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CNN Sunday Morning

Inspections Continue in Iraq

Aired December 08, 2002 - 09:01   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: We begin in Baghdad, where this morning Iraq's declaration on its weapons program left on a plane for New York for delivery to the U.N. headquarters. Some of it is headed to Vienna as well.
CNN'S Nic Robertson joins us live from Baghdad with the latest, as inspections continue.

Hello, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, hello.

Well, that very same aircraft that took the Iraq's declaration of weapons of mass destruction out to Cyprus, onto New York and Vienna, brought back here late this afternoon, an hour and a half ago, some more weapons inspectors, 25 more inspectors. Twenty-one of them experts in the nuclear field, four -- the four others in the missile, chemical and biological disciplines. They arrived today.

They are part of a new contingent of inspectors; we're expecting to see more arriving this week, probably towards the end of the week. We're told that there will be up to as many as eight different teams of inspectors working here today.

Also, we saw at the airport today, the United Nations new helicopter being assembled. It had been brought in here on Saturday, on board the large transport aircraft. It's being put together. It is the first one of a fleet of eight helicopters the U.N. hopes to use to be able to speed up the process of getting out to some of the more far-flung sites that it'd like to visit.

Now, weapons inspection teams back at work today, visiting two more sites, bringing the total to 23 different sites visited. Visiting a geological institute in Baghdad and also visiting, to the west of the city, Fallujah, a complex of chemical industrial sites. Particularly there they make pesticides, they make chemicals, different chlorine derivative agents for use in the petro-chemical industry.

Perhaps of interest to the weapons inspectors, it is believed in the past that this facility has been used in preparing chemicals that then have been used in the -- in Iraq's chemical warfare.

Miles?

O'BRIEN: Nic, the inspectors getting some reinforcements; that will obviously step up the pace quite a bit. What are we expecting to see over the next week?

ROBERTSON: I think over the next week, we're very much going to see an increase in the pace, an increase in the number of inspection teams going out. Up until now, it's been two every day, probably by mid-week four, by the end of the week, up to eight teams, we understand.

We're unlikely, however, to see the inspectors change their pattern of behavior. We're told that they're unlikely to be reacting to any of the new information in the declaration.

The assessment here is that it will likely be several weeks before anything, any assessment is made in New York and before that assessment filters back to inspectors here for them to follow up on it, Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thanks 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 8, 2002 - 09:01   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: We begin in Baghdad, where this morning Iraq's declaration on its weapons program left on a plane for New York for delivery to the U.N. headquarters. Some of it is headed to Vienna as well.
CNN'S Nic Robertson joins us live from Baghdad with the latest, as inspections continue.

Hello, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Miles, hello.

Well, that very same aircraft that took the Iraq's declaration of weapons of mass destruction out to Cyprus, onto New York and Vienna, brought back here late this afternoon, an hour and a half ago, some more weapons inspectors, 25 more inspectors. Twenty-one of them experts in the nuclear field, four -- the four others in the missile, chemical and biological disciplines. They arrived today.

They are part of a new contingent of inspectors; we're expecting to see more arriving this week, probably towards the end of the week. We're told that there will be up to as many as eight different teams of inspectors working here today.

Also, we saw at the airport today, the United Nations new helicopter being assembled. It had been brought in here on Saturday, on board the large transport aircraft. It's being put together. It is the first one of a fleet of eight helicopters the U.N. hopes to use to be able to speed up the process of getting out to some of the more far-flung sites that it'd like to visit.

Now, weapons inspection teams back at work today, visiting two more sites, bringing the total to 23 different sites visited. Visiting a geological institute in Baghdad and also visiting, to the west of the city, Fallujah, a complex of chemical industrial sites. Particularly there they make pesticides, they make chemicals, different chlorine derivative agents for use in the petro-chemical industry.

Perhaps of interest to the weapons inspectors, it is believed in the past that this facility has been used in preparing chemicals that then have been used in the -- in Iraq's chemical warfare.

Miles?

O'BRIEN: Nic, the inspectors getting some reinforcements; that will obviously step up the pace quite a bit. What are we expecting to see over the next week?

ROBERTSON: I think over the next week, we're very much going to see an increase in the pace, an increase in the number of inspection teams going out. Up until now, it's been two every day, probably by mid-week four, by the end of the week, up to eight teams, we understand.

We're unlikely, however, to see the inspectors change their pattern of behavior. We're told that they're unlikely to be reacting to any of the new information in the declaration.

The assessment here is that it will likely be several weeks before anything, any assessment is made in New York and before that assessment filters back to inspectors here for them to follow up on it, Miles.

O'BRIEN: CNN's Nic Robertson in Baghdad, thanks 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