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CNN Live At Daybreak
Iraqi Scientists at Technology University Questioned
Aired December 26, 2002 - 06:04 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: In Iraq, UN weapons inspectors are questioning scientists at a Baghdad university.
CNN's Rym Brahimi joins me live with the latest from Baghdad.
Good morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Carol.
Well, indeed, a group of UN weapons inspectors again went to the University of Technology here in Baghdad. Now, we spoke to the president of the university, and he told reporters that the team was more numerous and also more diverse than the teams that had been there in the past few days. He said that they questioned a few scientists. They also asked for a list of the university's top scientists.
Now, it's not clear exactly how formal this questioning process was, but what's clear is that they have asked for more scientists to be interviewed, so that's the continuation of what they started the day before yesterday, Carol, when they first interviewed formally a nuclear researcher that teaches at the university.
Now, the experts also went to the chemical engineering department. There's a lot of equipment there that had been tagged by the previous UN team, and they just went around checking on that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym, we understand that there are some accusations that Syria is hiding weapons of mass destruction for Iraq. Any reaction about that coming out of Iraq?
BRAHIMI: There hasn't been much reaction from here so far, Carol. It's only because if there is any reaction, it might come from the very top, and it's a bit too early to tell.
The other issue is also that this has come out more in the media. It hasn't been a sort of direct accusation made on the official level by a top official from the United States yet. So, they usually tend to wait a little bit.
That said, they are probably -- I mean, I have spoken to a few people in the streets here about this, and, of course, they just think it's part of the general anti-Iraqi sentiment that as if it weren't enough just because the U.S. hasn't found anything to reproach Iraq with, because they haven't found any weapons of mass destruction, well, now they're doing this and trying to find -- to come up with another excuse. This is the general feeling here so far -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right, understand. Rym Brahimi 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.
Aired December 26, 2002 - 06:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, UN weapons inspectors are questioning scientists at a Baghdad university.
CNN's Rym Brahimi joins me live with the latest from Baghdad.
Good morning.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning Carol.
Well, indeed, a group of UN weapons inspectors again went to the University of Technology here in Baghdad. Now, we spoke to the president of the university, and he told reporters that the team was more numerous and also more diverse than the teams that had been there in the past few days. He said that they questioned a few scientists. They also asked for a list of the university's top scientists.
Now, it's not clear exactly how formal this questioning process was, but what's clear is that they have asked for more scientists to be interviewed, so that's the continuation of what they started the day before yesterday, Carol, when they first interviewed formally a nuclear researcher that teaches at the university.
Now, the experts also went to the chemical engineering department. There's a lot of equipment there that had been tagged by the previous UN team, and they just went around checking on that -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym, we understand that there are some accusations that Syria is hiding weapons of mass destruction for Iraq. Any reaction about that coming out of Iraq?
BRAHIMI: There hasn't been much reaction from here so far, Carol. It's only because if there is any reaction, it might come from the very top, and it's a bit too early to tell.
The other issue is also that this has come out more in the media. It hasn't been a sort of direct accusation made on the official level by a top official from the United States yet. So, they usually tend to wait a little bit.
That said, they are probably -- I mean, I have spoken to a few people in the streets here about this, and, of course, they just think it's part of the general anti-Iraqi sentiment that as if it weren't enough just because the U.S. hasn't found anything to reproach Iraq with, because they haven't found any weapons of mass destruction, well, now they're doing this and trying to find -- to come up with another excuse. This is the general feeling here so far -- Carol. COSTELLO: All right, understand. Rym Brahimi 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.
