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Day Five in Baghdad
Aired December 02, 2002 - 14:06 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: In day five of the weapons hunt in Iraq, U.N. inspectors hit the heart of Baghdad, visiting a factory where Scud missiles used to be made.
CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now from Baghdad at this hour.
I understand that you have some new information -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Marty. Earlier on, we were reporting that the inspection at that site was the longest the inspectors have put in at one site so far, over six hours. Now, perhaps we're beginning to get an idea of why the U.N. has released this statement. And it says that some of the tagged equipment -- that was equipment that previous weapons inspection teams in the 1990s had marked at that site. Some of that had gone, was not there.
Also, some of the monitoring cameras the U.N. team had put in back in the 1990s, some of those cameras weren't there.
Now, the U.N. inspectors asked the Iraqi officials at the site what had happened to that equipment, the Iraqi official saying that some of it was damaged in bombing in 1998.
Now, the deputy director of the site there told us that that particular factory had been hit by 18 different missiles in that short period of bombing towards the end of December 1998.
The Iraqis also saying that some items of equipment had been removed and taken to another site.
Now, the U.N. followed up. They said, OK, let's go and see that. Now, their work on this day, they had already come to the end of their workday. It appears as if the U.N. inspectors will be going out on another day to follow up, find out where this equipment is, track down what it is the Iraqis have been telling them where it's gone, make sure it's there, cross it off their documentation list -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Nic, let me see if I got this right. If the equipment is tagged and then moved by the Iraqis, that is some sort of a violation?
ROBERTSON: If the U.N. teams had been here, if the Iraqis had wanted to move anything, they would have had to tell the U.N. teams. Now, with the U.N. not being here for four years, that's that period of openness. Now, that four years is something the Iraqis will be accounting for in this declaration on December the 8th. So, likely the U.N. should be expecting to see details about all those movements, of all of that monitored equipment in that final declaration. Perhaps the U.N. teams getting a little bit ahead of the game here, because that declaration hasn't been made. Certainly under the previous inspection regime, the U.N. would have had to have been notified every time a piece of marked, tagged equipment had been moved.
Now, it appears that all of the U.N. teams are wanting to do is follow up and check up where it is now, make sure that what they're being told by Iraqi officials can be verified by these teams -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Understood. Nic Robertson live in Baghdad -- we 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 December 2, 2002 - 14:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: In day five of the weapons hunt in Iraq, U.N. inspectors hit the heart of Baghdad, visiting a factory where Scud missiles used to be made.
CNN senior international correspondent Nic Robertson joins us now from Baghdad at this hour.
I understand that you have some new information -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Marty. Earlier on, we were reporting that the inspection at that site was the longest the inspectors have put in at one site so far, over six hours. Now, perhaps we're beginning to get an idea of why the U.N. has released this statement. And it says that some of the tagged equipment -- that was equipment that previous weapons inspection teams in the 1990s had marked at that site. Some of that had gone, was not there.
Also, some of the monitoring cameras the U.N. team had put in back in the 1990s, some of those cameras weren't there.
Now, the U.N. inspectors asked the Iraqi officials at the site what had happened to that equipment, the Iraqi official saying that some of it was damaged in bombing in 1998.
Now, the deputy director of the site there told us that that particular factory had been hit by 18 different missiles in that short period of bombing towards the end of December 1998.
The Iraqis also saying that some items of equipment had been removed and taken to another site.
Now, the U.N. followed up. They said, OK, let's go and see that. Now, their work on this day, they had already come to the end of their workday. It appears as if the U.N. inspectors will be going out on another day to follow up, find out where this equipment is, track down what it is the Iraqis have been telling them where it's gone, make sure it's there, cross it off their documentation list -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Nic, let me see if I got this right. If the equipment is tagged and then moved by the Iraqis, that is some sort of a violation?
ROBERTSON: If the U.N. teams had been here, if the Iraqis had wanted to move anything, they would have had to tell the U.N. teams. Now, with the U.N. not being here for four years, that's that period of openness. Now, that four years is something the Iraqis will be accounting for in this declaration on December the 8th. So, likely the U.N. should be expecting to see details about all those movements, of all of that monitored equipment in that final declaration. Perhaps the U.N. teams getting a little bit ahead of the game here, because that declaration hasn't been made. Certainly under the previous inspection regime, the U.N. would have had to have been notified every time a piece of marked, tagged equipment had been moved.
Now, it appears that all of the U.N. teams are wanting to do is follow up and check up where it is now, make sure that what they're being told by Iraqi officials can be verified by these teams -- Marty.
SAVIDGE: Understood. Nic Robertson live in Baghdad -- we 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.
