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CNN Saturday Morning News

U.N. Weapon Inspectors Interview Iraqi Scientist

Aired December 28, 2002 - 08:06   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq and that country's nuclear program. U.N. inspectors trying to find out more about Baghdad's weapons programs have interviewed several scientists, including one questioned yesterday about a possible secret nuclear program.
CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad, joining us live now with more details -- Rym, is it likely that scientist can speak candidly?

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, it was very interesting. This scientist is the second one interviewed formally so far by the United Nations weapons inspectors and he was brought forward by the Iraqi authorities to talk to reporters. Now, the Iraqi authorities have been extremely keen to involve the international media in every step of this new inspection process that began about four or five weeks ago.

He came and talked to reporters today, saying that he had absolutely nothing to do with any nuclear program, insisting even that his specialty was metallurgy, the science of metals. He was working, he works in an area, in a factory that deals with launching systems for what he says are short range missiles, 81 millimeter missiles that can only go as far as 10 kilometers or six miles. And he says he restores those, the pipes that are used for those missiles, famous aluminum pipes that have been suspected by a lot of countries as having been attempted to be brought into Iraq in order to work on some nuclear program.

Now, Iraq has said that they had tried to bring in some aluminum pipes and that never happened. Now he's saying that he doesn't even know what these aluminum pipes could be used for in nuclear research, because he says he's not competent in that field -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, all this is, leaves me scratching my head a little bit. First of all, the fact that he was produced by the Iraqi regime, what does that tell us?

BRAHIMI: Well, it's interesting, because from the very beginning, Miles, the Iraqi authorities have been extremely keen to involve the media as much as possible. We've been able to follow every single inspection, go into the sites that the inspectors have seen after they've visited them, talk to the directors of those facilities. And this is the second Iraqi scientist that, after being interviewed, is produced by the Iraqi authorities to us journalists for us to ask him questions about what he was interviewed on, what he told the inspectors, what the conditions of the interview were like, for instance. He is also the second scientist, Miles, to tell reporters that he didn't want to be interviewed alone. He wanted to be interviewed in the presence of an Iraqi official. So basically Iraq clearly making the case here, they're playing transparency. They're saying they're cooperating but they're also playing transparency and extremely keen, of course, to send out their side of the message -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: So best to have a bit of an arched eyebrow when we listen to what he has to say. I'm curious, the issue of taking scientists out of the country to interview them in a place where they may be able to talk more freely has come up this past week. Hans Blix saying, you know, we're not the international abduction agency, and that's not our goal, to take people -- and in this case you'd have to take their entire extended families, which in Iraq can number big numbers.

Is it likely we're going to see anything like that happen?

BRAHIMI: It's a big, big question, Miles. First of all, let me say two things about this. Interestingly enough, again, this scientist that we spoke to today, Miles, he specified that when he was asked to be interviewed by the United Nations inspectors he was asked initially to go to the U.N. headquarters here in Baghdad. And even that he refused. He said, actually he compared the U.N. headquarters here to Guantanamo Bay. He said I'm not, I'm a free man, I don't want to go to this place that, to me, is like Guantanamo Bay. I want to be interviewed in a neutral place. And they ended up by choosing the Rasheed Hotel, which is a state run hotel in which a lot of the international media and a lot of international businessmen stay.

Now, he was asked by reporters, would you leave the country if you were asked to do so? And he, a little bit annoyed, maybe, at the question, said no, what Iraqi would want to leave his country? I wouldn't leave my country.

It hasn't really come up in many terms. I don't think he was asked that by the inspectors, but clearly that will bring up some issues. And, of course, the big question is, on the one hand, there is this desire on the part of the U.N. weapons inspectors to be able to conduct these interviews maybe in what they believe would be a neutral area.

On the other hand, there are questions about offering an Iraqi scientist and their family asylum. I mean who would, there are a lot of questions about people defecting, potential defectors who would maybe volunteer information that may not be true just for the sake of being offered asylum.

So there are a lot of questions about that. It's extremely difficult and from an international legal point of view, Miles, it's also extremely difficult to sort out -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Lots to sort out there, hard to get at the truth.

Rym Brahimi doing her best on our behalf.

As always, good to chat with you.

See you soon, I hope.

