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France Rejects list of 'Benchmarks' for Iraq
Aired March 13, 2003 - 06:38 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 the subject of Iraq now. To win over an undecided U.N. Security Council, Britain has introduced six so-called benchmarks, or conditions, that Iraq must obey or face military force.
To demonstrate cooperation, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would have to make a public statement that Iraq has concealed weapons of mass destruction. At least 30 Iraqi scientists would be made available for interviews outside of Iraq. Iraq would also have to surrender and explain all anthrax that it has; 10,000 liters is one U.N. estimate. Iraq would also have to destroy all remaining Al Samoud 2 missiles. Iraq would have to give evidence on all unmanned aerial vehicles, and Iraq would have to surrender all mobile chemical and biological production facilities.
For more now on that British compromise on Iraq, we turn to our senior European political correspondent, Robin Oakley, in London.
And, Robin, France has already come out this morning and said it has no use for this resolution.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN SR. EUROPOEAN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Not only has France come out and said it has no use for the resolution, Carol, but we just heard that Naji Sabri, the Iraqi foreign minister, has dismissed the British proposals, these new benchmarks for Saddam Hussein, saying they are an aggressive act and merely a pretext for war. So, it's certainly not looking as though Britain is going to make very much progress in pressing for those benchmarks.
Tony Blair, I think, has now almost resigned himself to the inevitable. He had a meeting at his Downing Street home and headquarters this morning with Ian Duncan Smith, who's the leader of the conservative opposition party in Britain, and he'll need Mr. Duncan Smith's votes probably to get through the House of Commons any move to commit British troops without a second U.N. Security Council resolution.
And Mr. Duncan Smith came out from that meeting, said Tony Blair had told him they were as far away now from getting a second resolution as they had ever been. And Mr. Blair was very strongly blaming the French, saying that they were completely intransigent over this.
And we then heard Jack Straw, the U.K. foreign secretary, coming out on Downing Street, and also describing the French conduct as extraordinary, saying that they were willing to reject this resolution, to veto it, without even seeing what was in the final shape of that resolution.
So, the diplomatic war of words is building up, and it's beginning to look as though there could even be a possibility of that second resolution being pulled -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It certainly seems so. Robin Oakley, many thanks to you.
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 March 13, 2003 - 06:38 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 the subject of Iraq now. To win over an undecided U.N. Security Council, Britain has introduced six so-called benchmarks, or conditions, that Iraq must obey or face military force.
To demonstrate cooperation, Iraqi President Saddam Hussein would have to make a public statement that Iraq has concealed weapons of mass destruction. At least 30 Iraqi scientists would be made available for interviews outside of Iraq. Iraq would also have to surrender and explain all anthrax that it has; 10,000 liters is one U.N. estimate. Iraq would also have to destroy all remaining Al Samoud 2 missiles. Iraq would have to give evidence on all unmanned aerial vehicles, and Iraq would have to surrender all mobile chemical and biological production facilities.
For more now on that British compromise on Iraq, we turn to our senior European political correspondent, Robin Oakley, in London.
And, Robin, France has already come out this morning and said it has no use for this resolution.
ROBIN OAKLEY, CNN SR. EUROPOEAN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Not only has France come out and said it has no use for the resolution, Carol, but we just heard that Naji Sabri, the Iraqi foreign minister, has dismissed the British proposals, these new benchmarks for Saddam Hussein, saying they are an aggressive act and merely a pretext for war. So, it's certainly not looking as though Britain is going to make very much progress in pressing for those benchmarks.
Tony Blair, I think, has now almost resigned himself to the inevitable. He had a meeting at his Downing Street home and headquarters this morning with Ian Duncan Smith, who's the leader of the conservative opposition party in Britain, and he'll need Mr. Duncan Smith's votes probably to get through the House of Commons any move to commit British troops without a second U.N. Security Council resolution.
And Mr. Duncan Smith came out from that meeting, said Tony Blair had told him they were as far away now from getting a second resolution as they had ever been. And Mr. Blair was very strongly blaming the French, saying that they were completely intransigent over this.
And we then heard Jack Straw, the U.K. foreign secretary, coming out on Downing Street, and also describing the French conduct as extraordinary, saying that they were willing to reject this resolution, to veto it, without even seeing what was in the final shape of that resolution.
So, the diplomatic war of words is building up, and it's beginning to look as though there could even be a possibility of that second resolution being pulled -- Carol.
COSTELLO: It certainly seems so. Robin Oakley, many thanks to you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
