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CNN Live At Daybreak
First U.N. Weapons Inspectors Due in Baghdad Soon
Aired November 25, 2002 - 05:02 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.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now more on our top story. The first U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq in nearly four years due in Baghdad in just about four hours from now.
Let's take you to CNN's Nic Robertson, who is in the Iraqi capital with the very latest -- hello, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.
Well, when they arrive here, it'll be almost dark. They'll head straight to their hotel. Now, on that team there will be 12 specialists in the missile, chemical and biological weapons field, and six experts in the nuclear weapons field. They won't actually get to go into their offices in Baghdad here until Tuesday. Their equipment has been piling up outside there. There are two, or several offices, rather, that have been prepared for their arrival.
But their real work is going to begin in Wednesday. And what they're going to do then, we are told, although nobody is saying specifically where they will go, but what we're being told is they'll likely go and visit sites -- they'll split into several teams and they'll likely visit sites where weapons inspectors had last gone in 1998 and left behind monitoring equipment.
What they want to do is find out if that monitoring equipment, such as cameras, is still working. If not, replace it or review whether or not it's necessary.
Now, what they intend to do with this program of visiting those previously visited sites is to draw a baseline, effectively find out what Iraq has been doing at those sites over the last four years -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Such an overwhelming task for this group, such a big area to have to search. The first couple of days just getting settled, right?
ROBERTSON: That's right. Really, they're only going to have one day in their office before they get out to work. Their secure communications, we understand, are not yet fully in place. Perhaps that's the reason why U.N. spokesmen here are essentially hinting to us they're unlikely to go into any of the really contentious sites, such as the presidential palaces that have proved problematic in the past, likely to stick to just forming that base line again.
They don't yet have their helicopters in country or the fixed wing aircraft that they will be able to use to extend their visits around the country and neither have they opened their offices in the south, in Basra in the north, in Mosul. All these things yet to happen. They have their vehicles ready in place, so likely these inspections will likely be close to Baghdad -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right, Nic, we'll be checking back with you in just a little bit.
That's Nic Robertson in Baghdad.
Thank you.
In a 19 page letter delivered on the eve of the inspectors' arrival, Iraq complained about the mission. The letter to the U.N. said that the inspections could give the U.S. a pretext to attack. The letter goes on to say, "It is incumbent on them" -- the U.N. inspectors, that is -- "to preserve the sovereignty of the countries they are working in and to respect their laws, systems and human rights in accordance with the U.N. charter. None of them" -- the international agreements -- "provides that nationals of a country be interviewed inside their country without the presence of a representative of their government or that they would be asked to leave their families to be interviewed outside of their country."
Well, the island of Cyprus is the rear staging area for the weapons inspectors. They are preparing to leave very soon for Baghdad.
And CNN's Sheila MacVicar is live there from Lanarca, Cyprus -- what's the latest from there?
Are they preparing to head out to Baghdad?
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning.
Yes, indeed, that bus you see behind me in the front of the hotel there, the inspectors have just boarded that bus. They'll be heading off to the airport shortly for a takeoff in a little more than an hour from now for that two hour and a little bit longer flight to Baghdad. So they'll be in Baghdad a little later on this afternoon.
Now, on board these, this, that bus, on its, on their way to Baghdad are 12 members of the U.N. weapons inspection teams and six members from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the agency charged with examining Iraq's nuclear weapons program. These people are the first actual weapons inspectors. Previous to this we've seen logisticians going, communications experts, people charged with setting up those facilities in Baghdad.
These are the people who will actually go in and carry out the first inspections on the ground. We believe that they will start on Wednesday and we think that they're going to start with what they call familiar sites in order to reestablish a baseline of data, to go back to places which were familiar to the U.N. weapons inspectors from their work up to 1998, to take a look at what's happened to those sites and to check also the monitoring equipment which was installed at those sites to see if it can be used again and rehooked up to the U.N.'s monitoring system.
All of that in a sort of, if you will, softly, softly kind of approach that's designed to build a little confidence between Iraq and the U.N. weapons inspectors.
CALLAWAY: Sheila, will they still be keeping some sort of site there in Lanarca, Cyprus?
MACVICAR: Well, this is going to be the way in and the way out from Baghdad. This is, there will be a small base here, a place where they can do some of the paperwork that has to be involved. Now, the people who are going in today, all of them are either on the permanent staff of the IAEA or the United Nations weapons team based in New York. But in coming weeks, as the inspection process really gets under way, we're going to be seeing more people coming in here, coming from their home countries. They'll come here to get identification, to go through a bit of a briefing drill before they go on to Baghdad
So there will be a base here. It's going to be an important logistics base. But, of course, the work will be done in Baghdad and most of the analysis will be done either at the headquarters of the IAEA in Vienna or back in New York.
CALLAWAY: OK, Sheila, thank you.
That's Sheila MacVicar in Cyprus.
We have a special on Iraq and the U.N. weapons inspectors on our Web site. You can get the background and find out about the key players in all of this. Just click onto cnn.com. the AOL keyword is CNN.
