At 9:42 this morning (Sunday), CNN's Brent Sadler and his crew fired their way out of the Iraqi city of Tikrit, the birthplace of Saddam Hussein, while on a live global broadcast.
Sadler: "That confirms our worst fears. We blew through the checkpoint and they tried to stop us. We have come under automatic fire. We are under attack! We are under attack! We are OK. Atlanta, we are OK. We are returning fire! This is the first time that our armed guards have had to fire their weapons, he fired to get us through there." After a pause of a few moments to check his convoy, Sadler continued, "That was pretty ugly."
"...This is the first time in 24 years as a front-line war correspondent that I have come under deliberate live fire," an out of breath Sadler told viewers as his convoy of seven cars raced out of the city at over 120 km an hour. Some of the CNN vehicles were hit by the fire, including the car that carries their armed guards, which lost its rear window and whose driver was apparently injured in the head.
Sadler had just finished telling viewers that Tikrit looks quiet, "like a ghost town," and that Saddam's ancestral home was "largely untouched by coalition troops or looting," when automatic weapons fire from a roadblock broke the reporter's description. The CNN crew sped ahead, but was caught by another vehicle with armed individuals shooting pistols at them.
Earlier, Sadler, guided around the town by a local teacher names Fharras, reported that Tikrit's abandoned artillery pieces seemed to be in working order. He said that he had been instructed to request permission for filming from the local Baath party office.
Sadler also reported that Tikrit's military bases appeared empty and the guard posts were abandoned, but posters of Saddam remained intact. He also said that the town did not appear to be heavily defended on its perimeter, and that the large gateway at its northern entrance was completely unmanned.
CNN had been told by local residents that the city of Tikrit was safe. Other CNN journalists were fired upon by irregulars with automatic weapons in Baghdad as well.
Sadler: "That confirms our worst fears. We blew through the checkpoint and they tried to stop us. We have come under automatic fire. We are under attack! We are under attack! We are OK. Atlanta, we are OK. We are returning fire! This is the first time that our armed guards have had to fire their weapons, he fired to get us through there." After a pause of a few moments to check his convoy, Sadler continued, "That was pretty ugly."
"...This is the first time in 24 years as a front-line war correspondent that I have come under deliberate live fire," an out of breath Sadler told viewers as his convoy of seven cars raced out of the city at over 120 km an hour. Some of the CNN vehicles were hit by the fire, including the car that carries their armed guards, which lost its rear window and whose driver was apparently injured in the head.
Sadler had just finished telling viewers that Tikrit looks quiet, "like a ghost town," and that Saddam's ancestral home was "largely untouched by coalition troops or looting," when automatic weapons fire from a roadblock broke the reporter's description. The CNN crew sped ahead, but was caught by another vehicle with armed individuals shooting pistols at them.
Earlier, Sadler, guided around the town by a local teacher names Fharras, reported that Tikrit's abandoned artillery pieces seemed to be in working order. He said that he had been instructed to request permission for filming from the local Baath party office.
Sadler also reported that Tikrit's military bases appeared empty and the guard posts were abandoned, but posters of Saddam remained intact. He also said that the town did not appear to be heavily defended on its perimeter, and that the large gateway at its northern entrance was completely unmanned.
CNN had been told by local residents that the city of Tikrit was safe. Other CNN journalists were fired upon by irregulars with automatic weapons in Baghdad as well.