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American Morning
U.N. Weapons Inspectors Examine Iraqi Animal Vaccine Plant
Aired November 28, 2002 - 09:10 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We have not talked much about Iraq today. It is day two for inspectors and for that and more, let's go back to Carol now for that.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and we have to talk about the weapons inspections because they are ongoing today. We have people there, of course.
Let's join Nic Robertson right now. He's live in Baghdad.
Nic, what's happening now there?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, day two appears to have been another successful day.
One team of inspectors, a nuclear team, headed to the north of Baghdad, we understand.
The other team went to the south of Baghdad. They visited an animal vaccine front at Aldara (ph). Now this facility became very familiar to U.N. weapons inspectors in the mid 1990s.
Indeed, in 1996 they went there to take apart what they believed was a toxin production facility. That particular biological warfare agent is the most deadly. It can kill within the space of 12 hours.
Now the inspectors went there today. They were seen taking soil samples. The director general of the plant, after they left after four hours, said they had taken samples. He said they'd seen everything that they wanted to see. He also said that he had at his site absolutely nothing to hide.
Those teams now seem to be back at their headquarters here in Baghdad.
Carol?
COSTELLO: Nic, these don't seem to be very sensitive targets that they're searching right now. Is there a reason for that?
ROBERTSON: Hans Blix has described this initial process as a warm-up. Some people have said it's a softly, softly approach.
Certainly the U.N. has said they need to draw a baseline if you will, a line of operation, to find out what exactly Iraq has done at all the sites they used to monitor, what Iraq has done there over the last four years. That's what seems to be playing out. They are going to sites they'd been to before, inspecting to see what has happened there.
Now they do have, they say, as many as 700 sites to go to. That is a large number. But taking on ones that they have a lot of experience with and have had monitoring equipment at, as well, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Nic, thank you very much.
One more question before you go, there have been reports circulating here in the United States that many of the U.N. inspectors really aren't qualified to do what they are doing.
Have you managed to get any reaction to that at all?
ROBERTSON: Carol, we've been talking with the team leaders here. One of the team leaders, at least, was working in the UNSCOM, that was the name of the last U.N. mission back in the 1990s.
Certainly, the people presented to us have seemed and appeared very professional, very in command of their subject. There's been no indication that we've seen here and no, I would say that there's no grounds for us to, perhaps, believe that any of these people are less than qualified.
Certainly that -- certainly we are being presented with a very professional picture of a professional group at this time, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks. Reporting live from Baghdad this morning.
Plant>
Aired November 28, 2002 - 09:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We have not talked much about Iraq today. It is day two for inspectors and for that and more, let's go back to Carol now for that.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, and we have to talk about the weapons inspections because they are ongoing today. We have people there, of course.
Let's join Nic Robertson right now. He's live in Baghdad.
Nic, what's happening now there?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, day two appears to have been another successful day.
One team of inspectors, a nuclear team, headed to the north of Baghdad, we understand.
The other team went to the south of Baghdad. They visited an animal vaccine front at Aldara (ph). Now this facility became very familiar to U.N. weapons inspectors in the mid 1990s.
Indeed, in 1996 they went there to take apart what they believed was a toxin production facility. That particular biological warfare agent is the most deadly. It can kill within the space of 12 hours.
Now the inspectors went there today. They were seen taking soil samples. The director general of the plant, after they left after four hours, said they had taken samples. He said they'd seen everything that they wanted to see. He also said that he had at his site absolutely nothing to hide.
Those teams now seem to be back at their headquarters here in Baghdad.
Carol?
COSTELLO: Nic, these don't seem to be very sensitive targets that they're searching right now. Is there a reason for that?
ROBERTSON: Hans Blix has described this initial process as a warm-up. Some people have said it's a softly, softly approach.
Certainly the U.N. has said they need to draw a baseline if you will, a line of operation, to find out what exactly Iraq has done at all the sites they used to monitor, what Iraq has done there over the last four years. That's what seems to be playing out. They are going to sites they'd been to before, inspecting to see what has happened there.
Now they do have, they say, as many as 700 sites to go to. That is a large number. But taking on ones that they have a lot of experience with and have had monitoring equipment at, as well, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Nic, thank you very much.
One more question before you go, there have been reports circulating here in the United States that many of the U.N. inspectors really aren't qualified to do what they are doing.
Have you managed to get any reaction to that at all?
ROBERTSON: Carol, we've been talking with the team leaders here. One of the team leaders, at least, was working in the UNSCOM, that was the name of the last U.N. mission back in the 1990s.
Certainly, the people presented to us have seemed and appeared very professional, very in command of their subject. There's been no indication that we've seen here and no, I would say that there's no grounds for us to, perhaps, believe that any of these people are less than qualified.
Certainly that -- certainly we are being presented with a very professional picture of a professional group at this time, Carol.
COSTELLO: All right. Nic Robertson, thanks. Reporting live from Baghdad this morning.
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