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U.N. Inspectors Swoop in on Baghdad University

Aired December 17, 2002 - 11:07   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to the weapons hunt in Iraq. U.N. Inspectors swooped in on Baghdad University today, while others made the long trip out to the town of Masul (ph) in northern Iraq. We go now to Rym Brahimi, who is our correspondent standing by in Baghdad.
She is live in the early evening hours in Baghdad.

Hello, Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.

Well, indeed, as you said, one team went up to Masul (ph), which is interesting because the inspectors here plan to set up an actual office in Masul, which is about a 400 kilometers, or about a four-hour drive north of Baghdad.

Now there's a team that went, as you mentioned, also to Baghdad University, and what's interesting there, Leon, is they went there already yesterday. Apparently this came after -- this is one of the tips they've gotten from that full, final and complete declaration that Iraq submitted on December 7th, ahead of the deadline it was supposed to give it to the Security Council.

So we're entering into sort of a new phase here, from a phase where the inspectors were just literally very fine, what has been done before, checking on equipment that had been sealed or tagged by the previous inspection teams, to now a phase where they're actually checking on what is contained in that declaration, and it's significant that the inspectors went there not only yesterday, Leon, but they went back again today, talking to teachers, asking them what their research is about, what their specialty is about. They didn't interrupt many classes, only a few, but there were eight inspectors back there again today. So it's moving along, and I think this is probably a sign of some progress in one way --Leon.

HARRIS: Rym, let me ask you if there's been any reaction there at all to the comments that were made by the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell about what he sees as the insufficiency of that documentation that was turned over by Iraq earlier. a BRAHIMI: Well, there have been comments here, mainly in the newspapers, the local state-run media, that actually condemns the comments by the Bush administration, saying that they haven't actually even had time to go through it, and they're already condemning it, saying that it was piracy the way that the U.S. literally took that declaration from the hands of all the other members. So it's obviously been very, very criticized here in Iraq.

And obviously, the main thing that they want to get through in Iraq, what the state-run media is saying, is let the inspectors do their job and if they're neutral, we will see light at the end of the tunnel -- Leon.

HARRIS: Rym Brahimi, reporting live from Baghdad. Thanks, Rym. Take care.

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 17, 2002 - 11:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Let's turn now to the weapons hunt in Iraq. U.N. Inspectors swooped in on Baghdad University today, while others made the long trip out to the town of Masul (ph) in northern Iraq. We go now to Rym Brahimi, who is our correspondent standing by in Baghdad.
She is live in the early evening hours in Baghdad.

Hello, Rym.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.

Well, indeed, as you said, one team went up to Masul (ph), which is interesting because the inspectors here plan to set up an actual office in Masul, which is about a 400 kilometers, or about a four-hour drive north of Baghdad.

Now there's a team that went, as you mentioned, also to Baghdad University, and what's interesting there, Leon, is they went there already yesterday. Apparently this came after -- this is one of the tips they've gotten from that full, final and complete declaration that Iraq submitted on December 7th, ahead of the deadline it was supposed to give it to the Security Council.

So we're entering into sort of a new phase here, from a phase where the inspectors were just literally very fine, what has been done before, checking on equipment that had been sealed or tagged by the previous inspection teams, to now a phase where they're actually checking on what is contained in that declaration, and it's significant that the inspectors went there not only yesterday, Leon, but they went back again today, talking to teachers, asking them what their research is about, what their specialty is about. They didn't interrupt many classes, only a few, but there were eight inspectors back there again today. So it's moving along, and I think this is probably a sign of some progress in one way --Leon.

HARRIS: Rym, let me ask you if there's been any reaction there at all to the comments that were made by the U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell about what he sees as the insufficiency of that documentation that was turned over by Iraq earlier. a BRAHIMI: Well, there have been comments here, mainly in the newspapers, the local state-run media, that actually condemns the comments by the Bush administration, saying that they haven't actually even had time to go through it, and they're already condemning it, saying that it was piracy the way that the U.S. literally took that declaration from the hands of all the other members. So it's obviously been very, very criticized here in Iraq.

And obviously, the main thing that they want to get through in Iraq, what the state-run media is saying, is let the inspectors do their job and if they're neutral, we will see light at the end of the tunnel -- Leon.

HARRIS: Rym Brahimi, reporting live from Baghdad. Thanks, Rym. Take care.

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