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United States Receives Copy of Iraq Declaration

Aired December 09, 2002 - 13:13   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: And here are the latest developments in the U.S. showdown with Iraq. The United States has demanded and received an unedited copy of Iraq's declaration of weapons of mass destruction. The other four permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are also getting copies.
In Vienna, U.N. nuclear inspectors are sifting through the massive declaration. They say it's too early to draw any conclusions, and they'll rely on the inspectors on the ground in Iraq to crosscheck Baghdad's claims.

Those inspectors in Iraq were busy today visiting an industrial complex northwest of Baghdad once associated with chemical weapons and revisiting a one-time nuclear complex south of the capital.

Now let's get more specific about those documents.

CNN's Michael Okwu live at the U.N..

Michael, let's talk about what's happening right now.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you this much, the United States received an unedited version of this document last night. In fact, we understand that the United States might have this document in Washington, D.C. where experts may already be poring through it.

We also know that the Security Council is meeting at this hour. They are discussing a whole range of issues, Kyra. But you can bet on the fact that the fact that the permanent five members of the Security Council getting this document exclusively will be one of the subjects that will be discussed. We understand that there have been several countries who have voiced opposition to this point of view, most notably Mexico and Syria. And we will see what comes out of this, but it looks like there probably won't be any change to this -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, also, these documents were supposed to be edited for safety reasons. They didn't want any manuals on how to build weapons of mass destruction to get out into other people's hands. What happened, it's not edited?

OKWU: Well I'll tell you what happened quite simply, the United States applied pressure. The U.S. wanted it, they got it. And to get it, they also said that look, you know the other, you know, four permanent members of the Security Council should also have it. They put pressure on the Colombian ambassador who happens to be the president of the Security Council this month. He, in turn, talked to Hans Blix. They discussed it, and they said OK, let's give it to the five permanent members of the council. The thinking being that these are the established, declared nuclear powers so that this information shouldn't be all that sensitive to them. They already know how to make weapons of mass destruction -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well I can see that all the nuclear powers would want to exchange intelligence, but doesn't this open the door for tremendous leaks?

OKWU: It most certainly does. But at the United Nations, the fact that you know diplomatic missions have the document doesn't necessarily mean that there would be more or less leaks here. This is very sensitive information. Hans Blix made it very clear when he was speaking on behalf of the council last week that essentially there are international conventions and treaties that really govern the dissemination of this information. So he's made it very clear that he's sensitive about it. He's made it clear to all the other Security Council members that they have to rein it in, and that's what we expect.

PHILLIPS: All right, Michael, so what's next?

OKWU: What's next is the Security Council, again, meets this afternoon. They will discuss it. We don't expect any major changes out of it. Hans Blix's associates continue to pore over the 12,000 pages. They have to translate it. And they are in the process, all through the course of the night, of separating the document in its specific areas, chemical, biological, nuclear, so that the experts who have focused on those particular fields can take a very clear look at it and move on.

And also, Kyra, we know that this document, which is really considered by officials here to be a baseline of truth, can come in very handy for inspectors on the ground because it gives them some sort of guidelines that say where we're going to go, what are we going to look for -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Michael Okwu, from the U.N., 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 9, 2002 - 13:13   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: And here are the latest developments in the U.S. showdown with Iraq. The United States has demanded and received an unedited copy of Iraq's declaration of weapons of mass destruction. The other four permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are also getting copies.
In Vienna, U.N. nuclear inspectors are sifting through the massive declaration. They say it's too early to draw any conclusions, and they'll rely on the inspectors on the ground in Iraq to crosscheck Baghdad's claims.

Those inspectors in Iraq were busy today visiting an industrial complex northwest of Baghdad once associated with chemical weapons and revisiting a one-time nuclear complex south of the capital.

Now let's get more specific about those documents.

CNN's Michael Okwu live at the U.N..

Michael, let's talk about what's happening right now.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I can tell you this much, the United States received an unedited version of this document last night. In fact, we understand that the United States might have this document in Washington, D.C. where experts may already be poring through it.

We also know that the Security Council is meeting at this hour. They are discussing a whole range of issues, Kyra. But you can bet on the fact that the fact that the permanent five members of the Security Council getting this document exclusively will be one of the subjects that will be discussed. We understand that there have been several countries who have voiced opposition to this point of view, most notably Mexico and Syria. And we will see what comes out of this, but it looks like there probably won't be any change to this -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well, also, these documents were supposed to be edited for safety reasons. They didn't want any manuals on how to build weapons of mass destruction to get out into other people's hands. What happened, it's not edited?

OKWU: Well I'll tell you what happened quite simply, the United States applied pressure. The U.S. wanted it, they got it. And to get it, they also said that look, you know the other, you know, four permanent members of the Security Council should also have it. They put pressure on the Colombian ambassador who happens to be the president of the Security Council this month. He, in turn, talked to Hans Blix. They discussed it, and they said OK, let's give it to the five permanent members of the council. The thinking being that these are the established, declared nuclear powers so that this information shouldn't be all that sensitive to them. They already know how to make weapons of mass destruction -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Well I can see that all the nuclear powers would want to exchange intelligence, but doesn't this open the door for tremendous leaks?

OKWU: It most certainly does. But at the United Nations, the fact that you know diplomatic missions have the document doesn't necessarily mean that there would be more or less leaks here. This is very sensitive information. Hans Blix made it very clear when he was speaking on behalf of the council last week that essentially there are international conventions and treaties that really govern the dissemination of this information. So he's made it very clear that he's sensitive about it. He's made it clear to all the other Security Council members that they have to rein it in, and that's what we expect.

PHILLIPS: All right, Michael, so what's next?

OKWU: What's next is the Security Council, again, meets this afternoon. They will discuss it. We don't expect any major changes out of it. Hans Blix's associates continue to pore over the 12,000 pages. They have to translate it. And they are in the process, all through the course of the night, of separating the document in its specific areas, chemical, biological, nuclear, so that the experts who have focused on those particular fields can take a very clear look at it and move on.

And also, Kyra, we know that this document, which is really considered by officials here to be a baseline of truth, can come in very handy for inspectors on the ground because it gives them some sort of guidelines that say where we're going to go, what are we going to look for -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Michael Okwu, from the U.N., 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