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CNN Live Event/Special
U.S. Troops Capture 2 more Saddam Loyalists In Tikrit
Aired August 01, 2003 - 20:39 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: Welcome back. The intense hunt for Saddam Hussein has netted two more of his loyalists. This time it was in his ancesteral home of Tikrit. Harris Whitbeck is standing by live from Tikrit with the latest on that -- Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Anderson. That raid occurred around 4:00 in the afternoon on Friday. As you said, two individuals were caught. They're now being identified as close associates of Saddam Hussein's.
The raid was conducted in part by the members of the U.S. special forces. They had helicopter air cover. And those two individuals have been questioned. U.S .commanders hoping to glean information from them that might help them plan future raids that would eventually lead them to Saddam Hussein.
That is basically the way this whole operation has been working. Raids sometimes will result in only the confiscation of large stores of ammunition or perhaps the capturing of people with lesser rank or lesser standing in the hierarchy of Saddam Hussein's organization. But they insist that every raid usually gives them something else to continue working on.
Yesterday's raid did result in not only the capture two of individuals, but soldiers also found a lot of weaponry and they say, obviously, that helps them lessen the chance of more attacks against the U.S. forces in this area, which is Saddam Hussein's homeland -- Anderson.
COOPER: Harris, I understand yet another new audiotape alleged to be that of the voice of Saddam Hussein on it has surfaced. What kind of reaction is it getting?
WHITBECK: Well, I mean, the U.S., I believe, is now saying that it does believe it to be Saddam Hussein's voice. Here in Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein's home land, the reaction might be different from that one in Baghdad. For example, I have heard diverse opinions on what he is saying. Some people believing him when he says that he is eventually coming back to Iraq. He makes a call for continued attacks, continued acts of resistance against the American occupation.
Another opinion I heard just from people who listed to this tape on television back in Baghdad was that it was time for this man to stop putting forth this kind of messages. I was time to move on for the country. So, again, as has been the case ever since the American occupation, a wide range of opinions was going on here and on what the former leader continues to say by audiotape mostly. COOPER: Harris Whitbeck live in Tikrit, thanks you very much for that.
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 August 1, 2003 - 20:39 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. The intense hunt for Saddam Hussein has netted two more of his loyalists. This time it was in his ancesteral home of Tikrit. Harris Whitbeck is standing by live from Tikrit with the latest on that -- Harris.
HARRIS WHITBECK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Anderson. That raid occurred around 4:00 in the afternoon on Friday. As you said, two individuals were caught. They're now being identified as close associates of Saddam Hussein's.
The raid was conducted in part by the members of the U.S. special forces. They had helicopter air cover. And those two individuals have been questioned. U.S .commanders hoping to glean information from them that might help them plan future raids that would eventually lead them to Saddam Hussein.
That is basically the way this whole operation has been working. Raids sometimes will result in only the confiscation of large stores of ammunition or perhaps the capturing of people with lesser rank or lesser standing in the hierarchy of Saddam Hussein's organization. But they insist that every raid usually gives them something else to continue working on.
Yesterday's raid did result in not only the capture two of individuals, but soldiers also found a lot of weaponry and they say, obviously, that helps them lessen the chance of more attacks against the U.S. forces in this area, which is Saddam Hussein's homeland -- Anderson.
COOPER: Harris, I understand yet another new audiotape alleged to be that of the voice of Saddam Hussein on it has surfaced. What kind of reaction is it getting?
WHITBECK: Well, I mean, the U.S., I believe, is now saying that it does believe it to be Saddam Hussein's voice. Here in Tikrit, which is Saddam Hussein's home land, the reaction might be different from that one in Baghdad. For example, I have heard diverse opinions on what he is saying. Some people believing him when he says that he is eventually coming back to Iraq. He makes a call for continued attacks, continued acts of resistance against the American occupation.
Another opinion I heard just from people who listed to this tape on television back in Baghdad was that it was time for this man to stop putting forth this kind of messages. I was time to move on for the country. So, again, as has been the case ever since the American occupation, a wide range of opinions was going on here and on what the former leader continues to say by audiotape mostly. COOPER: Harris Whitbeck live in Tikrit, thanks you very much for that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
