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Iraq Under Deadline to Avoid War
Aired November 11, 2002 - 13:44 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq is under a deadline to avoid a war. An emergency session of Iraq's parliament has been meeting in Baghdad. Lawmakers have to respond by Friday to a tough U.N. resolution on arms inspections.
CNN's Jane Arraf joins us now live from Baghdad with the latest.
The talk has been very tough, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: It certainly has, Martin, but that actually doesn't mean that at the end of all this tough talk, they won't actually say yes.
Now this parliament session was an emergency session called by President Saddam Hussein. And it's meant to discuss this resolution.
Now, what we've been hearing from start to finish from almost every speaker is this is a really bad resolution that's dangerous for Iraq and dangerous for world peace, in essence. List after list of speaker gave reasons as to why they should reject it, that it had impossible conditions, that it meant inspectors could go anywhere, even underground buildings, could freeze all activity of any building they wanted to, that they were inspecting.
But they all said, a lot of them, that they would leave it up to their leadership to decide, and that is what they will do. They are likely to recommend or reject tomorrow, possibly reject as well. And leave it up to the Revolution Command Council, which is the body that would make the final decision, which is still expected to be acceptance of this very tough resolution -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Jane, how are the Iraqi people following this debate?
ARRAF: Well, certainly with great interest. But what they tend to follow is not so much the developments inside the country, which they seem to feel are really a bit predictable, but the developments outside the Security Council and other places. And people are very tuned in here to what's happening, because it's essentially a matter of life or death.
Now, this evening, as the parliament was meeting, it was telecast live on Iraqi Television. So some people watched it at home, and others gathered in cafes to see what their members of parliament would say.
What they heard, as we mentioned, was a list of denunciations, but most of the people here seem to feel that at the end of the day, the weapons inspectors will come back. They don't feel, though, that that will be a complete solution, or that their problems will be over. Indeed, a lot of them feel that would just be the beginning of their problems.
SAVIDGE: Jane, give us an idea, just how remarkable is it for the entire parliament to gather and discuss as they're doing?
ARRAF: Well, it is frequently called to discuss issues of national importance. One of the remarkable things is the way this is being treated. This is quite a different position, the possible acceptance of the Security Council resolution that Iraq had been taking.
Now, inspectors were here for seven years, and during those seven years and afterwards, they were essentially portrayed by the Iraqi government, as spies who did -- who wanted nothing but to harm Iraq. Now the government is basically having to say that it's going to let these people back in. It is quite a departure -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Jane Arraf, live from Baghdad. Thank you.
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 November 11, 2002 - 13:44 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: Iraq is under a deadline to avoid a war. An emergency session of Iraq's parliament has been meeting in Baghdad. Lawmakers have to respond by Friday to a tough U.N. resolution on arms inspections.
CNN's Jane Arraf joins us now live from Baghdad with the latest.
The talk has been very tough, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN BAGHDAD BUREAU CHIEF: It certainly has, Martin, but that actually doesn't mean that at the end of all this tough talk, they won't actually say yes.
Now this parliament session was an emergency session called by President Saddam Hussein. And it's meant to discuss this resolution.
Now, what we've been hearing from start to finish from almost every speaker is this is a really bad resolution that's dangerous for Iraq and dangerous for world peace, in essence. List after list of speaker gave reasons as to why they should reject it, that it had impossible conditions, that it meant inspectors could go anywhere, even underground buildings, could freeze all activity of any building they wanted to, that they were inspecting.
But they all said, a lot of them, that they would leave it up to their leadership to decide, and that is what they will do. They are likely to recommend or reject tomorrow, possibly reject as well. And leave it up to the Revolution Command Council, which is the body that would make the final decision, which is still expected to be acceptance of this very tough resolution -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Jane, how are the Iraqi people following this debate?
ARRAF: Well, certainly with great interest. But what they tend to follow is not so much the developments inside the country, which they seem to feel are really a bit predictable, but the developments outside the Security Council and other places. And people are very tuned in here to what's happening, because it's essentially a matter of life or death.
Now, this evening, as the parliament was meeting, it was telecast live on Iraqi Television. So some people watched it at home, and others gathered in cafes to see what their members of parliament would say.
What they heard, as we mentioned, was a list of denunciations, but most of the people here seem to feel that at the end of the day, the weapons inspectors will come back. They don't feel, though, that that will be a complete solution, or that their problems will be over. Indeed, a lot of them feel that would just be the beginning of their problems.
SAVIDGE: Jane, give us an idea, just how remarkable is it for the entire parliament to gather and discuss as they're doing?
ARRAF: Well, it is frequently called to discuss issues of national importance. One of the remarkable things is the way this is being treated. This is quite a different position, the possible acceptance of the Security Council resolution that Iraq had been taking.
Now, inspectors were here for seven years, and during those seven years and afterwards, they were essentially portrayed by the Iraqi government, as spies who did -- who wanted nothing but to harm Iraq. Now the government is basically having to say that it's going to let these people back in. It is quite a departure -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Jane Arraf, live from Baghdad. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