BRAHIMI: Thanks.

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 28, 2002 - 08:06   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Iraq and that country's nuclear program. U.N. inspectors trying to find out more about Baghdad's weapons programs have interviewed several scientists, including one questioned yesterday about a possible secret nuclear program.
CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad, joining us live now with more details -- Rym, is it likely that scientist can speak candidly?

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Miles, it was very interesting. This scientist is the second one interviewed formally so far by the United Nations weapons inspectors and he was brought forward by the Iraqi authorities to talk to reporters. Now, the Iraqi authorities have been extremely keen to involve the international media in every step of this new inspection process that began about four or five weeks ago.

He came and talked to reporters today, saying that he had absolutely nothing to do with any nuclear program, insisting even that his specialty was metallurgy, the science of metals. He was working, he works in an area, in a factory that deals with launching systems for what he says are short range missiles, 81 millimeter missiles that can only go as far as 10 kilometers or six miles. And he says he restores those, the pipes that are used for those missiles, famous aluminum pipes that have been suspected by a lot of countries as having been attempted to be brought into Iraq in order to work on some nuclear program.

Now, Iraq has said that they had tried to bring in some aluminum pipes and that never happened. Now he's saying that he doesn't even know what these aluminum pipes could be used for in nuclear research, because he says he's not competent in that field -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Well, all this is, leaves me scratching my head a little bit. First of all, the fact that he was produced by the Iraqi regime, what does that tell us?

BRAHIMI: Well, it's interesting, because from the very beginning, Miles, the Iraqi authorities have been extremely keen to involve the media as much as possible. We've been able to follow every single inspection, go into the sites that the inspectors have seen after they've visited them, talk to the directors of those facilities. And this is the second Iraqi scientist that, after being interviewed, is produced by the Iraqi authorities to us journalists for us to ask him questions about what he was interviewed on, what he told the inspectors, what the conditions of the interview were like, for instance. He is also the second scientist, Miles, to tell reporters that he didn't want to be interviewed alone. He wanted to be interviewed in the presence of an Iraqi official. So basically Iraq clearly making the case here, they're playing transparency. They're saying they're cooperating but they're also playing transparency and extremely keen, of course, to send out their side of the message -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: So best to have a bit of an arched eyebrow when we listen to what he has to say. I'm curious, the issue of taking scientists out of the country to interview them in a place where they may be able to talk more freely has come up this past week. Hans Blix saying, you know, we're not the international abduction agency, and that's not our goal, to take people -- and in this case you'd have to take their entire extended families, which in Iraq can number big numbers.

Is it likely we're going to see anything like that happen?

BRAHIMI: It's a big, big question, Miles. First of all, let me say two things about this. Interestingly enough, again, this scientist that we spoke to today, Miles, he specified that when he was asked to be interviewed by the United Nations inspectors he was asked initially to go to the U.N. headquarters here in Baghdad. And even that he refused. He said, actually he compared the U.N. headquarters here to Guantanamo Bay. He said I'm not, I'm a free man, I don't want to go to this place that, to me, is like Guantanamo Bay. I want to be interviewed in a neutral place. And they ended up by choosing the Rasheed Hotel, which is a state run hotel in which a lot of the international media and a lot of international businessmen stay.

Now, he was asked by reporters, would you leave the country if you were asked to do so? And he, a little bit annoyed, maybe, at the question, said no, what Iraqi would want to leave his country? I wouldn't leave my country.

It hasn't really come up in many terms. I don't think he was asked that by the inspectors, but clearly that will bring up some issues. And, of course, the big question is, on the one hand, there is this desire on the part of the U.N. weapons inspectors to be able to conduct these interviews maybe in what they believe would be a neutral area.

On the other hand, there are questions about offering an Iraqi scientist and their family asylum. I mean who would, there are a lot of questions about people defecting, potential defectors who would maybe volunteer information that may not be true just for the sake of being offered asylum.

So there are a lot of questions about that. It's extremely difficult and from an international legal point of view, Miles, it's also extremely difficult to sort out -- Miles.

O'BRIEN: Lots to sort out there, hard to get at the truth.

Rym Brahimi doing her best on our behalf.

As always, good to chat with you.

See you soon, I hope.

BRAHIMI: Thanks.

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