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CNN Live At Daybreak
Chief Weapons Inspectors Prepare to Report to United Nations
Aired February 14, 2003 - 06:03 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: As the world waits, we bring you international reaction to the upcoming report and the possibility of war.
Our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, joins us live from London, and CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad.
We begin with Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.
All eyes are going to be focused on the U.N. Security Council when it meets in a few hours to hear this critical new report from Hans Blix and Dr. ElBaradei.
Now, even before this meeting has started, we're hearing from reports already that Dr. ElBaradei has said that it's not too late for Iraq to exonerate itself, the time is ticking, he said, but that he believes that the inspections were moving forward, and that they would need more time.
Now, we're going to wait to see the tone of Dr. Blix's report. If you remember the last one in January was quite scathing, basically saying that Iraq had not come to a decision to actively cooperate and disarm.
Whatever is said at the Security Council is going to be heavily debated in European capitals and in the United States, because some are going to see it as a reason not to go to war and to continue inspections, and others are going to see it as a reason to go to war and disarm Saddam Hussein by force.
Now, there's a big, big situation in Europe and around the rest of the world, where most of the people simply do not believe there is a case for war. In Britain, which is the U.S. closest ally, only 1 in 10 in the latest poll saw the need to go to war. There are going to be huge demonstrations planned here over this weekend and around the world; other parts of Europe as well.
And there's a huge amount of pressure now on the British prime minister, Tony Blair, to come up with a second resolution in order to have some kind of international legitimacy and legality, in his view, before going to war, because it's so unpalatable amongst his own public opinion. However, there is no reason to believe a second resolution could be tabled or could even be won by the U.S. and Britain, because there are holdouts, key holdouts -- France, Germany and perhaps even Russia.
The French are saying that they believe a war would be a mistake, and they're trying to prevent a historical mistake -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Christiane, many thanks to you -- Christiane Amanpour, live from London. She'll be back with us at the half-hour.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Nations>
Aired February 14, 2003 - 06:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: As the world waits, we bring you international reaction to the upcoming report and the possibility of war.
Our chief international correspondent, Christiane Amanpour, joins us live from London, and CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad.
We begin with Christiane.
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning.
All eyes are going to be focused on the U.N. Security Council when it meets in a few hours to hear this critical new report from Hans Blix and Dr. ElBaradei.
Now, even before this meeting has started, we're hearing from reports already that Dr. ElBaradei has said that it's not too late for Iraq to exonerate itself, the time is ticking, he said, but that he believes that the inspections were moving forward, and that they would need more time.
Now, we're going to wait to see the tone of Dr. Blix's report. If you remember the last one in January was quite scathing, basically saying that Iraq had not come to a decision to actively cooperate and disarm.
Whatever is said at the Security Council is going to be heavily debated in European capitals and in the United States, because some are going to see it as a reason not to go to war and to continue inspections, and others are going to see it as a reason to go to war and disarm Saddam Hussein by force.
Now, there's a big, big situation in Europe and around the rest of the world, where most of the people simply do not believe there is a case for war. In Britain, which is the U.S. closest ally, only 1 in 10 in the latest poll saw the need to go to war. There are going to be huge demonstrations planned here over this weekend and around the world; other parts of Europe as well.
And there's a huge amount of pressure now on the British prime minister, Tony Blair, to come up with a second resolution in order to have some kind of international legitimacy and legality, in his view, before going to war, because it's so unpalatable amongst his own public opinion. However, there is no reason to believe a second resolution could be tabled or could even be won by the U.S. and Britain, because there are holdouts, key holdouts -- France, Germany and perhaps even Russia.
The French are saying that they believe a war would be a mistake, and they're trying to prevent a historical mistake -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Christiane, many thanks to you -- Christiane Amanpour, live from London. She'll be back with us at the half-hour.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
Nations>
