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CNN Live At Daybreak
Karbala Mobile Lab Find: Smoking Gun?
Aired April 15, 2003 - 05:34 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: Earlier, military officials said chemicals found in a farm complex last week were pesticides.
Well, lets see if our Tom Mintier can shed any light on those vans or mobile laboratories found buried near Karbala.
Tom is in Doha, Qatar at U.S. Central Command -- good morning, Tom.
TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
It may be the location. It was located next to an artillery factory, so -- where ammunition was manufactured. So it may be about location. But these 11 Conex containers that were buried in the ground seem to support the contention by the U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, that he made both before Congress and before the U.N. Security Council that Iraq had these mobile laboratories, driving them around the country.
Well, the 101st Airborne found 11 of them buried underneath the ground. So there are samples being taken. There are, we are told, 1,500 location teams spread across Iraq looking at sites that needed to be visited and needed to be investigated. This goes in line with what officials here at Central Command have been saying, that once the hostilities had been completed, they had the opportunity to start talking to people and getting information and being led to sites that the investigations would, indeed, start.
So the 101st Airborne has found these 11 containers buried into the ground, but so far here at Central Command, not much word about it. They simply told us that they found out about this story by watching CNN.
COSTELLO: Understand. I have to ask you about Syria now, because I understand you met with the former U.N. ambassador to Syria?
MINTIER: Yes. Also, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was here this morning for meetings with General Franks and Air Marshal Burridge. And he talked about that Syria has questions to answer, not only about the possibility of chemical weapons, but the possibility that some of the Iraqi leadership or their families made their way into Syria and then beyond.
We talked to Richard Murphy here, who is a former ambassador to Syria, and he said that sanctuary has deep roots in history in this part of the world. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD MURPHY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SYRIA: And there's also, remember, a very strong tradition throughout this region of sanctuary, and that's what has to be resolved. To the extent there are leading members of the Baath from Iraq, from the family of Saddam Hussein, they have come claiming sanctuary and Syria has to resolve how hot they are to handle and how much to honor the old traditions of giving sanctuary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MINTIER: There is a list of 55 people. Two have apparently been taken off the list because they have either been captured or turned themselves in. So if there are 53 people left, we expect to hear possibly in the coming days, maybe not, from Central Command, if, indeed, more people have been taken into custody -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks very much.
Tom Mintier reporting live from CENTCOM in Doha, Qatar.
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 April 15, 2003 - 05:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier, military officials said chemicals found in a farm complex last week were pesticides.
Well, lets see if our Tom Mintier can shed any light on those vans or mobile laboratories found buried near Karbala.
Tom is in Doha, Qatar at U.S. Central Command -- good morning, Tom.
TOM MINTIER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.
It may be the location. It was located next to an artillery factory, so -- where ammunition was manufactured. So it may be about location. But these 11 Conex containers that were buried in the ground seem to support the contention by the U.S. secretary of state, Colin Powell, that he made both before Congress and before the U.N. Security Council that Iraq had these mobile laboratories, driving them around the country.
Well, the 101st Airborne found 11 of them buried underneath the ground. So there are samples being taken. There are, we are told, 1,500 location teams spread across Iraq looking at sites that needed to be visited and needed to be investigated. This goes in line with what officials here at Central Command have been saying, that once the hostilities had been completed, they had the opportunity to start talking to people and getting information and being led to sites that the investigations would, indeed, start.
So the 101st Airborne has found these 11 containers buried into the ground, but so far here at Central Command, not much word about it. They simply told us that they found out about this story by watching CNN.
COSTELLO: Understand. I have to ask you about Syria now, because I understand you met with the former U.N. ambassador to Syria?
MINTIER: Yes. Also, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw was here this morning for meetings with General Franks and Air Marshal Burridge. And he talked about that Syria has questions to answer, not only about the possibility of chemical weapons, but the possibility that some of the Iraqi leadership or their families made their way into Syria and then beyond.
We talked to Richard Murphy here, who is a former ambassador to Syria, and he said that sanctuary has deep roots in history in this part of the world. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RICHARD MURPHY, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO SYRIA: And there's also, remember, a very strong tradition throughout this region of sanctuary, and that's what has to be resolved. To the extent there are leading members of the Baath from Iraq, from the family of Saddam Hussein, they have come claiming sanctuary and Syria has to resolve how hot they are to handle and how much to honor the old traditions of giving sanctuary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MINTIER: There is a list of 55 people. Two have apparently been taken off the list because they have either been captured or turned themselves in. So if there are 53 people left, we expect to hear possibly in the coming days, maybe not, from Central Command, if, indeed, more people have been taken into custody -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Thanks very much.
Tom Mintier reporting live from CENTCOM in Doha, Qatar.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
