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CNN Live Saturday
Blix, El-Baradei Issue Warning to Hussein
Aired January 18, 2003 - 16:10 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.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. chief weapons inspectors have an ominous warning for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein today. It came earlier today in an exclusive interview with CNN Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth and he joins us now from Larnaca, Cyprus. Richard, what did you hear?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, these leading weapons inspectors are giving Iraq another last chance opportunity to "come clean" and to give any information they have on any program of weapons of mass destruction.
Chief United Nations Weapons Inspector for Iraq, Dr. Hans Blix, arrived here shortly before Mohamed El-Baradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Basically, the International Atomic Energy Agency is saying that lost in the shuffle of the chemical warheads, 12 empty ones that were discovered on Thursday, is that they took several thousand pages of documents out of the home of one of those Iraqi scientists, one experienced in nuclear affairs. I asked Dr. El-Baradei what's the significance of this discovery?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED EL-BARADEI, IAEA CHIEF: We have gotten something like 3,000 pages of original documents in Arabic. We are going through the translation of these documents right now. They appear to be relevant to an enrichment technology, laser enrichment technology.
It's something we knew about in the past, the document relating to the late '80s. However, we haven't received these original documents before and that precisely refers to the point we keep emphasizing that Iraq should be proactive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: El-Baradei told me that January 27, the day that he and Dr. Blix brief the Security Council, the time before that is the last ditch chance for Iraq to give whatever evidence it may be hiding or withholding or has misplaced. I also asked Hans Blix how much time he's going to need for more inspections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. ARMS INSPECTOR: I think the answer is very simple. If the Iraqis really cooperate very actively with us, then it will be a short time. That was what was anticipated in 1991. They did not actively cooperate then and therefore it dragged out and the same thing could happen now. So, what we are looking for in this tense situation is that they, as Mohamed says, change gear and that they actively cooperate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Critics in the U.S. may say that's not the point of the resolution that if Iraq is not cooperating that shouldn't mean that the weapons inspectors should be granted more time to continue their investigative work.
One other point, Anderson, today in Iraq, U.N. weapons inspections officials canceled a planned helicopter flight into the northern no-fly zone, deep into the northern no-fly zone, because Iraqi helicopters, according to the government, would follow them in, which does not happen often and the U.N. felt that presented a safety hazard because the U.S. might try to shoot down the Iraqi helicopters and the U.N. didn't want to get caught in that crossfire -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Richard Roth live in Cyprus thanks very much -- Carol.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Anderson, the documents that Richard was just talking about found Thursday in the home of that Iraqi scientist are certainly adding to the U.N. inspectors' suspicions obviously.
Well, senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Baghdad following the story. Nic, what is the reaction there to the justification that these inspectors are saying in how they went through the scientist's home?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well that scientist, Hassan Al Basri, appeared just a few hours after Mohamed El-Baradei made those statements that he, that the documents found at this scientist's house were in fact original documents and very important to the U.N.
Now the scientist told us that these were documents, many of them he said just his own private documents. Some he said were studies from university, second year exam papers for physics students. He said that in amongst those documents there was a research project where Iraq had researched laser isotope separation, a technique that can be used in part of the production of a nuclear weapon.
However he said that this researcher concluded in 1998, 1988 rather, very significant that, and that the accounting of this had been made and given to the U.N. already in 1991 in what is known in U.N. parlance the full, final, and complete declaration, a declaration of all of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in 1991.
Now, the scientist Hassan Al Basri said that he would be quite happy to sit down with Mohamed El-Baradei and go through with him, line-by-line, page-by-page, the documentation he had in his house with the declaration that the U.N. already has. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN AL BASRI, IRAQI SCIENTIST: Mohamed El-Baradei was so in a hurry, he gave such a statement which is not true, totally not true, because as I said I can sit with Mohamed in the presence of media if he wants with him or with any inspection team he will send and I will send and I will go page-by-page with him and to see how these reports align perfectly, what we have stated in the other CD.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now, Al Basri also said during the process of the investigation at his house, his wife who is already sick was intimidated. He said that the U.N. had tried Mafia-style tactics by hinting to him that his wife could get treatment outside of Iraq and he might be able to come too, something he took as a meaning of the U.N. that he could come out of Iraq for questioning by them, something he flatly says he won't do. He said also that his children were scared and frightened through the whole U.N. inspection process -- Carol.
LIN: Nic, any reaction that the scientists has gotten at least from Mohamed El-Baradei to the offer to meet one-on-one and to go through all the paperwork together?
ROBERTSON: So far nothing. Now, Mohamed El-Baradei and Hans Blix will be arriving here in a little over 12 hours. They will have meetings with Iraqi officials. It's not clear whether or not this scientist, Al Basri, will be amongst those officials who will sit down with Blix and Baradei when they get to Baghdad. Certainly the offer stands and it seemed, it came across here as a very impassioned plea from a scientist who wanted to clear his name so to speak.
LIN: All right, thank you very much Nic Robertson reporting live in Baghdad for us.
