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American Morning
Powell: 'There Are Problems' with Declaration
Aired December 17, 2002 - 08:32 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As weapons inspections continue today, there are reports Iraq may have committed a serious violation of U.N. sanctions by deploying missiles with a range that could reach U.S. troops in Kuwait. Let's go right now to Nic Robertson, who's standing by in Baghdad for more on this.
Nic, what are the Iraqis saying about this report?
Good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, Iraq is not saying anything about it, other than the fact that they've tried to discredit these reports from the beginning.
We have no new information specifically about the deployment of these missiles. But what we do know from the British and the United States dossier, that they believe Iraq has tried to extend the capabilities of several types of missiles.
Now, the missile with the longest range is an extended version of the SCUD, the Al Hussein missile, capable of going over 400 miles. The missiles that may be in question are the shorter-range missiles that under U.N. agreements are limited to 90 miles.
But again, both Britain and the United States believe Iraq has tried to extend the distance of these to 140 miles. We're talking about the Al Samood (ph) missile. This is a liquid propellant missile. We're talking about the Al Ababil (ph) missile. This is a solid propellant missile, and these -- both these missile systems have been the focus of a lot of attention by inspectors here. Even Iraq's news agency has noted how many times the weapons inspectors have gone to missile sites.
Indeed, one team of inspectors right now on the north side of Baghdad, the Al-Zawari (ph) plant, are inspecting a missile site. Now this particular facility, when the inspectors last went there in 1998, had only a handful of employees.
Now the U.N. says it has over 200 employees. They make fiberglass tubing that they believe could be part of the missile system. The inspectors back there for a second day, Paula.
Nothing concrete, but certainly the suspicion for the United States and Britain that Iraq can and is making these longer-range missiles. ZAHN: i also want to spend time talking about Secretary of State Powell, saying publicly the first time that there are some problems with the Iraqi weapons declaration. Any reaction from officials there to that statement?
ROBERTSON: Well, nothing from here, but from the United Nations, Sergey Lavarov appearing to refer to that sort of obliquely. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations saying that it was too soon for Russia to make any judgment about Iraq's declaration. But not only too soon for Russia, but too soon for anyone. An oblique reference there to the United States position and information we've heard from the government of Great Britain as well.
But no, no reaction here to that. Certainly the position of the government here, as we keep hearing, is that it just believes that resolution 1441 is being used by the United States and Great Britain against Iraq. Expect much of the same on that on this particular issue -- Paula.
Nic Robertson, thanks for the report. We appreciate it.
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 - 08:32 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: As weapons inspections continue today, there are reports Iraq may have committed a serious violation of U.N. sanctions by deploying missiles with a range that could reach U.S. troops in Kuwait. Let's go right now to Nic Robertson, who's standing by in Baghdad for more on this.
Nic, what are the Iraqis saying about this report?
Good morning.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Well, Iraq is not saying anything about it, other than the fact that they've tried to discredit these reports from the beginning.
We have no new information specifically about the deployment of these missiles. But what we do know from the British and the United States dossier, that they believe Iraq has tried to extend the capabilities of several types of missiles.
Now, the missile with the longest range is an extended version of the SCUD, the Al Hussein missile, capable of going over 400 miles. The missiles that may be in question are the shorter-range missiles that under U.N. agreements are limited to 90 miles.
But again, both Britain and the United States believe Iraq has tried to extend the distance of these to 140 miles. We're talking about the Al Samood (ph) missile. This is a liquid propellant missile. We're talking about the Al Ababil (ph) missile. This is a solid propellant missile, and these -- both these missile systems have been the focus of a lot of attention by inspectors here. Even Iraq's news agency has noted how many times the weapons inspectors have gone to missile sites.
Indeed, one team of inspectors right now on the north side of Baghdad, the Al-Zawari (ph) plant, are inspecting a missile site. Now this particular facility, when the inspectors last went there in 1998, had only a handful of employees.
Now the U.N. says it has over 200 employees. They make fiberglass tubing that they believe could be part of the missile system. The inspectors back there for a second day, Paula.
Nothing concrete, but certainly the suspicion for the United States and Britain that Iraq can and is making these longer-range missiles. ZAHN: i also want to spend time talking about Secretary of State Powell, saying publicly the first time that there are some problems with the Iraqi weapons declaration. Any reaction from officials there to that statement?
ROBERTSON: Well, nothing from here, but from the United Nations, Sergey Lavarov appearing to refer to that sort of obliquely. Russia's ambassador to the United Nations saying that it was too soon for Russia to make any judgment about Iraq's declaration. But not only too soon for Russia, but too soon for anyone. An oblique reference there to the United States position and information we've heard from the government of Great Britain as well.
But no, no reaction here to that. Certainly the position of the government here, as we keep hearing, is that it just believes that resolution 1441 is being used by the United States and Great Britain against Iraq. Expect much of the same on that on this particular issue -- Paula.
Nic Robertson, thanks for the report. We appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
