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Blix Says Parts of Iraq Declaration Will Be Withheld for Security

Aired December 06, 2002 - 13:25   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. chief weapons inspector, he's been meeting with advisers behind closed doors, with regard to those thousands of pages of documents, from Iraq, stating what type of weapons of mass destruction that it has, if, in deed, it does.
Just moments ago, like I said, we, as you've been seeing, we heard from the Iraqi Ambassador to the U.N. Mohammed Al-Douri making it very clear to reporters that Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction. So, there in lies the $1 million question. What will be in the thousands of pages of documents that will be handed over tomorrow?

ALFONSO VALDIVIESO, PRES. U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL: : ... or be sensitive. In order to ensure the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and of the information. For most of the Security Council -- members of the Security Council will meet next week, to decide on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the declaration.

The document will not be available for some days until this procedure is carried out and mechanical and logistical arrangements are made.

Is there any question?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

VALDIVIESO: According to the that information we have, a declaration is going to be handed to (UNINTELLIGIBLE). (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as I said, according to the decision that was taken by the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will act as a depository. So, that's the case.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

VALDIVIESO: You have to reanalyze first -- just to see the sensitivity. And then, the council will have to have meetings to decide on that.

QUESTION: Mr. Ambassador, have you been given any indication about how long that process of analysis is going to take?

VALDIVIESO: No, not yet.

QUESTION: You have no idea at all? VALDIVIESO: You have to be, for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Mr. Blix.

QUESTION: Will the same procedure hold for the copy that's going to the international atomic energy agency? Or are they going to have...

VALDIVIESO: Yes. It's going to have to be the same procedure. They will report to us before we decide the next steps.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

VALDIVIESO: You see, there are sensitive areas. Or non- political, proliferation (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It could be decided, according to international treaties.

QUESTION: The Iraqi ambassador said he would be bringing a copy to you at the Security Council. Would you refuse to accept that?

VALDIVIESO: No. What I'm saying is the decision that was taken by the council, to use (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as the depository of the council. That's a way to comply with the resolution from our side. So the copy of the council is going to be to be in the hands of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Are you not going to receive it?

VALDIVIESO: I don't know. Maybe he can take the copy.

QUESTION: Will all members of the council get a copy of this?

VALDIVIESO: It depends, as I said on logistics. Maybe it has to be translated.

QUESTION: All members will get it at the same time?

VALDIVIESO: I think so, yes.

QUESTION: Tell us what kinds of concerns he has about what might be in this declaration. Are we talking about, for example, possibly recipes for chemical and biological weapons? What other kinds of things are you concerned about?

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTORS: Yes, I think for the first time, the council was discussing the risks of releasing parts of this declaration that might help to achieve proliferation of nuclear or biological or chemical weapons.

And the council is fully aware that as the highest authority in U.N. system for security, they must make sure that they -- it self respects the conventions, the treaties, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), the CWC and biocondention (ph).

And hence, it has asked that the IEA examine the nuclear declaration to see if there are any such parts and in that case, to advise the council that these should be withheld from any distribution. And similar that the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will go through the text and see if there's any parts that relate to biological, chemical weapons or anything else that touch upon (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or any other very sensitive things that we would advise the council that these should not be circulated to anybody.

Now this may take a little time. And before we get to that question, which was an important one, where the council was unanimous, there is the mechanical handling of it. And as the president said, the council has determined that we shall, as a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) subsidiary body of the Security Council, will receive copies, the part which relates to our work and which the Iraq has to transmit to us in Baghdad.

And we'll will also ask that the subsidiary body receive the declaration as it is addressed to the Security Council. And we will bring it here. No member of the council is going to get it on Monday.

But we will then assure some mechanics in this. There will be large parts that will be Arabic. And as we understand it now, it is unlikely that anything will be in CD Roms. We'll have to achieve -- obtain that. That's a bit of mechanical work to have a translated. We have translators standing by (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

We would also then take a first look at what could be risky from the point of view of proliferation. We are asked by the council, I'm asked by the council to come to the president and to see the council early next week and to tell them what is our reaction. What is our advice on the further mechanical handling.

Closer assessment of what it contains, some document that may be 10,000 pages, of course, it will take a little more while -- a little longer.

QUESTION: Is that how long you hear the document is? That it may be 10,000 pages?

BLIX: Yes. Something like that, yes.

QUESTION: Can you tell us, once you made this primary assessment on proliferation issues, will you set a single date to return to the council, and review it then, as a whole, this declaration?

