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CNN Live At Daybreak
Egypt Reacts to Bush's Speech
Aired October 08, 2002 - 06:33 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: World leaders are viewing President Bush's speech on Iraq with caution.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour joins us live on the phone from Cairo with reaction from Egypt.
Good morning.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, today, President Hosni Mubarak met with one of the U.S. principal allies in the crisis against Iraq: the British foreign secretary.
Afterwards the Egyptian foreign minister reacted to President Bush's speech last night. He stuck very much to what he called the "peaceful words" of Mr. Bush. He said, "I want to retain the affirmation by President Bush that he wants to resolve this crisis peacefully," and that he said, "War is not inevitable."
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, is trying to drum up support in the Middle East for any possible toughening resolution against Iraq, and particularly, for any possible military intervention in Iraq.
But in Egypt, the foreign minister said that he did not see any need for a new resolution. He said, he did not see any need to re- write the rules -- quote -- "in the middle of the game." He said that might not be the best solution. He said that what was needed right now is for the weapons inspectors to go back to Iraq, and that he said, there was no need to impede them.
The foreign minister of Egypt went on to say that the Iraqi government has accepted the return of the inspectors, and that Egypt was going to work on the assumption that Saddam Hussein was willing to have them in and willing to let them do their job.
When we asked about, if Iraq did not comply, would Egypt, a key U.S. ally, support military intervention, and would Egypt support a threat of force being included in any new U.N. resolution, the foreign minister of Egypt said that has not come up in today's talks.
Egypt said that they are telling Iraq, as they have told Saddam Hussein before, to abide by the Security Council resolutions and to allow the weapons inspectors to go back. He said Iraq has listened. So, U.S. ally Britain continues to make a tour of the Middle East, continues to try to shore up support against Saddam Hussein, but so far, it seems to be slow-going -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Christiane Amanpour reporting live for us from Egypt this morning, from Cairo -- thank you very much.
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Aired October 8, 2002 - 06:33 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: World leaders are viewing President Bush's speech on Iraq with caution.
CNN's Christiane Amanpour joins us live on the phone from Cairo with reaction from Egypt.
Good morning.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Indeed, today, President Hosni Mubarak met with one of the U.S. principal allies in the crisis against Iraq: the British foreign secretary.
Afterwards the Egyptian foreign minister reacted to President Bush's speech last night. He stuck very much to what he called the "peaceful words" of Mr. Bush. He said, "I want to retain the affirmation by President Bush that he wants to resolve this crisis peacefully," and that he said, "War is not inevitable."
Jack Straw, the British foreign secretary, is trying to drum up support in the Middle East for any possible toughening resolution against Iraq, and particularly, for any possible military intervention in Iraq.
But in Egypt, the foreign minister said that he did not see any need for a new resolution. He said, he did not see any need to re- write the rules -- quote -- "in the middle of the game." He said that might not be the best solution. He said that what was needed right now is for the weapons inspectors to go back to Iraq, and that he said, there was no need to impede them.
The foreign minister of Egypt went on to say that the Iraqi government has accepted the return of the inspectors, and that Egypt was going to work on the assumption that Saddam Hussein was willing to have them in and willing to let them do their job.
When we asked about, if Iraq did not comply, would Egypt, a key U.S. ally, support military intervention, and would Egypt support a threat of force being included in any new U.N. resolution, the foreign minister of Egypt said that has not come up in today's talks.
Egypt said that they are telling Iraq, as they have told Saddam Hussein before, to abide by the Security Council resolutions and to allow the weapons inspectors to go back. He said Iraq has listened. So, U.S. ally Britain continues to make a tour of the Middle East, continues to try to shore up support against Saddam Hussein, but so far, it seems to be slow-going -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Christiane Amanpour reporting live for us from Egypt this morning, from Cairo -- thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
