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CNN Live At Daybreak
Powell Says There are Problems with Baghdad's Weapons Declaration
Aired December 17, 2002 - 05:32 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: Now to the hunt for Iraq's weapons. Secretary of State Colin Powell says there are problems with Baghdad's weapons declaration. Powell is the first Bush administration official to publicly criticize the document.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We said at the very beginning that we approached it with skepticism and the information I've received so far is that that skepticism is well founded. There are problems with the declaration. We are sharing the problems we see with UNMOVIC and IAEA and we're in discussions with the other permanent members of the Security Council. But we will withhold making a final judgment or a final statement until we have completed our analysis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Powell says that final analysis should be completed by the end of this week.
Russia is not happy that the United States has been so quick to dismiss the Iraqi declaration, though.
Our Nic Robertson joins us live from Baghdad with more on that -- good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, Russia also has a very difficult situation with Iraq at the moment. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in the last day has called on Iraq to reconsider its decision about a major oil contract that Iraq's oil minister, Amir Rasheed, over the weekend said Iraq was going to end. Now, this deal was a $3.7 billion deal for Iraq, for Russia's main oil company, Lukoil, to exploit Iraq's southern oil field, the Arkana oil field. Some several billion barrels of oil believed to be under the ground there.
Now, as the terms of this deal went, Russia wasn't actually going to really push ahead with implementing the contract until after U.N. sanctions were lifted. But Iraq, according to the oil minister here, had expected at least some work to begin and that's why the Iraq's oil minister is saying this 1997 deal is now off.
Now, Russia said, Russian officials say this does come as a surprise to them, the appeal, therefore, coming from Igor Ivanov now, the foreign minister, the oil minister here, rather, saying this is not anything against Russia. Speculation being from the head of Lukoil that this default that Iraq is claiming on this contract is because Russia has backed the U.N. Resolution 1441 that the inspectors are working on here right now.
That's not the case, according to the oil minister here. But it is certainly a big bone of contention between Iraq and Moscow at this time -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Nic, just curious about something. I know members of the Iraqi opposition leaders are meeting in London. Any mention of that meeting in Baghdad in the media there?
ROBERTSON: Absolutely nothing in the newspapers that we can find. Typically in Baghdad, it could be several days before the newspapers sort of catch up with the story, maybe write something about it. A little bit on Iraq's satellite channel here. This is really primarily a news service, a TV service not for people inside Iraq, but for the expatriate community. In this broadcast it said essentially that the United States, Washington would not find supporters, would find that its plans that it's trying to put in place in London at this time in the conference would fail if they try to put them in place in Iraq, and saying that there were no traitors inside Iraq.
So, really not getting a positive response at all, as you would expect -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, no surprise there.
Nic Robertson reporting live from Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Declaration>
Aired December 17, 2002 - 05:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now to the hunt for Iraq's weapons. Secretary of State Colin Powell says there are problems with Baghdad's weapons declaration. Powell is the first Bush administration official to publicly criticize the document.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: We said at the very beginning that we approached it with skepticism and the information I've received so far is that that skepticism is well founded. There are problems with the declaration. We are sharing the problems we see with UNMOVIC and IAEA and we're in discussions with the other permanent members of the Security Council. But we will withhold making a final judgment or a final statement until we have completed our analysis.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Powell says that final analysis should be completed by the end of this week.
Russia is not happy that the United States has been so quick to dismiss the Iraqi declaration, though.
Our Nic Robertson joins us live from Baghdad with more on that -- good morning, Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
Well, Russia also has a very difficult situation with Iraq at the moment. Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in the last day has called on Iraq to reconsider its decision about a major oil contract that Iraq's oil minister, Amir Rasheed, over the weekend said Iraq was going to end. Now, this deal was a $3.7 billion deal for Iraq, for Russia's main oil company, Lukoil, to exploit Iraq's southern oil field, the Arkana oil field. Some several billion barrels of oil believed to be under the ground there.
Now, as the terms of this deal went, Russia wasn't actually going to really push ahead with implementing the contract until after U.N. sanctions were lifted. But Iraq, according to the oil minister here, had expected at least some work to begin and that's why the Iraq's oil minister is saying this 1997 deal is now off.
Now, Russia said, Russian officials say this does come as a surprise to them, the appeal, therefore, coming from Igor Ivanov now, the foreign minister, the oil minister here, rather, saying this is not anything against Russia. Speculation being from the head of Lukoil that this default that Iraq is claiming on this contract is because Russia has backed the U.N. Resolution 1441 that the inspectors are working on here right now.
That's not the case, according to the oil minister here. But it is certainly a big bone of contention between Iraq and Moscow at this time -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Nic, just curious about something. I know members of the Iraqi opposition leaders are meeting in London. Any mention of that meeting in Baghdad in the media there?
ROBERTSON: Absolutely nothing in the newspapers that we can find. Typically in Baghdad, it could be several days before the newspapers sort of catch up with the story, maybe write something about it. A little bit on Iraq's satellite channel here. This is really primarily a news service, a TV service not for people inside Iraq, but for the expatriate community. In this broadcast it said essentially that the United States, Washington would not find supporters, would find that its plans that it's trying to put in place in London at this time in the conference would fail if they try to put them in place in Iraq, and saying that there were no traitors inside Iraq.
So, really not getting a positive response at all, as you would expect -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Yes, no surprise there.
Nic Robertson reporting live from Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Declaration>
