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U.N. Weapons Inspectors Making Final Preparations
Aired November 26, 2002 - 11:04 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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq now, U.N. weapons inspectors are making final preparations today to begin the hunt for Saddam Hussein's weapons program today.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is keeping watch in Baghdad today -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Carol, those inspectors have laid out how they plan to go about their work. One thing they'll be doing, they say, is locking down or freezing the sites that they go to.
What they don't want to happen is what they say happened in the past, where they would turn up at the front gate to a site they needed to inspect, only to find that out of the back gate, Iraqi officials were taking away documents. Now they're going to freeze those sites so nothing can change when they get there. Unfortunately for us, that means we won't be able to get in and see exactly what they're doing.
But the inspectors say that is good for them. They also say they're going to be using a lot of high-tech equipment. We've heard this before. We saw some of it on display today, things for detecting radiation, isotopes, radioactive isotopes, very sensitive detectors, they say, that can pick up radioactive isotopes from many, many hundreds of meters away, so they'll be able to tell if somewhere in the vicinity there is something that has been perhaps in the nuclear weapons arena.
Now, they also say that they will be putting tags on equipment, putting seals on equipment. They say they will be taking photographs, taking videotapes, and they also say -- and this is something new -- that they'll be able to send some of this information back in realtime to analysts in Vienna and New York who can look at their databases there and cross reference what the inspectors are seeing on the ground with what they've got in their data banks.
Now if you'll remember, In 1991, when the inspectors came in and they found these devices called calutrons (ph), they were looking at Saddam Hussein's first steps into nuclear weapons production, they didn't even know it, they didn't even recognize the equipment, so it's things like that they hope to overcome this time. They'll also be carrying with them computers, again, with banks of data information on them, so they can cross reference what they're looking at in the field. They say that after years of looking at satellite photographs, now they're finally going to be able to get beneath those roofs, and see, find out what's going on. They have detection equipment that can even tell what's been going on somewhere, even if they walk in and see no equipment in there -- Carol.
LIN: All right, a lot of assist from new technology, but, Nic, some old-fashioned diplomacy going on behind the scenes. A lot of former weapons inspectors are saying the real detection may actually occur on December 8th when Iraq is supposed to disclose the entirety of its weapons program, but now there's some backdoor negotiating, we understand the United States adding things to the list of things that they want to see the Iraqis declare, and the Iraqis are saying you want us to talk about making plastic flippers at a factory? Is that on your list, too? Have you heard anything about this dispute?
ROBERTSON: Yes, absolutely. Hans Blix just after he addressed the U.N. Security Council last night. He said, this is what he had in conversations from Iraqis. The Iraqi foreign minister in his statement to Secretary-General Koffi Annan at the U.N. just over the weekend said, look, we can produce thousands of pages of documents on our petrochemical industry alone, because the Iraqis have been called upon, along with the weapons of mass destruction, to declare any of these potential dual-use items, and he did use that example of the plastic slippers. He said -- the Iraqis have said, what do we have to put in there?
It's not clear why Iraqi authorities are questioning in such detail, but it's certainly the understanding from the U.N. is what Iraq should put forward could potentially be a hugely complex and long document. It will take a long time to analyze it, but it will begin to give the inspectors perhaps some other ideas of sites they can visit. But right now, they have over 700 sites they'd like to go and see -- Carol.
LIN: All right, a big job ahead. Thank you very much, Nic Robertson, reporting live in Baghdad.
In the meantime, the Bush administration is pressing Ukraine today to come clean about an alleged military sale to Iraq. If it happened, and Ukraine denies it did, the sale could give Iraq considerable help if the United States attacks.
CNN's Jill Dougherty joins us this morning from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev with reaction there and more on this weapons system -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, it is kind of a murky picture, really. But what's at issue is the issue of these radars, the Kultuga (ph) radars. They've very sophisticated. They work differently than other radar, and the allegation is that Ukraine transferred that to Iraq.
Now, the first question is, did President Leonid Kuchma (ph) give the OK to transfer that radar to Iraq. The U.S. says yes, and it has proof. It's an audiotape of the president that was made surreptitiously by his bodyguard, and on that, Mr. Kuchma (ph) is heard to say, yes, go ahead and do it. The Ukrainians says that tape is not correct, it is a forgery, but the FBI looked at the tape and decided that it is genuine. The second issue which gets more complicated is that, is that radar right now in Iraq? No one can say or no one is saying at this time it definitely is, but they say that in this investigation, experts from the Untied States and from Britain came to the Ukraine. They looked at the factory where the Kultuga (ph) is made. They looked through all the records, and they said they had mixed support from the Ukrainians, information missing. People they wanted to talk to were not provided, and in general, not given the access that they wanted.
Therefore, they concluded that the system of the radar was transferred to Iraq, perhaps illegally, or perhaps to a third party.
And that is where in this rather complex tale, China comes in. The Chinese were sold Koltuga (ph) systems, and the United States and the UK say the information on those sales was incomplete, given by Ukraine. China is denying any complicity in any type of illegal transfers. but right now, the U.S. is making it a big issue with Ukraine, and has frozen $50 million in aid its given directly to the government. It's going to be looking at more money that it helps out Ukraine with to decide what to do with it.
Back to you, Carol.
LIN: A complicated tale, but I think you helped us understand it and trace the investigation. Thank you very much. Jill Dougherty, reporting live in Kiev.
