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CNN Live Saturday
Iraqi Response to New U.N. Resolution Expected in Few Days
Aired November 09, 2002 - 17:03 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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Word from inside Iraq is that it will be a few days before there's an official response to the U.N. resolution but already the Iraqi media are calling the Security Council bad and unjust. CNN's Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): For those who hadn't heard it on foreign radio, word broke in the official newspapers the U.N. Security Council had passed a resolution, an unjustified one that followed weeks of U.S. pressure and blackmail, the paper said. But in Cairo on the sidelines of the Arab League, the first comment by a senior Iraqi official described the U.N. move as a victory that halted U.S. threats of war.
NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): America and Israel are waging the new imperialist invasion and re-threatening aggression is part of an imperialist plan to re-impose imperialism on the Arab nation according to a Zionist plan put by Sharon. Therefore, when we see facts in front of us like this, we expect the Arab countries to act to protect its security.
This threat doesn't only threaten Iraq's security, but threatens the security of Arab states. We in Iraq will fight in defense of our land, honor, stance, interest, freedom and sovereignty, but what is demanded from all the sons of the Arab community is to be aware of the Zionist plan.
ARRAF: Quite a shift after days of condemning the draft resolution and one more indication that Iraq is gearing up to accept it. It would be the first time U.N. weapons inspectors are back in Iraq in four years. For some people the government message that Iraq wants the inspectors back hasn't quite filtered through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If inspection teams come to my home and say we want to search your house, I'll shoot them and kill them.
ARRAF: The incentive for Iraq apart from avoiding war, if all goes well with the inspections, crippling U.N. trade sanctions would be lifted. The Iraqi dinar rose slightly on news of the resolution but it's still about 2,000 dinars to the dollar. A thousand dinars will buy you a taxi ride. Before the Gulf War, it would have bought a used car.
ARRAF (on camera): For the Iraqi government, the choice seems pretty clear, accept the resolution and everything that goes along with it or risk almost certain attack, but it won't be easy to accept or to explain to the Iraqi people.
Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Days>
Aired November 9, 2002 - 17:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Word from inside Iraq is that it will be a few days before there's an official response to the U.N. resolution but already the Iraqi media are calling the Security Council bad and unjust. CNN's Baghdad Bureau Chief Jane Arraf has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF (voice over): For those who hadn't heard it on foreign radio, word broke in the official newspapers the U.N. Security Council had passed a resolution, an unjustified one that followed weeks of U.S. pressure and blackmail, the paper said. But in Cairo on the sidelines of the Arab League, the first comment by a senior Iraqi official described the U.N. move as a victory that halted U.S. threats of war.
NAJI SABRI, IRAQI FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): America and Israel are waging the new imperialist invasion and re-threatening aggression is part of an imperialist plan to re-impose imperialism on the Arab nation according to a Zionist plan put by Sharon. Therefore, when we see facts in front of us like this, we expect the Arab countries to act to protect its security.
This threat doesn't only threaten Iraq's security, but threatens the security of Arab states. We in Iraq will fight in defense of our land, honor, stance, interest, freedom and sovereignty, but what is demanded from all the sons of the Arab community is to be aware of the Zionist plan.
ARRAF: Quite a shift after days of condemning the draft resolution and one more indication that Iraq is gearing up to accept it. It would be the first time U.N. weapons inspectors are back in Iraq in four years. For some people the government message that Iraq wants the inspectors back hasn't quite filtered through.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): If inspection teams come to my home and say we want to search your house, I'll shoot them and kill them.
ARRAF: The incentive for Iraq apart from avoiding war, if all goes well with the inspections, crippling U.N. trade sanctions would be lifted. The Iraqi dinar rose slightly on news of the resolution but it's still about 2,000 dinars to the dollar. A thousand dinars will buy you a taxi ride. Before the Gulf War, it would have bought a used car.
ARRAF (on camera): For the Iraqi government, the choice seems pretty clear, accept the resolution and everything that goes along with it or risk almost certain attack, but it won't be easy to accept or to explain to the Iraqi people.
Jane Arraf, CNN, Baghdad.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
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