BLIX: No. You will not get a date at the moment. The council says they want me to come back perhaps even on Tuesday next week, when we've had a first glance of it. We have to have some glance of it and see how much needs to be translated and so forth.

QUESTION: Isn't this procedure delaying the analysis of the report by other national governments who might be better equipped to analyze it than your 15 inspectors up there?

BLIX: I think all the governors in the council are aware that they should not have access to anything that anyone else doesn't have access to. So If any parts relate would be proliferation prone, none of them would like to have it. But we of course will have to report to the council the criteria upon which we are advising that we should withhold any parts.

QUESTION: Are you saying that this report will not go to any of the Security Council members until you've had a chance to do an initial assessment and meet with the council and have the council make a decision on whether to release or not?

BLIX: The initial attitude of the council that no one should have access to anything that could be used for proliferation.

QUESTION: The Americans are saying that they have strong evidence that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction. Did you ask him to see the evidence to help you in your work? Or do you feel the pressure on you, now, turned on by the Americans to justify, proof- worthy to receive just evidence?

BLIX: We would like to have as much information as to any member, state as to evidence they may have on weapons of mass destruction, any particular sites. We are inspectors. We can go to sites. They may be listening to what's going on in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And they may have a other sources of information.

We can go to the sites legitimately and legally. That's what we would like to have. Of course. It's written in the resolutions. We tell not only the Americans but the others exactly the same thing.

QUESTION: Thank you, Dr. Blix. One thing the Iraqis are saying is these declarations will have something new. From your point of view, what would be new and significant? Secondly, on the issue of the administration saying it has evidence, when do you expect such evidence to be in your hands? Is it after the declarations, after the analysis or immediately upon looking at it?

BLIX: If they were to give it before the declaration, they would have to hurry up. It's Friday today. I don't think that's likely. But if they have evidence, it's in their decision when, at what moment will they present it. We would be grateful to have any information about sites to go to any other information for that matter.

What was your first question?

QUESTION: My first question was, the Iraqis are saying that these declarations would have something new. From your point of view, what would be new and significant?

BLIX: If they declare some weapons of mass destruction programs that would be new. Wouldn't it?

QUESTION: The fact is they say they do not have such weapons. Other than that, Dr. Blix, what would be...

BLIX: I understand they're also saying there may be some news in the duel use sector. And the council has -- in Resolution 1441 they have asked for three areas. First, our weapons of mass destruction program, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) items. The second is the dual use areas. We have received a lot of that in the backlog of declarations, up to last summer. And we have been analyzing that.

The third, which is new, is also information about production or activities, which are claimed to be for peaceful purposes in the sector of nuclear, biological and chemical. This has not been done before. We'll have to go through. That will be new, all of it.

QUESTION: What's your perspective on the Iraqi accusation that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is engaged in spying? And the on the skeptical of the Bush administration that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is not 100 percent capable of uncovering Iraqi weapons if there are such weapons?

BLIX: On the spying, we have been consistent. There have been reports about what went on in the past. And the Security Council certainly intended when (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was set up that this should be different from the past. We have recruited people differently. I have declared very explicitly if I were to find anyone who wore two hats, I would ask them to leave.

We cannot give 100 percent guarantees in this. No one can. But we will certainly take steps to get rid of any such person.

QUESTION: What about the Iraqi (OFF-MIKE).

BLIX: Well let me take the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) first. They -- I think the teams that we have had there, some 11 inspectors, has been composed in such a way in as the U.N. would like it to be. I don't see any reason to criticize it. They are people with perfect integrity. They've done a good, professional job.

I will also say that there have been no impediments placed in our way. We have had prompt access to sites all around. I'm not using the word cooperation because it's a little early. If they were hiding anything, that wouldn't be cooperation.

We haven't seen evidence of such a thing. But it's different when media goes in after us and they look at empty spaces. We go in with instruments, perhaps taking samples of enivironmentals and testers and so forth. It takes some time before that is analyzed.

So I hope they will come out negatively. But it's a little too early to say that.

Now the U.S. criticism. I have not seen any criticism from the U.S. government. We are servants of governments. And I was a servant of 130 governments in the IEA. I never had any criticism from these governments in the IEA, about the way that we handled Iraq. I do not see any criticism by any government so far, how we have handled this. On contrary, I have very warming and very supporting words from members of the council during the session.

