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Iraqi Official Again Accuses U.S. of Wanting to go to War
Aired January 27, 2003 - 06:02 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: In a news conference about a half- hour ago, Iraq's foreign minister again accused the United States of wanting to go to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: All times are for diplomacy. The ones who will say there are no time for diplomacy are warmongers, and those who are fond of exporting death and destruction to others, and those who are fond of exporting evil to other nations, and those who find themselves -- who only find themselves in war and destruction to others, who cannot see themselves living appropriately among other nations except by launching aggression against others and killing others and causing misery and destruction to other nations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: For more on the Iraqi viewpoint, we want to take you live to Baghdad now. That's where Rym Brahimi has been following the story.
Rym, you were at the press conference. Many of the foreign minister's comments seemed to be geared towards the Arab world.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of them, Carol. Maybe also making the point specifically that the United States and Britain were trying to attack or trying to find a pretext to attack Iraq in order not only to dominate Iraq, but dominate also the rest of the Arab world, and especially the oil resources of the entire region. Now, that's a point that has been made previously in the past couple of weeks and since the beginning of the year by President Saddam Hussein himself.
Other points mentioned by the foreign minister of Iraq, that Iraq was cooperating, has cooperated as much as it could, that it would continue cooperation, but that so far, despite all its cooperation, the U.S. was still intent on threatening Iraq.
Now, another couple of points, important ones that he made was he also ridiculed -- responded first to many of Colin Powell -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's statements in Davos, mainly ridiculing Colin Powell's statement linking Iraq to terrorist activities, saying the whole world and the United States and Britain know very well there are no links to terrorism here in Iraq. They know who the leadership here in Iraq is, and they know that we have no links to such groups. And the main point, of course, Carol, is that he said war is not inevitable, there is room for diplomacy, but he did set the onus on the United States, saying it's up to the U.S. to avoid this war -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi live from Baghdad. Thanks for the perspective from there.
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 27, 2003 - 06:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In a news conference about a half- hour ago, Iraq's foreign minister again accused the United States of wanting to go to war.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER: All times are for diplomacy. The ones who will say there are no time for diplomacy are warmongers, and those who are fond of exporting death and destruction to others, and those who are fond of exporting evil to other nations, and those who find themselves -- who only find themselves in war and destruction to others, who cannot see themselves living appropriately among other nations except by launching aggression against others and killing others and causing misery and destruction to other nations.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: For more on the Iraqi viewpoint, we want to take you live to Baghdad now. That's where Rym Brahimi has been following the story.
Rym, you were at the press conference. Many of the foreign minister's comments seemed to be geared towards the Arab world.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a lot of them, Carol. Maybe also making the point specifically that the United States and Britain were trying to attack or trying to find a pretext to attack Iraq in order not only to dominate Iraq, but dominate also the rest of the Arab world, and especially the oil resources of the entire region. Now, that's a point that has been made previously in the past couple of weeks and since the beginning of the year by President Saddam Hussein himself.
Other points mentioned by the foreign minister of Iraq, that Iraq was cooperating, has cooperated as much as it could, that it would continue cooperation, but that so far, despite all its cooperation, the U.S. was still intent on threatening Iraq.
Now, another couple of points, important ones that he made was he also ridiculed -- responded first to many of Colin Powell -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell's statements in Davos, mainly ridiculing Colin Powell's statement linking Iraq to terrorist activities, saying the whole world and the United States and Britain know very well there are no links to terrorism here in Iraq. They know who the leadership here in Iraq is, and they know that we have no links to such groups. And the main point, of course, Carol, is that he said war is not inevitable, there is room for diplomacy, but he did set the onus on the United States, saying it's up to the U.S. to avoid this war -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Rym Brahimi live from Baghdad. Thanks for the perspective from there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
