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CNN Live At Daybreak

Spain Authorities to Hold News Conference Scud Missile Interception

Aired December 11, 2002 - 06:03   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: Spain's defense minister, as I told you, is holding a news conference just moments from now about this Scud missile interception.
But our bureau chief, Al Goodman, is there in Madrid. He joins us live.

Al -- the press conference has not started yet, right?

AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: Carol, the conference hasn't started. There's a slight technical problem here at the Defense Ministry. The lights have gone out in the briefing room. We are hoping that they get the lights back on in a second. We're hoping that the Spanish defense minister will shed some light on this very curious incident and serious incident involving the ship with the Scud missiles.

Now, one of the big questions right now is: Where is that ship? A senior aide to the defense minister told CNN earlier this day, the ship is heading to a major naval base in the area, where U.S. troops are stationed. The aide would not tell us which base it was.

The same aide told us several hours ago, overnight, that he thought it was going to Bahrain. He then corrected that. He said it was going to some base in the area; he didn't where.

It's under Spanish escort, and we're told that American weapons experts are aboard the ship, in addition to the 21 North Korean crewmembers, and in addition to those 12 Scud missiles and perhaps parts for eight other Scud missiles -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, there are so many questions associated with this, like, who gave the order to stop the ship? Did the Spanish sailors stop the ship because of U.S. intelligence?

GOODMAN: Exactly, Carol. The Spanish frigate, Navarra, is the task force leader of a small fleet of international ships patrolling those waters, and based on U.S. intelligence, it was on the lookout for this suspicious ship. This happened on Monday, two days ago.

The frigate approached the ship, So San, ordered it to stop. The ship tried to get away. The Spanish frigate fired shots, and eventually got the ship to stop. Then immediately sent in a helicopter, armed boarding party, and when those Spanish troops came aboard, they got to the bottom of the cement, which was just sort of part of the cargo, and they found some containers. They called in the Americans for help, and that's when they started finding all of these Scud missiles -- Carol.

COSTELLO: This kind of puts Spain in a rough spot, because that's really not why its ships are patrolling those waters. Now, it finds itself in the middle of the argument between the United States and North Korea.

GOODMAN: Not necessarily so. Spain is a very close ally of the United States. It has made use of -- provided U.S. troops with use of Spanish bases, for instance, for the Gulf War in 1991. It's a member of NATO, and it is a hardy participant in Operation Enduring Freedom, which is patrolling those waters, trying to check on merchandise that's coming through -- shady merchandise that's coming through there and trying to interdict al Qaeda suspects who might be trying to escape from Afghanistan or other parts.

So, Spain is very much on board in this effort -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Al Goodman, I'm going to let you get back to the press conference. Hopefully it will begin soon. It's going to be held by Spain's defense minister, Frederico Trillo. When that press conference begins, and if it's in English, we'll bring that to you live.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




Interception>


Aired December 11, 2002 - 06:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Spain's defense minister, as I told you, is holding a news conference just moments from now about this Scud missile interception.
But our bureau chief, Al Goodman, is there in Madrid. He joins us live.

Al -- the press conference has not started yet, right?

AL GOODMAN, CNN MADRID BUREAU CHIEF: Carol, the conference hasn't started. There's a slight technical problem here at the Defense Ministry. The lights have gone out in the briefing room. We are hoping that they get the lights back on in a second. We're hoping that the Spanish defense minister will shed some light on this very curious incident and serious incident involving the ship with the Scud missiles.

Now, one of the big questions right now is: Where is that ship? A senior aide to the defense minister told CNN earlier this day, the ship is heading to a major naval base in the area, where U.S. troops are stationed. The aide would not tell us which base it was.

The same aide told us several hours ago, overnight, that he thought it was going to Bahrain. He then corrected that. He said it was going to some base in the area; he didn't where.

It's under Spanish escort, and we're told that American weapons experts are aboard the ship, in addition to the 21 North Korean crewmembers, and in addition to those 12 Scud missiles and perhaps parts for eight other Scud missiles -- Carol.

COSTELLO: Oh, there are so many questions associated with this, like, who gave the order to stop the ship? Did the Spanish sailors stop the ship because of U.S. intelligence?

GOODMAN: Exactly, Carol. The Spanish frigate, Navarra, is the task force leader of a small fleet of international ships patrolling those waters, and based on U.S. intelligence, it was on the lookout for this suspicious ship. This happened on Monday, two days ago.

The frigate approached the ship, So San, ordered it to stop. The ship tried to get away. The Spanish frigate fired shots, and eventually got the ship to stop. Then immediately sent in a helicopter, armed boarding party, and when those Spanish troops came aboard, they got to the bottom of the cement, which was just sort of part of the cargo, and they found some containers. They called in the Americans for help, and that's when they started finding all of these Scud missiles -- Carol.

COSTELLO: This kind of puts Spain in a rough spot, because that's really not why its ships are patrolling those waters. Now, it finds itself in the middle of the argument between the United States and North Korea.

GOODMAN: Not necessarily so. Spain is a very close ally of the United States. It has made use of -- provided U.S. troops with use of Spanish bases, for instance, for the Gulf War in 1991. It's a member of NATO, and it is a hardy participant in Operation Enduring Freedom, which is patrolling those waters, trying to check on merchandise that's coming through -- shady merchandise that's coming through there and trying to interdict al Qaeda suspects who might be trying to escape from Afghanistan or other parts.

So, Spain is very much on board in this effort -- Carol.

COSTELLO: All right, Al Goodman, I'm going to let you get back to the press conference. Hopefully it will begin soon. It's going to be held by Spain's defense minister, Frederico Trillo. When that press conference begins, and if it's in English, we'll bring that to you live.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.




Interception>