QUESTION: The administration is saying Iraq is too big a country for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to be able to uncover all the sites. BLIX: Any country is too big for a -- inspectors to comb through every square centimeter. You need to have information. And information comes from different sources. They can come from satellites, they come from defectors, they come even from open media. And they come from governments that may have intelligence about sites.

So we will have to draw on all that. If you don't have information, then you cannot systematically go through. So in this sense it's true.

QUESTION: The mustard gas shells that the inspectors discovered this past week, is that a breech of...

BLIX: They had been declared before. That was not news.

QUESTION: Have you asked the names of Iraqi scientists? Are you expecting these declaration -- have you already asked for them or will you be asking for names of Iraqi scientists?

BLIX: We can ask for names under Resolution 1441. We have lots of names in the past. We can certainly ask for interviews. We have not yet asked any for an interview. This is something we can use.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BLIX: The resolution gives us the right to do so. We can exercise it. We'll get back to that when we are ready for it.

I have said we are not going to abduct anybody. And we are not serving as a defection agency. I stay by that. How we make use of this that's another matter. We'll see.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) the American administration pressuring you on some of the issues, like the scientists? (OFF-MIKE)

BLIX: I don't use the word pressuring nor did I use the word aggressive. Of course, we want to have recommendations from member governments, what they suggest to do.

And we listen to all of them. I listen to the United States. I was in Paris, I listened to the French. They will come here with a group of people who will give us advice next week. I stopped over in London and listened to them. We listen to others as well.

We have to act on behalf of the whole council. We're grateful for recommendations. We are, as I said before, in nobody's pocket. It's we who decide. I'm am responsible to the council.

QUESTION: Aren't you concerned, Dr. Blix, that the chain of command here is being usurped by the Security Council's supervisors (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? Aren't you, by taking out some parts of the report and not giving it to any member of the Security Council, isn't the chain of command being usurped?

BLIX: No, we will do what they tell us to do. I'm heartened that we have we have such confidence in the council on our integrity. PHILLIPS: Chief Weapons Inspector, Hans Blix addressing reporters after speaking with the Security Council at the U.N. today.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Security>


Aired December 6, 2002 - 13:25   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The U.N. chief weapons inspector, he's been meeting with advisers behind closed doors, with regard to those thousands of pages of documents, from Iraq, stating what type of weapons of mass destruction that it has, if, in deed, it does.
Just moments ago, like I said, we, as you've been seeing, we heard from the Iraqi Ambassador to the U.N. Mohammed Al-Douri making it very clear to reporters that Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction. So, there in lies the $1 million question. What will be in the thousands of pages of documents that will be handed over tomorrow?

ALFONSO VALDIVIESO, PRES. U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL: : ... or be sensitive. In order to ensure the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) and of the information. For most of the Security Council -- members of the Security Council will meet next week, to decide on (UNINTELLIGIBLE) of the declaration.

The document will not be available for some days until this procedure is carried out and mechanical and logistical arrangements are made.

Is there any question?

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

VALDIVIESO: According to the that information we have, a declaration is going to be handed to (UNINTELLIGIBLE). (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as I said, according to the decision that was taken by the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will act as a depository. So, that's the case.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

VALDIVIESO: You have to reanalyze first -- just to see the sensitivity. And then, the council will have to have meetings to decide on that.

QUESTION: Mr. Ambassador, have you been given any indication about how long that process of analysis is going to take?

VALDIVIESO: No, not yet.

QUESTION: You have no idea at all? VALDIVIESO: You have to be, for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Mr. Blix.

QUESTION: Will the same procedure hold for the copy that's going to the international atomic energy agency? Or are they going to have...

VALDIVIESO: Yes. It's going to have to be the same procedure. They will report to us before we decide the next steps.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

VALDIVIESO: You see, there are sensitive areas. Or non- political, proliferation (UNINTELLIGIBLE). It could be decided, according to international treaties.

QUESTION: The Iraqi ambassador said he would be bringing a copy to you at the Security Council. Would you refuse to accept that?

VALDIVIESO: No. What I'm saying is the decision that was taken by the council, to use (UNINTELLIGIBLE) as the depository of the council. That's a way to comply with the resolution from our side. So the copy of the council is going to be to be in the hands of (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) Are you not going to receive it?

VALDIVIESO: I don't know. Maybe he can take the copy.

QUESTION: Will all members of the council get a copy of this?

VALDIVIESO: It depends, as I said on logistics. Maybe it has to be translated.

QUESTION: All members will get it at the same time?

VALDIVIESO: I think so, yes.

