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CNN Live At Daybreak
U.N. Weapons Inspectors Visit Homes of Two Scientists
Aired January 16, 2003 - 06:08 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 on to the hunt for weapons in Iraq. Oh, is pressure mounting on Saddam Hussein to come clean.
The U.N.'s chief nuclear inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, told CNN just a short time ago that Iraq is not doing enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED ELBARADEI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: Iraq should understand that unless they completely have a different frame of mind, unless they become proactive, unless they take the initiative, there is not going to be sufficient confidence for the Security Council to say, well, we are happy now, we are satisfied that Iraq has disarmed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And cooperation is what weapons inspectors are searching for again this morning. They're paying a visit to the homes of two Iraqi scientists, and the world waits to hear what they'll say.
Our Rym Brahimi is on the phone from Baghdad.
And, Rym, tell us again. The inspectors went up to two homes in Baghdad, knocked on the door and were admitted to one, right?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So far, Carol, we understand that they may have also been admitted to the other one, but we're just verifying that.
As you said, they arrived in this residential neighborhood. It's a neighborhood where a lot of Iraqi scientists or university professors live. A lot of them have been given the land to build houses in the same area by the government. So, it's not a surprise that their houses are neighboring. One of them, a nuclear scientist; the other one a physicist, who is a director of a company that's part of Iraq's Military Industrial Commission.
Now, they arrived, they asked to be let in. In one of the homes, only the wife of the scientist was home, and she didn't want to let anyone in before her husband returned. They called him, he arrived from work apparently with his colleague, who is also his neighbor, and it seems that the inspectors have been able to access at least one of the homes.
A group of inspectors were here from both teams -- the nuclear and the chemical, biological and missile experts. We spoke to a couple of residents just a few minutes ago. I've been having a few conversations with them. They're not happy. They say, you know, we're all scientists, we're all university professors in this area. We kind of expected them to ask to be let in; we just didn't expect them to sort of want to barge in like this. What do they want to see? We only have fridges and TVs in our homes. They're not very happy residents -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, I can understand that in a way, but they should have expected it, because this was in the works for a long time.
Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad today.
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 - 06:08 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Now on to the hunt for weapons in Iraq. Oh, is pressure mounting on Saddam Hussein to come clean.
The U.N.'s chief nuclear inspector, Mohamed ElBaradei, told CNN just a short time ago that Iraq is not doing enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED ELBARADEI, IAEA DIRECTOR GENERAL: Iraq should understand that unless they completely have a different frame of mind, unless they become proactive, unless they take the initiative, there is not going to be sufficient confidence for the Security Council to say, well, we are happy now, we are satisfied that Iraq has disarmed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And cooperation is what weapons inspectors are searching for again this morning. They're paying a visit to the homes of two Iraqi scientists, and the world waits to hear what they'll say.
Our Rym Brahimi is on the phone from Baghdad.
And, Rym, tell us again. The inspectors went up to two homes in Baghdad, knocked on the door and were admitted to one, right?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So far, Carol, we understand that they may have also been admitted to the other one, but we're just verifying that.
As you said, they arrived in this residential neighborhood. It's a neighborhood where a lot of Iraqi scientists or university professors live. A lot of them have been given the land to build houses in the same area by the government. So, it's not a surprise that their houses are neighboring. One of them, a nuclear scientist; the other one a physicist, who is a director of a company that's part of Iraq's Military Industrial Commission.
Now, they arrived, they asked to be let in. In one of the homes, only the wife of the scientist was home, and she didn't want to let anyone in before her husband returned. They called him, he arrived from work apparently with his colleague, who is also his neighbor, and it seems that the inspectors have been able to access at least one of the homes.
A group of inspectors were here from both teams -- the nuclear and the chemical, biological and missile experts. We spoke to a couple of residents just a few minutes ago. I've been having a few conversations with them. They're not happy. They say, you know, we're all scientists, we're all university professors in this area. We kind of expected them to ask to be let in; we just didn't expect them to sort of want to barge in like this. What do they want to see? We only have fridges and TVs in our homes. They're not very happy residents -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Well, I can understand that in a way, but they should have expected it, because this was in the works for a long time.
Rym Brahimi reporting live from Baghdad today.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
