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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.N. Inspectors at Home of Iraqi Scientist
Aired January 16, 2003 - 05:15 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: For the first time in Iraq, a significant development. U.N. inspectors are right now at the home of an Iraqi scientist.
We want to get more on this live from Baghdad.
Rym Brahimi was outside the home when inspectors knocked on the door.
She joins us live by phone.
So the inspectors just went up, knocked on the door and said can we come in?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's pretty much it, Carol. It's a bit, it's slightly more complicated. They arrived. They were, they arrived in this residential neighborhood in Baghdad. It's not in the center of Baghdad, a lot of houses there, private homes. They searched for a while. They made one mistake. They kind of thought, first of all, the house they were looking for was one house and it turned out not to be that. They drove a little further out and found the houses that they were looking for.
It turns out the two scientists they were interested in have houses, are neighbors. They live one next to each other.
They went there and knocked on the door, as you say, and one of the homes apparently there was nobody. In the other home, there was just the wife of a scientist and she said she wouldn't really want to let anyone in until her husband returned.
So she called her husband and also the scientist of the house next door. They came back from work and then eventually allowed the team of inspectors in the house.
Now, of course, I imagine they, we've only spoken to one of the neighbors who was actually, whose house looks into one of the houses of the scientists. And when they were looking for them, the inspectors also went into her home, saying that they wanted to see if there was anyone in there. And she came out and just spoke to a couple of reporters only a few minutes ago, saying what is this? You know, I can understand they have a job to do, but they can't just go into people's homes like this.
So very upset, not very happy, of course. On the other hand, not wanting to be obstructive, so she did let them in. Now, the houses that have been visited, Carol, one belongs to a physicist who works at the Military Industrial Commission. He's the head of a company for that commission. And the other one is a nuclear scientist.
The inspectors have been there for quite a few hours now. It seems to be a joint team of both nuclear and chemical, biological and missile experts -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. So they're still inside the home. So we'll get back to you in the next hour of DAYBREAK, or the next half hour, I should say, for an update.
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
Aired January 16, 2003 - 05:15 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: For the first time in Iraq, a significant development. U.N. inspectors are right now at the home of an Iraqi scientist.
We want to get more on this live from Baghdad.
Rym Brahimi was outside the home when inspectors knocked on the door.
She joins us live by phone.
So the inspectors just went up, knocked on the door and said can we come in?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's pretty much it, Carol. It's a bit, it's slightly more complicated. They arrived. They were, they arrived in this residential neighborhood in Baghdad. It's not in the center of Baghdad, a lot of houses there, private homes. They searched for a while. They made one mistake. They kind of thought, first of all, the house they were looking for was one house and it turned out not to be that. They drove a little further out and found the houses that they were looking for.
It turns out the two scientists they were interested in have houses, are neighbors. They live one next to each other.
They went there and knocked on the door, as you say, and one of the homes apparently there was nobody. In the other home, there was just the wife of a scientist and she said she wouldn't really want to let anyone in until her husband returned.
So she called her husband and also the scientist of the house next door. They came back from work and then eventually allowed the team of inspectors in the house.
Now, of course, I imagine they, we've only spoken to one of the neighbors who was actually, whose house looks into one of the houses of the scientists. And when they were looking for them, the inspectors also went into her home, saying that they wanted to see if there was anyone in there. And she came out and just spoke to a couple of reporters only a few minutes ago, saying what is this? You know, I can understand they have a job to do, but they can't just go into people's homes like this.
So very upset, not very happy, of course. On the other hand, not wanting to be obstructive, so she did let them in. Now, the houses that have been visited, Carol, one belongs to a physicist who works at the Military Industrial Commission. He's the head of a company for that commission. And the other one is a nuclear scientist.
The inspectors have been there for quite a few hours now. It seems to be a joint team of both nuclear and chemical, biological and missile experts -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Interesting. So they're still inside the home. So we'll get back to you in the next hour of DAYBREAK, or the next half hour, I should say, for an update.
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