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 January 18, 2003 - 16:10 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. chief weapons inspectors have an ominous warning for Iraqi President Saddam Hussein today. It came earlier today in an exclusive interview with CNN Senior U.N. Correspondent Richard Roth and he joins us now from Larnaca, Cyprus. Richard, what did you hear?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SENIOR U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Well, these leading weapons inspectors are giving Iraq another last chance opportunity to "come clean" and to give any information they have on any program of weapons of mass destruction.
Chief United Nations Weapons Inspector for Iraq, Dr. Hans Blix, arrived here shortly before Mohamed El-Baradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Basically, the International Atomic Energy Agency is saying that lost in the shuffle of the chemical warheads, 12 empty ones that were discovered on Thursday, is that they took several thousand pages of documents out of the home of one of those Iraqi scientists, one experienced in nuclear affairs. I asked Dr. El-Baradei what's the significance of this discovery?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOHAMED EL-BARADEI, IAEA CHIEF: We have gotten something like 3,000 pages of original documents in Arabic. We are going through the translation of these documents right now. They appear to be relevant to an enrichment technology, laser enrichment technology.
It's something we knew about in the past, the document relating to the late '80s. However, we haven't received these original documents before and that precisely refers to the point we keep emphasizing that Iraq should be proactive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: El-Baradei told me that January 27, the day that he and Dr. Blix brief the Security Council, the time before that is the last ditch chance for Iraq to give whatever evidence it may be hiding or withholding or has misplaced. I also asked Hans Blix how much time he's going to need for more inspections.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. ARMS INSPECTOR: I think the answer is very simple. If the Iraqis really cooperate very actively with us, then it will be a short time. That was what was anticipated in 1991. They did not actively cooperate then and therefore it dragged out and the same thing could happen now. So, what we are looking for in this tense situation is that they, as Mohamed says, change gear and that they actively cooperate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Critics in the U.S. may say that's not the point of the resolution that if Iraq is not cooperating that shouldn't mean that the weapons inspectors should be granted more time to continue their investigative work.
One other point, Anderson, today in Iraq, U.N. weapons inspections officials canceled a planned helicopter flight into the northern no-fly zone, deep into the northern no-fly zone, because Iraqi helicopters, according to the government, would follow them in, which does not happen often and the U.N. felt that presented a safety hazard because the U.S. might try to shoot down the Iraqi helicopters and the U.N. didn't want to get caught in that crossfire -- Anderson.
COOPER: All right, Richard Roth live in Cyprus thanks very much -- Carol.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Anderson, the documents that Richard was just talking about found Thursday in the home of that Iraqi scientist are certainly adding to the U.N. inspectors' suspicions obviously.
Well, senior international correspondent Nic Robertson is in Baghdad following the story. Nic, what is the reaction there to the justification that these inspectors are saying in how they went through the scientist's home?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well that scientist, Hassan Al Basri, appeared just a few hours after Mohamed El-Baradei made those statements that he, that the documents found at this scientist's house were in fact original documents and very important to the U.N.
Now the scientist told us that these were documents, many of them he said just his own private documents. Some he said were studies from university, second year exam papers for physics students. He said that in amongst those documents there was a research project where Iraq had researched laser isotope separation, a technique that can be used in part of the production of a nuclear weapon.
However he said that this researcher concluded in 1998, 1988 rather, very significant that, and that the accounting of this had been made and given to the U.N. already in 1991 in what is known in U.N. parlance the full, final, and complete declaration, a declaration of all of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction in 1991.
Now, the scientist Hassan Al Basri said that he would be quite happy to sit down with Mohamed El-Baradei and go through with him, line-by-line, page-by-page, the documentation he had in his house with the declaration that the U.N. already has. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HASSAN AL BASRI, IRAQI SCIENTIST: Mohamed El-Baradei was so in a hurry, he gave such a statement which is not true, totally not true, because as I said I can sit with Mohamed in the presence of media if he wants with him or with any inspection team he will send and I will send and I will go page-by-page with him and to see how these reports align perfectly, what we have stated in the other CD.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now, Al Basri also said during the process of the investigation at his house, his wife who is already sick was intimidated. He said that the U.N. had tried Mafia-style tactics by hinting to him that his wife could get treatment outside of Iraq and he might be able to come too, something he took as a meaning of the U.N. that he could come out of Iraq for questioning by them, something he flatly says he won't do. He said also that his children were scared and frightened through the whole U.N. inspection process -- Carol.
LIN: Nic, any reaction that the scientists has gotten at least from Mohamed El-Baradei to the offer to meet one-on-one and to go through all the paperwork together?
ROBERTSON: So far nothing. Now, Mohamed El-Baradei and Hans Blix will be arriving here in a little over 12 hours. They will have meetings with Iraqi officials. It's not clear whether or not this scientist, Al Basri, will be amongst those officials who will sit down with Blix and Baradei when they get to Baghdad. Certainly the offer stands and it seemed, it came across here as a very impassioned plea from a scientist who wanted to clear his name so to speak.
LIN: All right, thank you very much Nic Robertson reporting live in Baghdad for us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
