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CNN Live At Daybreak
View From Baghdad
Aired December 05, 2002 - 06:38 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: Iraq is also pointing the finger at those weapons inspectors. Our Rym Brahimi joins us live from Baghdad.
And they're in a tough place, Rym, because they're right in the middle.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Carol.
Well, they're actually saying that not only are they caught in the middle, but they're saying, well, they don't actually have to answer to any requirements of any individual member state. They say they are here to fulfill a resolution, a mandate from the United Nations Security Council, and they feel they're doing a pretty good job about that.
Now, this morning, President Saddam Hussein, on the occasion of the Muslim holiday today, the Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan, he met with a lot of his ministers, his high-level aides and cabinet ministers, as well as all of the top ranking people of the ruling Baath Party.
His message to the Iraqi people, Carol, be patient -- be patient with what he said was U.S. arrogance, and we will defend ourselves against what, he said, was unjust U.S. despotism.
He also said that the inspections could actually prevent the Iraqis from coming in harm's way, because they could disprove U.S. and British allegations that Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction.
Now, that language a little more moderate than his own vice president, Carol, who was actually speaking to a few Egyptian parliamentarians last night, said that he thought the inspectors were spies. He said they were on the payroll of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, and the CIA. And he said that they were laying the ground for a future U.S. invasion. So, that's been a lot of pressure on the inspectors here.
All this time now, the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate is working to present the full, final and complete declaration of what Iraq may have. Well, they say that they're going to submit that declaration a day ahead of the December the 8th deadline, and that it will include new elements, Carol, but they keep saying that there are no weapons of mass destruction, nothing was produced between '98 and 2002 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi, thanks so much.
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 December 5, 2002 - 06:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq is also pointing the finger at those weapons inspectors. Our Rym Brahimi joins us live from Baghdad.
And they're in a tough place, Rym, because they're right in the middle.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely, Carol.
Well, they're actually saying that not only are they caught in the middle, but they're saying, well, they don't actually have to answer to any requirements of any individual member state. They say they are here to fulfill a resolution, a mandate from the United Nations Security Council, and they feel they're doing a pretty good job about that.
Now, this morning, President Saddam Hussein, on the occasion of the Muslim holiday today, the Eid al-Fitr that marks the end of Ramadan, he met with a lot of his ministers, his high-level aides and cabinet ministers, as well as all of the top ranking people of the ruling Baath Party.
His message to the Iraqi people, Carol, be patient -- be patient with what he said was U.S. arrogance, and we will defend ourselves against what, he said, was unjust U.S. despotism.
He also said that the inspections could actually prevent the Iraqis from coming in harm's way, because they could disprove U.S. and British allegations that Iraq still has weapons of mass destruction.
Now, that language a little more moderate than his own vice president, Carol, who was actually speaking to a few Egyptian parliamentarians last night, said that he thought the inspectors were spies. He said they were on the payroll of the Mossad, the Israeli intelligence service, and the CIA. And he said that they were laying the ground for a future U.S. invasion. So, that's been a lot of pressure on the inspectors here.
All this time now, the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate is working to present the full, final and complete declaration of what Iraq may have. Well, they say that they're going to submit that declaration a day ahead of the December the 8th deadline, and that it will include new elements, Carol, but they keep saying that there are no weapons of mass destruction, nothing was produced between '98 and 2002 -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi, thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
