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CNN Live At Daybreak
Weapons Inspectors Using Helicopters In Iraq
Aired January 07, 2003 - 06:07 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now onto Iraq, where U.N. experts have taken to the skies. This morning for the very first time, inspectors are using helicopters in their hunt for weapons of mass destruction.
Our Rym Brahimi joins us live from Baghdad with the latest.
Rym, how does this work? The helicopters take off and land in a location the Iraqis supposedly don't expect their landing in?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's pretty much it, or that's what we're told anyway, Carol. What happens is that the inspectors have decided to use those helicopters. My understanding is so far, they have asked for some form of clearance, or they have actually informed the Iraqi authorities that they plan to use their helicopters. That said, they do not tell the Iraqi authorities where they're heading. They just need clearance to sort of just use them and just fly off the ground basically. That's what I understand so far.
Now, the helicopters took off very early in the morning. They were followed by two Iraqi helicopters, part of the National Monitoring Directorate that have been following the inspectors everywhere since they've arrived on every single visit of every single site. They went off towards the west, Carol, towards the border with Syria.
Now, that's where there's a phosphate mine that used to produce natural uranium. It used to extract natural uranium from there in the 1980s, and in fact, it was the main source of natural uranium for Iraq in that period. But then in 1991, that mine was actually bombed and destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War, and then totally sealed off by nuclear weapons inspectors. Now, that's a site that the inspectors have visited this time around. Previous UN inspectors had visited also that site until 1998 many times.
And so, there's nothing -- it's quite an obvious site, but the use of the helicopters is new, of course -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad for us this morning.
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 January 7, 2003 - 06:07 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now onto Iraq, where U.N. experts have taken to the skies. This morning for the very first time, inspectors are using helicopters in their hunt for weapons of mass destruction.
Our Rym Brahimi joins us live from Baghdad with the latest.
Rym, how does this work? The helicopters take off and land in a location the Iraqis supposedly don't expect their landing in?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's pretty much it, or that's what we're told anyway, Carol. What happens is that the inspectors have decided to use those helicopters. My understanding is so far, they have asked for some form of clearance, or they have actually informed the Iraqi authorities that they plan to use their helicopters. That said, they do not tell the Iraqi authorities where they're heading. They just need clearance to sort of just use them and just fly off the ground basically. That's what I understand so far.
Now, the helicopters took off very early in the morning. They were followed by two Iraqi helicopters, part of the National Monitoring Directorate that have been following the inspectors everywhere since they've arrived on every single visit of every single site. They went off towards the west, Carol, towards the border with Syria.
Now, that's where there's a phosphate mine that used to produce natural uranium. It used to extract natural uranium from there in the 1980s, and in fact, it was the main source of natural uranium for Iraq in that period. But then in 1991, that mine was actually bombed and destroyed in the 1991 Gulf War, and then totally sealed off by nuclear weapons inspectors. Now, that's a site that the inspectors have visited this time around. Previous UN inspectors had visited also that site until 1998 many times.
And so, there's nothing -- it's quite an obvious site, but the use of the helicopters is new, of course -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad for us this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
