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CNN Live At Daybreak
Iraq Responds
Aired October 10, 2002 - 06:04 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: Just a few hours ago, Iraq's deputy prime minister insisted his country does not have any weapons of mass destruction and no plans to produce any.
We want to get more on these assertions from our Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf.
Jane -- this press briefing took place about 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and this was kind of an unusual thing to do for Iraqi officials.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it was unusual in a sense, and it was in response to specific allegations put forth by President Bush in his address to the nation on Monday night.
Now, those allegations, that Iraq is rebuilding something, they're not quite sure what, but satellite photos are picking up rebuilding at two sites that were at the heart of Iraq's secret nuclear program in the 1980s. Now, these two sites, Al Furat and Nassr, are near Baghdad.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the international nuclear watchdog, has certified that those sites were dismantled, destroyed, and in fact, Iraq's entire nuclear program was dead. They say there is no evidence that it's rebuilding, but President Bush and others in the U.S. are saying that the indications seen on these satellite photos are quite enough for them.
Now, the point of this press conference by a very important man, the deputy prime minister, and the head of Iraq's military industrialization program, said that, yes, Iraq was rebuilding, but for civilian purposes, the same way it would rebuild schools, hospitals and other factories if they were destroyed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL AL-MULAH HUWAISH, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): And the truth is, Iraq has been rebuilding, not only factories, but mosques and bridges and hospitals -- all of the places that have been destroyed by the aggressors. Is it a crime that Iraq has been rebuilding what the aggressors have destroyed?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: Now, the minister, Abdul Al-Mulah Huwaish, also had a warning for the United States. He conceded that the United States could certainly destroy Iraq's infrastructure again with its air power, but said that if they tried to advance on land, they wouldn't get more than 10 centimeters.
Now, he's invited the U.S. administration, as well as U.N. weapons inspectors, and journalists themselves, to go and see these sites for themselves.
On the issue of when the U.N. weapons inspectors are coming back, and whether they've solved that dispute over the presidential sites that's been holding it up, he said that Iraq was sticking to its interpretation of an agreement signed several years ago, setting forth rules for those sites.
So, that appears still to be a stumbling block before we see U.N. weapons inspectors back -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, the stumbling block no one can get over.
Jane, the deputy prime minister of Iraq also said that if America did attack Iraq, it would teach it an unforgettable lesson. Our viewers are e-mailing this morning, those who saw the speech live here on CNN, that that means they would use chemical weapons. Can you address that?
ARRAF: Sure. Now, the minister, who is in charge actually of producing weapons in Iraq, is permitted to have conventional weapons and short-range ballistic missiles, firmly denies that Iraq has any non-conventional weapons of mass destruction or intends to use them.
Now, what they're referring to when they keep saying that Iraq will "teach Americans a lesson," is one of the things that the United States is worried about, as is the rest of the world, that we don't quite know what would happen. There could really be intense fighting in the streets here. There could be combat that Iraq keeps saying could leave many, many American casualties.
And that is what he is referring to. He is not referring to using any of those weapons of mass destruction, which he says Iraq doesn't have, nor does it intend to rebuild them. He's talking about something much more direct and almost as dramatic -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jane Arraf, thank you for clarifying -- Jane Arraf live from Baghdad this morning.
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 October 10, 2002 - 06:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Just a few hours ago, Iraq's deputy prime minister insisted his country does not have any weapons of mass destruction and no plans to produce any.
We want to get more on these assertions from our Baghdad bureau chief, Jane Arraf.
Jane -- this press briefing took place about 3:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and this was kind of an unusual thing to do for Iraqi officials.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it was unusual in a sense, and it was in response to specific allegations put forth by President Bush in his address to the nation on Monday night.
Now, those allegations, that Iraq is rebuilding something, they're not quite sure what, but satellite photos are picking up rebuilding at two sites that were at the heart of Iraq's secret nuclear program in the 1980s. Now, these two sites, Al Furat and Nassr, are near Baghdad.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which is the international nuclear watchdog, has certified that those sites were dismantled, destroyed, and in fact, Iraq's entire nuclear program was dead. They say there is no evidence that it's rebuilding, but President Bush and others in the U.S. are saying that the indications seen on these satellite photos are quite enough for them.
Now, the point of this press conference by a very important man, the deputy prime minister, and the head of Iraq's military industrialization program, said that, yes, Iraq was rebuilding, but for civilian purposes, the same way it would rebuild schools, hospitals and other factories if they were destroyed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABDUL AL-MULAH HUWAISH, IRAQI DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER (through translator): And the truth is, Iraq has been rebuilding, not only factories, but mosques and bridges and hospitals -- all of the places that have been destroyed by the aggressors. Is it a crime that Iraq has been rebuilding what the aggressors have destroyed?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ARRAF: Now, the minister, Abdul Al-Mulah Huwaish, also had a warning for the United States. He conceded that the United States could certainly destroy Iraq's infrastructure again with its air power, but said that if they tried to advance on land, they wouldn't get more than 10 centimeters.
Now, he's invited the U.S. administration, as well as U.N. weapons inspectors, and journalists themselves, to go and see these sites for themselves.
On the issue of when the U.N. weapons inspectors are coming back, and whether they've solved that dispute over the presidential sites that's been holding it up, he said that Iraq was sticking to its interpretation of an agreement signed several years ago, setting forth rules for those sites.
So, that appears still to be a stumbling block before we see U.N. weapons inspectors back -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, the stumbling block no one can get over.
Jane, the deputy prime minister of Iraq also said that if America did attack Iraq, it would teach it an unforgettable lesson. Our viewers are e-mailing this morning, those who saw the speech live here on CNN, that that means they would use chemical weapons. Can you address that?
ARRAF: Sure. Now, the minister, who is in charge actually of producing weapons in Iraq, is permitted to have conventional weapons and short-range ballistic missiles, firmly denies that Iraq has any non-conventional weapons of mass destruction or intends to use them.
Now, what they're referring to when they keep saying that Iraq will "teach Americans a lesson," is one of the things that the United States is worried about, as is the rest of the world, that we don't quite know what would happen. There could really be intense fighting in the streets here. There could be combat that Iraq keeps saying could leave many, many American casualties.
And that is what he is referring to. He is not referring to using any of those weapons of mass destruction, which he says Iraq doesn't have, nor does it intend to rebuild them. He's talking about something much more direct and almost as dramatic -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Jane Arraf, thank you for clarifying -- Jane Arraf live from Baghdad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
