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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.S. Inspectors Visit Saddam Hussein's Presidential Palace
Aired January 15, 2003 - 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: On to Iraq now and some harsh words coming out of the White House. President Bush says he's about had it with Saddam Hussein.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Time is running out on Saddam Hussein. He must disarm. I'm sick and tired of games and deception.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Mr. Bush says so far, he hasn't seen any evidence that Baghdad is disarming.
In the meantime in Iraq, weapons inspectors are now searching one of Saddam's presidential palaces. What makes this one different? It houses his main office.
Our Rym Brahimi is live in Baghdad. Actually, she's outside of that palace.
Are you back from the palace yet, or are you still there, Rym?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I just returned. The inspectors spent something like four hours there. There were actually quite a number of teams there. One of them only spent a couple of hours, and then this team of inspectors that included the team leader of the UNMOVIC, or chemical, missile and biological experts, Demitri Pericos (ph), they stayed until maybe only about 20 minutes ago, and then they left.
Now, that palace, as you were mentioning, houses a lot of the offices of the presidency. Some of the offices of the top aides of President Saddam Hussein are believed to be in there. So, it's definitely a more active palace, if you will, than the one that the inspectors visited early on, when they resumed their inspections late last year.
Now, journalists just gathered in front of the gate. There was a lot of nervousness there. As you know, Carol, this is what Iraqis call a "sensitive site." And last time the inspectors went to a palace, well, there was a lot of criticism on the part of the Iraqis. They said that there had been no justification for the inspectors to go to a palace. They said they weren't even wearing any protective gear, and clearly, there would be no reason for anyone to hide weapons of mass destruction in a palace, so it didn't make sense. Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Did they find anything, Rym? Do you know yet?
BRAHIMI: We don't know if they found anything, Carol. But what's interesting here is the timing, the timing of this inspection. It comes, first of all, just after the two U.N. weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, have been to Washington and are visiting different capitals in the world just preparing for their trip to Baghdad this weekend. It also comes at a moment where the rhetoric has been stepped up clearly, as you saw in Washington, and also in Baghdad with the Iraqis complaining increasingly about the way the inspectors behave.
Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad 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.
Palace>
Aired January 15, 2003 - 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: On to Iraq now and some harsh words coming out of the White House. President Bush says he's about had it with Saddam Hussein.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE W. BUSH, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Time is running out on Saddam Hussein. He must disarm. I'm sick and tired of games and deception.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: Mr. Bush says so far, he hasn't seen any evidence that Baghdad is disarming.
In the meantime in Iraq, weapons inspectors are now searching one of Saddam's presidential palaces. What makes this one different? It houses his main office.
Our Rym Brahimi is live in Baghdad. Actually, she's outside of that palace.
Are you back from the palace yet, or are you still there, Rym?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, I just returned. The inspectors spent something like four hours there. There were actually quite a number of teams there. One of them only spent a couple of hours, and then this team of inspectors that included the team leader of the UNMOVIC, or chemical, missile and biological experts, Demitri Pericos (ph), they stayed until maybe only about 20 minutes ago, and then they left.
Now, that palace, as you were mentioning, houses a lot of the offices of the presidency. Some of the offices of the top aides of President Saddam Hussein are believed to be in there. So, it's definitely a more active palace, if you will, than the one that the inspectors visited early on, when they resumed their inspections late last year.
Now, journalists just gathered in front of the gate. There was a lot of nervousness there. As you know, Carol, this is what Iraqis call a "sensitive site." And last time the inspectors went to a palace, well, there was a lot of criticism on the part of the Iraqis. They said that there had been no justification for the inspectors to go to a palace. They said they weren't even wearing any protective gear, and clearly, there would be no reason for anyone to hide weapons of mass destruction in a palace, so it didn't make sense. Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Did they find anything, Rym? Do you know yet?
BRAHIMI: We don't know if they found anything, Carol. But what's interesting here is the timing, the timing of this inspection. It comes, first of all, just after the two U.N. weapons inspectors, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei, have been to Washington and are visiting different capitals in the world just preparing for their trip to Baghdad this weekend. It also comes at a moment where the rhetoric has been stepped up clearly, as you saw in Washington, and also in Baghdad with the Iraqis complaining increasingly about the way the inspectors behave.
Back to you -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad 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.
Palace>
