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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

International Wrap, Eye on World

Aired October 31, 2003 - 05:35   ET

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

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to go back just for a second to Saddam Hussein. Our senior international editor, Eli Flournoy, joins us now.
There is an interesting article in "The New York Times" that said Saddam Hussein may actually be still running things as far as the resistance is concerned, whereas the U.S. government has always said he's on the run.

ELI FLOURNOY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL EDITOR: That's correct. "The New York Times" article indicated that Bush administration officials are saying that Saddam Hussein is not just out there and on the run, as you said, as they previously have said, but maybe coordinating the efforts -- the resistance efforts. And this would be a significant shift -- if this is true, this would be a significant shift in the way that the Bush administration is characterizing the role of Saddam Hussein.

Now, when we look at this "New York Times" story, there are two key ways that we have to take a look at it. One, what does this mean for us journalistically, and what can we corroborate, as you heard Jane Arraf reporting, about where is Saddam? What do we know about what he's up to? What are coalition officials on the ground in Iraq saying?

And we are going out to them today and hope to hear back from them about how they would characterize the role of Saddam Hussein, because often there is difference sometimes between the way that things get characterized out of Washington, which is the sourcing and "The New York Times" report, and what's going on, on the ground. So, fortunately, we have our team out there in Iraq.

COSTELLO: If Saddam Hussein is orchestrating things, I'm guessing that many Americans thought he already was, even though the government here characterized him as on the run and ineffective. Why is this so important?

FLOURNOY: Well, the suspicion, as you say, has always been out there, that Saddam Hussein would be playing a crucial role. Obviously, he has contacts. He is presumed to be back in a stronghold area around Tikrit near his hometown. And the coalition is very concerned about this.

We have another report that has just come out from the Associated Press saying that in Saddam Hussein's hometown of Awja (ph), which is near Tikrit, that they are forcing residents there to have I.D. cards to identify members who might be loyal to Saddam Hussein or family members of Saddam Hussein who may be involved in coordinating attacks against coalition or U.S. interests.

Another important factor with Saddam Hussein is if he is coordinating attacks, we, at CNN and other media organizations, have security concerns to think about. And as Jane was just reporting about this day of resistance fears, we have our own concerns. If Saddam Hussein is, in fact, taking a leading role in coordinating efforts, do we need to take a different look in terms of our security situation in Baghdad and around Iraq as well?

COSTELLO: Well, we'll let you get back to figure all of that out. Important stuff this morning. Eli Flournoy, thanks so much for joining us.

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