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American Morning
Harsh Words From Chief U.N. Weapons Inspector
Aired January 28, 2003 - 07:10 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Tomorrow, the U.N. Security Council will hold a closed-door session. That follows yesterday's negative report on Iraq from Hans Blix. The weapons inspection chief said Baghdad is not cooperating with the U.N.'s search team. Missing from the report, according to Blix, tons of chemical agents that produce VX and mustard gas, thousands of liters of agents that produce anthrax, and hundreds of liters of agents that produce ricin.
Let's get more now from senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth.
Good morning -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
And where are all of those weapons? That continues to perturb the U.N. weapons inspectors, who spoke before the Security Council on Monday. Hans Blix in his report questioning where VX nerve agent precursor chemicals could be, where might be hundreds or thousands of tons of mustard gas, and then there is anthrax.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Iraq has declared that it produced about 8,500 liters of this biological warfare agent, which it states it unilaterally destroyed in the summer of 1991. Iraq has provided little evidence for this production, and no convincing evidence for its destruction. There are strong indications that Iraq produced more anthrax than it declared, and that at least some of this was retained after the declared destruction date. It might still exist. Either it should be found and be destroyed under UNMOVIC supervision, or else convincing evidence should be produced to show that it was indeed destroyed in 1991.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: And in another significant area, Blix said he may have the best direct evidence that Iraq has been illegally testing two different missile systems -- Paula.
ZAHN: Let me ask you this. There seemed to be some surprise on the administration's part -- the Bush administration's part that Hans Blix went as far as he did. How surprised was anybody at the U.N.?
ROTH: I think some people thought it was a tougher speech than expected. And Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency was more upbeat. Both men differed in what kind of time they want. Though ElBaradei said they need months more for inspections, Blix played it low key. He thinks he already has the authorization to do more inspecting.
ZAHN: Is there any truth to the characterization this morning that they were playing the good cop/bad cop routine?
ROTH: Oh, it's possible, definitely. It's a diplomatic world, and they could switch roles in future occasions. Blix is back February 14 with another update.
ZAHN: Richard Roth, we'll come back to you lots of times before then. Thanks so much.
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 28, 2003 - 07:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Tomorrow, the U.N. Security Council will hold a closed-door session. That follows yesterday's negative report on Iraq from Hans Blix. The weapons inspection chief said Baghdad is not cooperating with the U.N.'s search team. Missing from the report, according to Blix, tons of chemical agents that produce VX and mustard gas, thousands of liters of agents that produce anthrax, and hundreds of liters of agents that produce ricin.
Let's get more now from senior U.N. correspondent Richard Roth.
Good morning -- Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
And where are all of those weapons? That continues to perturb the U.N. weapons inspectors, who spoke before the Security Council on Monday. Hans Blix in his report questioning where VX nerve agent precursor chemicals could be, where might be hundreds or thousands of tons of mustard gas, and then there is anthrax.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTOR: Iraq has declared that it produced about 8,500 liters of this biological warfare agent, which it states it unilaterally destroyed in the summer of 1991. Iraq has provided little evidence for this production, and no convincing evidence for its destruction. There are strong indications that Iraq produced more anthrax than it declared, and that at least some of this was retained after the declared destruction date. It might still exist. Either it should be found and be destroyed under UNMOVIC supervision, or else convincing evidence should be produced to show that it was indeed destroyed in 1991.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: And in another significant area, Blix said he may have the best direct evidence that Iraq has been illegally testing two different missile systems -- Paula.
ZAHN: Let me ask you this. There seemed to be some surprise on the administration's part -- the Bush administration's part that Hans Blix went as far as he did. How surprised was anybody at the U.N.?
ROTH: I think some people thought it was a tougher speech than expected. And Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency was more upbeat. Both men differed in what kind of time they want. Though ElBaradei said they need months more for inspections, Blix played it low key. He thinks he already has the authorization to do more inspecting.
ZAHN: Is there any truth to the characterization this morning that they were playing the good cop/bad cop routine?
ROTH: Oh, it's possible, definitely. It's a diplomatic world, and they could switch roles in future occasions. Blix is back February 14 with another update.
ZAHN: Richard Roth, we'll come back to you lots of times before then. Thanks so much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