QUESTION: Tell us what kinds of concerns he has about what might be in this declaration. Are we talking about, for example, possibly recipes for chemical and biological weapons? What other kinds of things are you concerned about?

HANS BLIX, CHIEF U.N. WEAPONS INSPECTORS: Yes, I think for the first time, the council was discussing the risks of releasing parts of this declaration that might help to achieve proliferation of nuclear or biological or chemical weapons.

And the council is fully aware that as the highest authority in U.N. system for security, they must make sure that they -- it self respects the conventions, the treaties, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE), the CWC and biocondention (ph).

And hence, it has asked that the IEA examine the nuclear declaration to see if there are any such parts and in that case, to advise the council that these should be withheld from any distribution. And similar that the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) will go through the text and see if there's any parts that relate to biological, chemical weapons or anything else that touch upon (UNINTELLIGIBLE) or any other very sensitive things that we would advise the council that these should not be circulated to anybody.

Now this may take a little time. And before we get to that question, which was an important one, where the council was unanimous, there is the mechanical handling of it. And as the president said, the council has determined that we shall, as a (UNINTELLIGIBLE) subsidiary body of the Security Council, will receive copies, the part which relates to our work and which the Iraq has to transmit to us in Baghdad.

And we'll will also ask that the subsidiary body receive the declaration as it is addressed to the Security Council. And we will bring it here. No member of the council is going to get it on Monday.

But we will then assure some mechanics in this. There will be large parts that will be Arabic. And as we understand it now, it is unlikely that anything will be in CD Roms. We'll have to achieve -- obtain that. That's a bit of mechanical work to have a translated. We have translators standing by (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

We would also then take a first look at what could be risky from the point of view of proliferation. We are asked by the council, I'm asked by the council to come to the president and to see the council early next week and to tell them what is our reaction. What is our advice on the further mechanical handling.

Closer assessment of what it contains, some document that may be 10,000 pages, of course, it will take a little more while -- a little longer.

QUESTION: Is that how long you hear the document is? That it may be 10,000 pages?

BLIX: Yes. Something like that, yes.

QUESTION: Can you tell us, once you made this primary assessment on proliferation issues, will you set a single date to return to the council, and review it then, as a whole, this declaration?

BLIX: No. You will not get a date at the moment. The council says they want me to come back perhaps even on Tuesday next week, when we've had a first glance of it. We have to have some glance of it and see how much needs to be translated and so forth.

QUESTION: Isn't this procedure delaying the analysis of the report by other national governments who might be better equipped to analyze it than your 15 inspectors up there?

BLIX: I think all the governors in the council are aware that they should not have access to anything that anyone else doesn't have access to. So If any parts relate would be proliferation prone, none of them would like to have it. But we of course will have to report to the council the criteria upon which we are advising that we should withhold any parts.

QUESTION: Are you saying that this report will not go to any of the Security Council members until you've had a chance to do an initial assessment and meet with the council and have the council make a decision on whether to release or not?

BLIX: The initial attitude of the council that no one should have access to anything that could be used for proliferation.

QUESTION: The Americans are saying that they have strong evidence that Iraq does have weapons of mass destruction. Did you ask him to see the evidence to help you in your work? Or do you feel the pressure on you, now, turned on by the Americans to justify, proof- worthy to receive just evidence?

BLIX: We would like to have as much information as to any member, state as to evidence they may have on weapons of mass destruction, any particular sites. We are inspectors. We can go to sites. They may be listening to what's going on in the (UNINTELLIGIBLE). And they may have a other sources of information.

We can go to the sites legitimately and legally. That's what we would like to have. Of course. It's written in the resolutions. We tell not only the Americans but the others exactly the same thing.

QUESTION: Thank you, Dr. Blix. One thing the Iraqis are saying is these declarations will have something new. From your point of view, what would be new and significant? Secondly, on the issue of the administration saying it has evidence, when do you expect such evidence to be in your hands? Is it after the declarations, after the analysis or immediately upon looking at it?

BLIX: If they were to give it before the declaration, they would have to hurry up. It's Friday today. I don't think that's likely. But if they have evidence, it's in their decision when, at what moment will they present it. We would be grateful to have any information about sites to go to any other information for that matter.

What was your first question?

QUESTION: My first question was, the Iraqis are saying that these declarations would have something new. From your point of view, what would be new and significant?

BLIX: If they declare some weapons of mass destruction programs that would be new. Wouldn't it?

