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CNN Live At Daybreak
First Weapons Inspections in Iraq in Nearly Four Years Under Way
Aired November 27, 2002 - 05:00 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: The first weapons inspections in Iraq in nearly four years are under way.
Let's go to Rym Brahimi in Baghdad.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The inspectors that were inspecting sites for the first time this morning in Baghdad in four years we hear are just back at their United Nations headquarters. They inspected, it seems, more than one or even two sites. There were two teams initially, one of them experts of chemical and biological fields, another one experts in the nuclear field.
Our correspondent Nic Robertson followed the ones from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which were in the nuclear field. They went to a site that looked like a warehouse. Nic Robertson described them, described it as just an ordinary warehouse in an industrial area of Baghdad about maybe 20 kilometers out of the city. He said that as soon as they arrived, a big bus was actually barring the entrance to prevent people from getting in or out of that building.
Now, this is actually the new rules of engagement that the inspectors can operate under since that new Resolution 1441 was, indeed, accepted by Iraq. Three things mainly. That means that once the inspectors arrive somewhere, well, nobody is allowed to get in or out of the building. Secondly, they're allowed to even search empty rooms and they will use their detecting equipment to do so, to see if there was anything maybe there in the past, even if the room seems empty.
And then all this information, when we're going to find out about it, I don't think straight away, because it seems that all the information, from what we understand, will immediately be sent out to New York and Vienna to their headquarters, where it will be analyzed in laboratories there.
Now, at the same time it's been now five hours since the inspectors set off this morning. They're now back at U.N. headquarters. About an hour and a half after they'd set off, we heard an air raid siren in the, we heard an air raid siren in Baghdad. It was heard, actually, in many areas of Baghdad. We rushed out to see what was going on and all we saw was a thin white line in the sky indicating that there may have been a plane there. Then a few minutes later, maybe 10 to 15 minutes later, the all clear signal from the air raid siren -- back to you.
CALLAWAY: Rym, where are they in their inspections today? Are they close to wrapping up?
BRAHIMI: Yes, indeed. I think some of the teams are actually now back at the U.N. headquarters, which means that they've wrapped up, for this morning at least. It doesn't mean they won't go out again this afternoon. They've got something, you know, like 700 to 900 sites that they want to see during the time that they're going to be in Iraq over the next few weeks and months inspecting different areas. So I think they're going to be very active and they're not wasting time, clearly, going to even in one morning more than two sites, it seems -- back to you.
CALLAWAY: And, Rym, I know it had to be some frightening moments there with the air raid sirens sounding off. Any more information on exactly what set those off?
BRAHIMI: No, it's really unclear. We asked the civil defense director and all we know is they were meeting this morning to try and figure out what was happening themselves. We just heard these sirens. We saw that light in the sky. Some people said they saw planes. I can't really confirm that for now. Other people said that their children on, who were at school, when they heard the air raid siren apparently the school teachers sent the kids back home. But that's all we know for now. And, of course, we'll be keeping you updated as soon as we hear more -- back to you.
CALLAWAY: All right, Rym, we appreciate your great work out there.
Thank you.
That's CNN's Rym Brahimi joining us from Baghdad this morning.
So what is on the minds of those inspectors? We will get some insight into that from Richard Butler, the former U.N. weapons inspector and current CNN analyst. He'll be along on AMERICAN MORNING coming up in a couple of hours. Later on, be sure and watch Christiane Amanpour's exclusive interview with Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix. That's scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on 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
Under Way>
Aired November 27, 2002 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The first weapons inspections in Iraq in nearly four years are under way.
Let's go to Rym Brahimi in Baghdad.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The inspectors that were inspecting sites for the first time this morning in Baghdad in four years we hear are just back at their United Nations headquarters. They inspected, it seems, more than one or even two sites. There were two teams initially, one of them experts of chemical and biological fields, another one experts in the nuclear field.
Our correspondent Nic Robertson followed the ones from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which were in the nuclear field. They went to a site that looked like a warehouse. Nic Robertson described them, described it as just an ordinary warehouse in an industrial area of Baghdad about maybe 20 kilometers out of the city. He said that as soon as they arrived, a big bus was actually barring the entrance to prevent people from getting in or out of that building.
Now, this is actually the new rules of engagement that the inspectors can operate under since that new Resolution 1441 was, indeed, accepted by Iraq. Three things mainly. That means that once the inspectors arrive somewhere, well, nobody is allowed to get in or out of the building. Secondly, they're allowed to even search empty rooms and they will use their detecting equipment to do so, to see if there was anything maybe there in the past, even if the room seems empty.
And then all this information, when we're going to find out about it, I don't think straight away, because it seems that all the information, from what we understand, will immediately be sent out to New York and Vienna to their headquarters, where it will be analyzed in laboratories there.
Now, at the same time it's been now five hours since the inspectors set off this morning. They're now back at U.N. headquarters. About an hour and a half after they'd set off, we heard an air raid siren in the, we heard an air raid siren in Baghdad. It was heard, actually, in many areas of Baghdad. We rushed out to see what was going on and all we saw was a thin white line in the sky indicating that there may have been a plane there. Then a few minutes later, maybe 10 to 15 minutes later, the all clear signal from the air raid siren -- back to you.
CALLAWAY: Rym, where are they in their inspections today? Are they close to wrapping up?
BRAHIMI: Yes, indeed. I think some of the teams are actually now back at the U.N. headquarters, which means that they've wrapped up, for this morning at least. It doesn't mean they won't go out again this afternoon. They've got something, you know, like 700 to 900 sites that they want to see during the time that they're going to be in Iraq over the next few weeks and months inspecting different areas. So I think they're going to be very active and they're not wasting time, clearly, going to even in one morning more than two sites, it seems -- back to you.
CALLAWAY: And, Rym, I know it had to be some frightening moments there with the air raid sirens sounding off. Any more information on exactly what set those off?
BRAHIMI: No, it's really unclear. We asked the civil defense director and all we know is they were meeting this morning to try and figure out what was happening themselves. We just heard these sirens. We saw that light in the sky. Some people said they saw planes. I can't really confirm that for now. Other people said that their children on, who were at school, when they heard the air raid siren apparently the school teachers sent the kids back home. But that's all we know for now. And, of course, we'll be keeping you updated as soon as we hear more -- back to you.
CALLAWAY: All right, Rym, we appreciate your great work out there.
Thank you.
That's CNN's Rym Brahimi joining us from Baghdad this morning.
So what is on the minds of those inspectors? We will get some insight into that from Richard Butler, the former U.N. weapons inspector and current CNN analyst. He'll be along on AMERICAN MORNING coming up in a couple of hours. Later on, be sure and watch Christiane Amanpour's exclusive interview with Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix. That's scheduled for 3:00 p.m. Eastern time right here on 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
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