Hussein were killed in that raid. What we do know is there was a $15 million reward for their heads, for anyone who would provide information to either arrest, to kill, or capture each of these two sons. And if, indeed, this information did come from people, just intelligence, well, it does say a lot about how unpopular both those sons were.

And indeed, nobody really liked these people. I've spoken to a few people here about what do they think, is this a good development? And everybody saying, well, we can't believe it for now. We're holding our breaths, because it would be a wonderful development. A pretty girl couldn't walk in the street, because if Uday happened to like her, he'd have her taken off to his house. A lot of people knew about his reputation for brutality, as a brutal playboy.

Qusay, the youngest son, was maybe more cold-blooded, less passionate, but equally ruthless, and he was in charge of the security services. So definitely here, people are waiting to hear whether or not, for sure, these two men have been captured.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Rym, there, in Baghdad, among the people, do they believe that if, indeed, Uday and Qusay have been alive and well, how much influence, how much impact do people there believe they have been having with regard to resistance against the U.S. military or a change in government?

BRAHIMI: I think what it -- what emerges here, or what transpires here from the behavior and the daily discussions I have with the people here in Iraq is that, a, of course, as I mentioned, these two sons were very, very much feared by Iraqis. and so the fact they haven't seen a body, that they haven't seen them captured, is something that has prevented people from really enjoying, in many ways, this fall of the regime, in many ways, if you will. A lot of people are still very afraid of talking or criticizing them, until they see they have been killed or captured. Someone was telling me now, we want to see that on TV, because unless we see that, we won't believe it, and we won't be at rest, basically. So that does say something about how willing people would have been to come forth with information with regard to attacks on U.S. soldiers, for instance, the fact that they still believe there are enough people out there that can threaten them and intimidate them, and of course, they are the two sons that Saddam Hussein had put in various positions of power, especially Qusay Saddam Hussein. The youngest son had been given increasing responsibilities among security services, among the Republican Guard, and then defending Baghdad and the central part of Iraq before the war, and so it would, again, say a lot. It would maybe signal almost the end of a dynasty, if you will, for a lot of people here.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Rym Brahimi, live from Baghdad, thank you so much. We'll continue to check in with you as the story develops.

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 July 22, 2003 - 13:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Someone who knows the background history of Qusay and Uday Hussein extremely well is our Baghdad bureau correspondent Rym Brahimi.
Rym, what more can you tell us?

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, all we know for now, as you mentioned, is there is no confirmation of whether or not Qusay or Uday Saddam Hussein were killed in that raid. What we do know is there was a $15 million reward for their heads, for anyone who would provide information to either arrest, to kill, or capture each of these two sons. And if, indeed, this information did come from people, just intelligence, well, it does say a lot about how unpopular both those sons were.

And indeed, nobody really liked these people. I've spoken to a few people here about what do they think, is this a good development? And everybody saying, well, we can't believe it for now. We're holding our breaths, because it would be a wonderful development. A pretty girl couldn't walk in the street, because if Uday happened to like her, he'd have her taken off to his house. A lot of people knew about his reputation for brutality, as a brutal playboy.

Qusay, the youngest son, was maybe more cold-blooded, less passionate, but equally ruthless, and he was in charge of the security services. So definitely here, people are waiting to hear whether or not, for sure, these two men have been captured.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Rym, there, in Baghdad, among the people, do they believe that if, indeed, Uday and Qusay have been alive and well, how much influence, how much impact do people there believe they have been having with regard to resistance against the U.S. military or a change in government?

BRAHIMI: I think what it -- what emerges here, or what transpires here from the behavior and the daily discussions I have with the people here in Iraq is that, a, of course, as I mentioned, these two sons were very, very much feared by Iraqis. and so the fact they haven't seen a body, that they haven't seen them captured, is something that has prevented people from really enjoying, in many ways, this fall of the regime, in many ways, if you will. A lot of people are still very afraid of talking or criticizing them, until they see they have been killed or captured. Someone was telling me now, we want to see that on TV, because unless we see that, we won't believe it, and we won't be at rest, basically. So that does say something about how willing people would have been to come forth with information with regard to attacks on U.S. soldiers, for instance, the fact that they still believe there are enough people out there that can threaten them and intimidate them, and of course, they are the two sons that Saddam Hussein had put in various positions of power, especially Qusay Saddam Hussein. The youngest son had been given increasing responsibilities among security services, among the Republican Guard, and then defending Baghdad and the central part of Iraq before the war, and so it would, again, say a lot. It would maybe signal almost the end of a dynasty, if you will, for a lot of people here.

Back to you.

PHILLIPS: Rym Brahimi, live from Baghdad, thank you so much. We'll continue to check in with you as the story develops.

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