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Iraq Invites U.N. Inspectors to Baghdad

Aired August 01, 2002 - 19:41   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.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: From that story, there's another major development unfolding, another breaking news story in New York at the United Nations. Let's go to New York. Our senior United Nations correspondent Richard Roth is joining us now live. Richard, tell us all about it.

RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR UNITED NATIONS CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, Iraq is inviting United Nations weapons inspectors to come to Baghdad for talks. The inspectors have not been inside Iraq since December of 1998. A third round of discussions between U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri failed to break any new ground on the return of weapons inspectors in July at talks in Vienna.

There is no reaction so far from the U.N. or the weapons inspection agency now called UNMAVIC (ph). A letter obtained by Reuters from the Iraqi government to weapons inspector chief Hans Blix says these would be technical talks, quote, "to establish a solid basis for the next stage of monitoring and inspection activities and to move forward to that stage." It could be a ploy to stall or it could be a potential roadmap to a breakthrough. It is too soon to tell. Right now, Iraq wants to talk with U.N. technical experts about disarmament in Baghdad -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And, Richard, as you well know, it's been almost four years since those U.N. weapons inspection teams were in Iraq. But in recent months, and you know a lot more about this than I do, correct me if I'm wrong, the new team has been getting ready to go back. Are they ready to go? And how much notice would they need to begin to resume those inspections?

ROTH: They would need several weeks to get together. They would also have to have parameters to where they would go, what kind of access, what they would need. The U.N. security council eventually has to certify that Iraq has complied with disarmament. They would get that through the inspectors. That would take several months. But they've been training inspectors. They have several new hundred staff members ready to go. It would just take some time.

BLITZER: And Hans Blix, a veteran of these kinds of inspections, getting ready to see if he and his team will be heading back to Iraq. Richard Roth, thanks for breaking that story here on CNN. Thanks for all your good reporting.

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