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Colin Powell, Kofi Annan Discuss Iraq Security Concerns
Aired August 21, 2003 - 11:06 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Sticking with the international news right now, because there is so much of it to report this morning, Secretary of State Colin Powell is at the United Nations today, and he's hoping to get more nations there to sign up for security duty in Iraq.
Powell's mission today takes on new significance, after a truck bomb killed at least 20 people in U.N. offices in Baghdad this week.
So, let's bring in our correspondent, Michael Okwu, who is standing by at U.N. headquarters this morning. Michael has been listening to all of the talks from the diplomats there this morning.
Michael -- what's the very latest?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the very latest, Leon, is more emotion here at the United Nations, really an extraordinary day after Tuesday's attacks. This place is really been a boil burner, really.
The secretary of state meeting with the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, this morning, but before that, he actually addressed his U.N. staffers -- in fact, addressed some 45,000 staffers around the world -- telling them to steel themselves, to brace themselves for more bad days in the days ahead.
Twenty three people dead, he said. He also said that many of those have not been identified. He said that the death toll is expected to rise, because many of those people are in critical condition, and there are still others who have not been pulled from the rubble.
Here's the secretary-general.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Our hearts are heavy with loss. Our senses ream from the sights and sounds of one of the darkest days in the history of the United Nations. Even now, two days later, the image continues to come at us. On television, the image of our colleagues carried out on stretchers from Canal Hotel in ruins. In our minds, the image of the same colleagues as we remember them, dynamic men and women in the prime of their lives, active, intense, full of hope and laughter, of compassion, above all, of determination to make things better.
(END VIDEO CLIP) OKWU: Now, earlier in the day, the secretary-general met with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell; this, at the request of the secretary of state. U.S. officials say that they wanted to show solidarity between the United States and the United Nations, but certainly on the table a possible new U.N. resolution that would call for a multinational police and security force on the ground in Iraq. The secretary of state saying that it should not be a problem for other member nations to come forward, because there are already more than a few states in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: To stay in Iraq and to make sure that the promise that has been brought to Iraq by the elimination of the Hussein regime will be achieved, will be made available to every Iraqi citizen. I am very pleased that the secretary-general reaffirmed that the United Nations would be staying in Baghdad, and we'll be working with the United Nations representatives in Baghdad on security matters. We want the humanitarian workers and other workers in Iraq -- reconstruction workers and others -- to have a safe environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: There's been talk about division at the United Nations and whether or not those divisions are still, in fact, real. The fact is that India, France, Russia, countries like these, and Germany, have been saying all along for the past few weeks that they do not want to send a multinational force into the country without authorization from the Security Council.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is in town today. He is scheduled to meet with the secretary-general this afternoon, and he has been pushing for the last week or so for a greater U.N. mandate -- Leon.
HARRIS: Michael Okwu at the U.N. -- thanks, Michael. It's going to be a busy day there.
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 August 21, 2003 - 11:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Sticking with the international news right now, because there is so much of it to report this morning, Secretary of State Colin Powell is at the United Nations today, and he's hoping to get more nations there to sign up for security duty in Iraq.
Powell's mission today takes on new significance, after a truck bomb killed at least 20 people in U.N. offices in Baghdad this week.
So, let's bring in our correspondent, Michael Okwu, who is standing by at U.N. headquarters this morning. Michael has been listening to all of the talks from the diplomats there this morning.
Michael -- what's the very latest?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the very latest, Leon, is more emotion here at the United Nations, really an extraordinary day after Tuesday's attacks. This place is really been a boil burner, really.
The secretary of state meeting with the secretary-general, Kofi Annan, this morning, but before that, he actually addressed his U.N. staffers -- in fact, addressed some 45,000 staffers around the world -- telling them to steel themselves, to brace themselves for more bad days in the days ahead.
Twenty three people dead, he said. He also said that many of those have not been identified. He said that the death toll is expected to rise, because many of those people are in critical condition, and there are still others who have not been pulled from the rubble.
Here's the secretary-general.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: Our hearts are heavy with loss. Our senses ream from the sights and sounds of one of the darkest days in the history of the United Nations. Even now, two days later, the image continues to come at us. On television, the image of our colleagues carried out on stretchers from Canal Hotel in ruins. In our minds, the image of the same colleagues as we remember them, dynamic men and women in the prime of their lives, active, intense, full of hope and laughter, of compassion, above all, of determination to make things better.
(END VIDEO CLIP) OKWU: Now, earlier in the day, the secretary-general met with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell; this, at the request of the secretary of state. U.S. officials say that they wanted to show solidarity between the United States and the United Nations, but certainly on the table a possible new U.N. resolution that would call for a multinational police and security force on the ground in Iraq. The secretary of state saying that it should not be a problem for other member nations to come forward, because there are already more than a few states in Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLIN POWELL, SECRETARY OF STATE: To stay in Iraq and to make sure that the promise that has been brought to Iraq by the elimination of the Hussein regime will be achieved, will be made available to every Iraqi citizen. I am very pleased that the secretary-general reaffirmed that the United Nations would be staying in Baghdad, and we'll be working with the United Nations representatives in Baghdad on security matters. We want the humanitarian workers and other workers in Iraq -- reconstruction workers and others -- to have a safe environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: There's been talk about division at the United Nations and whether or not those divisions are still, in fact, real. The fact is that India, France, Russia, countries like these, and Germany, have been saying all along for the past few weeks that they do not want to send a multinational force into the country without authorization from the Security Council.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw is in town today. He is scheduled to meet with the secretary-general this afternoon, and he has been pushing for the last week or so for a greater U.N. mandate -- Leon.
HARRIS: Michael Okwu at the U.N. -- thanks, Michael. It's going to be a busy day there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