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 26, 2002 - 11:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq now, U.N. weapons inspectors are making final preparations today to begin the hunt for Saddam Hussein's weapons program today.
Senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is keeping watch in Baghdad today -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SR. INTL. CORRESPONDENT: Carol, those inspectors have laid out how they plan to go about their work. One thing they'll be doing, they say, is locking down or freezing the sites that they go to.
What they don't want to happen is what they say happened in the past, where they would turn up at the front gate to a site they needed to inspect, only to find that out of the back gate, Iraqi officials were taking away documents. Now they're going to freeze those sites so nothing can change when they get there. Unfortunately for us, that means we won't be able to get in and see exactly what they're doing.
But the inspectors say that is good for them. They also say they're going to be using a lot of high-tech equipment. We've heard this before. We saw some of it on display today, things for detecting radiation, isotopes, radioactive isotopes, very sensitive detectors, they say, that can pick up radioactive isotopes from many, many hundreds of meters away, so they'll be able to tell if somewhere in the vicinity there is something that has been perhaps in the nuclear weapons arena.
Now, they also say that they will be putting tags on equipment, putting seals on equipment. They say they will be taking photographs, taking videotapes, and they also say -- and this is something new -- that they'll be able to send some of this information back in realtime to analysts in Vienna and New York who can look at their databases there and cross reference what the inspectors are seeing on the ground with what they've got in their data banks.
Now if you'll remember, In 1991, when the inspectors came in and they found these devices called calutrons (ph), they were looking at Saddam Hussein's first steps into nuclear weapons production, they didn't even know it, they didn't even recognize the equipment, so it's things like that they hope to overcome this time. They'll also be carrying with them computers, again, with banks of data information on them, so they can cross reference what they're looking at in the field. They say that after years of looking at satellite photographs, now they're finally going to be able to get beneath those roofs, and see, find out what's going on. They have detection equipment that can even tell what's been going on somewhere, even if they walk in and see no equipment in there -- Carol.
LIN: All right, a lot of assist from new technology, but, Nic, some old-fashioned diplomacy going on behind the scenes. A lot of former weapons inspectors are saying the real detection may actually occur on December 8th when Iraq is supposed to disclose the entirety of its weapons program, but now there's some backdoor negotiating, we understand the United States adding things to the list of things that they want to see the Iraqis declare, and the Iraqis are saying you want us to talk about making plastic flippers at a factory? Is that on your list, too? Have you heard anything about this dispute?
ROBERTSON: Yes, absolutely. Hans Blix just after he addressed the U.N. Security Council last night. He said, this is what he had in conversations from Iraqis. The Iraqi foreign minister in his statement to Secretary-General Koffi Annan at the U.N. just over the weekend said, look, we can produce thousands of pages of documents on our petrochemical industry alone, because the Iraqis have been called upon, along with the weapons of mass destruction, to declare any of these potential dual-use items, and he did use that example of the plastic slippers. He said -- the Iraqis have said, what do we have to put in there?
It's not clear why Iraqi authorities are questioning in such detail, but it's certainly the understanding from the U.N. is what Iraq should put forward could potentially be a hugely complex and long document. It will take a long time to analyze it, but it will begin to give the inspectors perhaps some other ideas of sites they can visit. But right now, they have over 700 sites they'd like to go and see -- Carol.
LIN: All right, a big job ahead. Thank you very much, Nic Robertson, reporting live in Baghdad.
In the meantime, the Bush administration is pressing Ukraine today to come clean about an alleged military sale to Iraq. If it happened, and Ukraine denies it did, the sale could give Iraq considerable help if the United States attacks.
CNN's Jill Dougherty joins us this morning from the Ukrainian capital of Kiev with reaction there and more on this weapons system -- Jill.
JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, it is kind of a murky picture, really. But what's at issue is the issue of these radars, the Kultuga (ph) radars. They've very sophisticated. They work differently than other radar, and the allegation is that Ukraine transferred that to Iraq.
Now, the first question is, did President Leonid Kuchma (ph) give the OK to transfer that radar to Iraq. The U.S. says yes, and it has proof. It's an audiotape of the president that was made surreptitiously by his bodyguard, and on that, Mr. Kuchma (ph) is heard to say, yes, go ahead and do it. The Ukrainians says that tape is not correct, it is a forgery, but the FBI looked at the tape and decided that it is genuine. The second issue which gets more complicated is that, is that radar right now in Iraq? No one can say or no one is saying at this time it definitely is, but they say that in this investigation, experts from the Untied States and from Britain came to the Ukraine. They looked at the factory where the Kultuga (ph) is made. They looked through all the records, and they said they had mixed support from the Ukrainians, information missing. People they wanted to talk to were not provided, and in general, not given the access that they wanted.
Therefore, they concluded that the system of the radar was transferred to Iraq, perhaps illegally, or perhaps to a third party.
And that is where in this rather complex tale, China comes in. The Chinese were sold Koltuga (ph) systems, and the United States and the UK say the information on those sales was incomplete, given by Ukraine. China is denying any complicity in any type of illegal transfers. but right now, the U.S. is making it a big issue with Ukraine, and has frozen $50 million in aid its given directly to the government. It's going to be looking at more money that it helps out Ukraine with to decide what to do with it.
Back to you, Carol.
LIN: A complicated tale, but I think you helped us understand it and trace the investigation. Thank you very much. Jill Dougherty, reporting live in Kiev.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