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 November 25, 2002 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Now more on our top story. The first U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq in nearly four years due in Baghdad in just about four hours from now.
Let's take you to CNN's Nic Robertson, who is in the Iraqi capital with the very latest -- hello, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Catherine.
Well, when they arrive here, it'll be almost dark. They'll head straight to their hotel. Now, on that team there will be 12 specialists in the missile, chemical and biological weapons field, and six experts in the nuclear weapons field. They won't actually get to go into their offices in Baghdad here until Tuesday. Their equipment has been piling up outside there. There are two, or several offices, rather, that have been prepared for their arrival.
But their real work is going to begin in Wednesday. And what they're going to do then, we are told, although nobody is saying specifically where they will go, but what we're being told is they'll likely go and visit sites -- they'll split into several teams and they'll likely visit sites where weapons inspectors had last gone in 1998 and left behind monitoring equipment.
What they want to do is find out if that monitoring equipment, such as cameras, is still working. If not, replace it or review whether or not it's necessary.
Now, what they intend to do with this program of visiting those previously visited sites is to draw a baseline, effectively find out what Iraq has been doing at those sites over the last four years -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: Such an overwhelming task for this group, such a big area to have to search. The first couple of days just getting settled, right?
ROBERTSON: That's right. Really, they're only going to have one day in their office before they get out to work. Their secure communications, we understand, are not yet fully in place. Perhaps that's the reason why U.N. spokesmen here are essentially hinting to us they're unlikely to go into any of the really contentious sites, such as the presidential palaces that have proved problematic in the past, likely to stick to just forming that base line again.
They don't yet have their helicopters in country or the fixed wing aircraft that they will be able to use to extend their visits around the country and neither have they opened their offices in the south, in Basra in the north, in Mosul. All these things yet to happen. They have their vehicles ready in place, so likely these inspections will likely be close to Baghdad -- Catherine.
CALLAWAY: All right, Nic, we'll be checking back with you in just a little bit.
That's Nic Robertson in Baghdad.
Thank you.
In a 19 page letter delivered on the eve of the inspectors' arrival, Iraq complained about the mission. The letter to the U.N. said that the inspections could give the U.S. a pretext to attack. The letter goes on to say, "It is incumbent on them" -- the U.N. inspectors, that is -- "to preserve the sovereignty of the countries they are working in and to respect their laws, systems and human rights in accordance with the U.N. charter. None of them" -- the international agreements -- "provides that nationals of a country be interviewed inside their country without the presence of a representative of their government or that they would be asked to leave their families to be interviewed outside of their country."
Well, the island of Cyprus is the rear staging area for the weapons inspectors. They are preparing to leave very soon for Baghdad.
And CNN's Sheila MacVicar is live there from Lanarca, Cyprus -- what's the latest from there?
Are they preparing to head out to Baghdad?
SHEILA MACVICAR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, good morning.
Yes, indeed, that bus you see behind me in the front of the hotel there, the inspectors have just boarded that bus. They'll be heading off to the airport shortly for a takeoff in a little more than an hour from now for that two hour and a little bit longer flight to Baghdad. So they'll be in Baghdad a little later on this afternoon.
Now, on board these, this, that bus, on its, on their way to Baghdad are 12 members of the U.N. weapons inspection teams and six members from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the agency charged with examining Iraq's nuclear weapons program. These people are the first actual weapons inspectors. Previous to this we've seen logisticians going, communications experts, people charged with setting up those facilities in Baghdad.
These are the people who will actually go in and carry out the first inspections on the ground. We believe that they will start on Wednesday and we think that they're going to start with what they call familiar sites in order to reestablish a baseline of data, to go back to places which were familiar to the U.N. weapons inspectors from their work up to 1998, to take a look at what's happened to those sites and to check also the monitoring equipment which was installed at those sites to see if it can be used again and rehooked up to the U.N.'s monitoring system.
All of that in a sort of, if you will, softly, softly kind of approach that's designed to build a little confidence between Iraq and the U.N. weapons inspectors.
CALLAWAY: Sheila, will they still be keeping some sort of site there in Lanarca, Cyprus?
MACVICAR: Well, this is going to be the way in and the way out from Baghdad. This is, there will be a small base here, a place where they can do some of the paperwork that has to be involved. Now, the people who are going in today, all of them are either on the permanent staff of the IAEA or the United Nations weapons team based in New York. But in coming weeks, as the inspection process really gets under way, we're going to be seeing more people coming in here, coming from their home countries. They'll come here to get identification, to go through a bit of a briefing drill before they go on to Baghdad
So there will be a base here. It's going to be an important logistics base. But, of course, the work will be done in Baghdad and most of the analysis will be done either at the headquarters of the IAEA in Vienna or back in New York.
CALLAWAY: OK, Sheila, thank you.
That's Sheila MacVicar in Cyprus.
We have a special on Iraq and the U.N. weapons inspectors on our Web site. You can get the background and find out about the key players in all of this. Just click onto cnn.com. the AOL keyword is CNN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
