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CNN Live At Daybreak
Experts Say Iraqi Missile Violates U.N. Ban
Aired February 13, 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 and what may be that smoking gun. Independent arms experts say Iraq has violated U.N. resolutions with a missile that can reach farther than allowed. The experts delivered their findings ahead of chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix's report to the Security Council tomorrow.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair finds the new information on that missile troubling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: If these reports are correct, and obviously the inspectors should give evidence of what they know about that and I'm sure they will tomorrow, if these reports are correct, it is very serious, because it would be not just the failure to declare and disclose information, but a breach of Resolution 1441.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We want to get feedback on the report from Iraq. We take you to Baghdad, where our Rym Brahimi is standing by.
Rym -- fill us in.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the Al Samoud 2 missile, which is the one that was being examined at the panel of U.N. experts in New York, is actually a missile that was declared by Iraq in its December the 7th declaration. Now, that missile has been tested in the past few months at least 40 times. In those 40 tests, 13 times it proved it could actually go beyond the authorized range of 150 kilometers, which is roughly 93 miles.
Now, that was also reported by U.N. chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, at the U.N. Security Council last month.
Now, of course, Iraq says that the reason this missile goes beyond the range is because it's not weighed down by the explosives or the guidance system that it would normally have if it were really fired. Mohammed Al-Douri, who is Iraq's representative to the United Nations, says he's willing to sit down and discuss that with the experts, and that it should be examined again by a joint team of experts.
Of course, when Hans Blix goes to the U.N. Security Council on Friday, that will probably be one of the questions he needs to address. But maybe on the bigger scale of things, he will need to address the bigger issue of whether or not the inspections are working, whether or not Iraq has been cooperating to an extent that they can say that inspections are working.
Meanwhile here in Baghdad, Carol, a group of human shields has arrived, at least 15 of them now, some from Spain, Canada, France. They're expecting 70 more people to arrive. They say they paid for their own trip here, they're paying for their stay here, but they received a lot of cooperation from the Iraqi government to go where they want -- Carol.
COSTELLO: 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 February 13, 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 and what may be that smoking gun. Independent arms experts say Iraq has violated U.N. resolutions with a missile that can reach farther than allowed. The experts delivered their findings ahead of chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix's report to the Security Council tomorrow.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair finds the new information on that missile troubling.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TONY BLAIR, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: If these reports are correct, and obviously the inspectors should give evidence of what they know about that and I'm sure they will tomorrow, if these reports are correct, it is very serious, because it would be not just the failure to declare and disclose information, but a breach of Resolution 1441.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: We want to get feedback on the report from Iraq. We take you to Baghdad, where our Rym Brahimi is standing by.
Rym -- fill us in.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the Al Samoud 2 missile, which is the one that was being examined at the panel of U.N. experts in New York, is actually a missile that was declared by Iraq in its December the 7th declaration. Now, that missile has been tested in the past few months at least 40 times. In those 40 tests, 13 times it proved it could actually go beyond the authorized range of 150 kilometers, which is roughly 93 miles.
Now, that was also reported by U.N. chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, at the U.N. Security Council last month.
Now, of course, Iraq says that the reason this missile goes beyond the range is because it's not weighed down by the explosives or the guidance system that it would normally have if it were really fired. Mohammed Al-Douri, who is Iraq's representative to the United Nations, says he's willing to sit down and discuss that with the experts, and that it should be examined again by a joint team of experts.
Of course, when Hans Blix goes to the U.N. Security Council on Friday, that will probably be one of the questions he needs to address. But maybe on the bigger scale of things, he will need to address the bigger issue of whether or not the inspections are working, whether or not Iraq has been cooperating to an extent that they can say that inspections are working.
Meanwhile here in Baghdad, Carol, a group of human shields has arrived, at least 15 of them now, some from Spain, Canada, France. They're expecting 70 more people to arrive. They say they paid for their own trip here, they're paying for their stay here, but they received a lot of cooperation from the Iraqi government to go where they want -- Carol.
COSTELLO: 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.