QUESTION: The fact is they say they do not have such weapons. Other than that, Dr. Blix, what would be...

BLIX: I understand they're also saying there may be some news in the duel use sector. And the council has -- in Resolution 1441 they have asked for three areas. First, our weapons of mass destruction program, the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) items. The second is the dual use areas. We have received a lot of that in the backlog of declarations, up to last summer. And we have been analyzing that.

The third, which is new, is also information about production or activities, which are claimed to be for peaceful purposes in the sector of nuclear, biological and chemical. This has not been done before. We'll have to go through. That will be new, all of it.

QUESTION: What's your perspective on the Iraqi accusation that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is engaged in spying? And the on the skeptical of the Bush administration that (UNINTELLIGIBLE) is not 100 percent capable of uncovering Iraqi weapons if there are such weapons?

BLIX: On the spying, we have been consistent. There have been reports about what went on in the past. And the Security Council certainly intended when (UNINTELLIGIBLE) was set up that this should be different from the past. We have recruited people differently. I have declared very explicitly if I were to find anyone who wore two hats, I would ask them to leave.

We cannot give 100 percent guarantees in this. No one can. But we will certainly take steps to get rid of any such person.

QUESTION: What about the Iraqi (OFF-MIKE).

BLIX: Well let me take the (UNINTELLIGIBLE) first. They -- I think the teams that we have had there, some 11 inspectors, has been composed in such a way in as the U.N. would like it to be. I don't see any reason to criticize it. They are people with perfect integrity. They've done a good, professional job.

I will also say that there have been no impediments placed in our way. We have had prompt access to sites all around. I'm not using the word cooperation because it's a little early. If they were hiding anything, that wouldn't be cooperation.

We haven't seen evidence of such a thing. But it's different when media goes in after us and they look at empty spaces. We go in with instruments, perhaps taking samples of enivironmentals and testers and so forth. It takes some time before that is analyzed.

So I hope they will come out negatively. But it's a little too early to say that.

Now the U.S. criticism. I have not seen any criticism from the U.S. government. We are servants of governments. And I was a servant of 130 governments in the IEA. I never had any criticism from these governments in the IEA, about the way that we handled Iraq. I do not see any criticism by any government so far, how we have handled this. On contrary, I have very warming and very supporting words from members of the council during the session.

QUESTION: The administration is saying Iraq is too big a country for (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to be able to uncover all the sites. BLIX: Any country is too big for a -- inspectors to comb through every square centimeter. You need to have information. And information comes from different sources. They can come from satellites, they come from defectors, they come even from open media. And they come from governments that may have intelligence about sites.

So we will have to draw on all that. If you don't have information, then you cannot systematically go through. So in this sense it's true.

QUESTION: The mustard gas shells that the inspectors discovered this past week, is that a breech of...

BLIX: They had been declared before. That was not news.

QUESTION: Have you asked the names of Iraqi scientists? Are you expecting these declaration -- have you already asked for them or will you be asking for names of Iraqi scientists?

BLIX: We can ask for names under Resolution 1441. We have lots of names in the past. We can certainly ask for interviews. We have not yet asked any for an interview. This is something we can use.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE)

BLIX: The resolution gives us the right to do so. We can exercise it. We'll get back to that when we are ready for it.

I have said we are not going to abduct anybody. And we are not serving as a defection agency. I stay by that. How we make use of this that's another matter. We'll see.

QUESTION: (OFF-MIKE) the American administration pressuring you on some of the issues, like the scientists? (OFF-MIKE)

BLIX: I don't use the word pressuring nor did I use the word aggressive. Of course, we want to have recommendations from member governments, what they suggest to do.

And we listen to all of them. I listen to the United States. I was in Paris, I listened to the French. They will come here with a group of people who will give us advice next week. I stopped over in London and listened to them. We listen to others as well.

We have to act on behalf of the whole council. We're grateful for recommendations. We are, as I said before, in nobody's pocket. It's we who decide. I'm am responsible to the council.

QUESTION: Aren't you concerned, Dr. Blix, that the chain of command here is being usurped by the Security Council's supervisors (UNINTELLIGIBLE)? Aren't you, by taking out some parts of the report and not giving it to any member of the Security Council, isn't the chain of command being usurped?

BLIX: No, we will do what they tell us to do. I'm heartened that we have we have such confidence in the council on our integrity. PHILLIPS: Chief Weapons Inspector, Hans Blix addressing reporters after speaking with the Security Council at the U.N. today.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com




Security>