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U.N. to Consider Sending Multinational Force to Iraq
Aired August 22, 2003 - 14:02 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 investigation into Tuesday's terror attack on the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters in full swing and one U.S. investigator says it could very likely be an inside job.
CNN's Ben Wedemen with more from Baghdad -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators into Tuesday's bombing of United Nations headquarters are apparently now looking at the possibility of some involvement by insiders at the United Nations headquarters.
According to Bernard Kerack (ph), the senior American advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, they are looking at the potential involvement in some form or another of Iraqi employees of the United Nations.
Now, many of these employees were also employed by the United Nations headquarters here in Baghdad under the previous regime.
However, it is well known that under the Saddam Hussein regime that all Iraqis who were in some way involved with foreigners or foreign organizations or international organizations were under -- in compulsory contact with the intelligence services, that they had to provide some sort of information, not necessarily always credible, to the intelligent serves, just to keep in touch.
Therefore, it may be premature to go too far in speculating along these lines of any possible involvement by United Nations workers in that attack.
Meanwhile, at Baghdad International Airport, a solemn ceremony to say farewell to the body of Sergio de Mello, a United Nations official in Baghdad killed in Tuesday's suicide bombing. His body was flown out of Baghdad on a Brazilian air force jet.
Meanwhile, despite the bombing, the United Nations says that with a partial staff, a skeleton staff, they will try to resume their operations in Iraq as early as Saturday, tomorrow.
I'm Ben Wedemen, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: Amid the recent death and destruction, American, British and United Nations officials are scrambling to try to make Iraq safer and get more countries involved.
And today, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called on U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan. For details we're joined by CNN'S Michael Okwu from U.N. headquarters in New York.
Hello, Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. This is what Kofi Annan told reporters about a possible resolution that would send a multinational force to Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: But of course, as one of your colleagues implied this morning, it would also imply, not just burden sharing but also sharing the position and responsibility with the others. If that doesn't happen, I think it's going to be very difficult to get a second resolution that will satisfy everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Now, this was an apparent reference to the U.S. occupation. The secretary-general made his comments after discussions with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Several countries have suggested that the U.S. give up some political and military control.
Straw, who has been supportive of a greater U.N. role here, was tight lipped about the specifics on a resolution or about the discussions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: I don't want to be more specific, and for this very good reason, that the discussions that took informally and in private yesterday amongst members of the Security Council were constructive.
Our approach was to say to our colleagues and the Security Council, look, we want that to develop a consensus here and we don't wish to be prescriptive. Now each country on the Security Council come to discussions with the same approach.
But we did show this time last year on 1441 and we have shown, I hope, subsequently with 1483 and 1500, that although people's starting positions may be different, it is possible to reach a strong consensus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Now, U.N. diplomat says that it is unlikely that the U.S. will cede the kind of control that the other countries are looking for here, and it's also unclear at this point whether other countries are actually serious about ever sending forces into Iraq.
So it's not quite certain whether this resolution will ever come to pass. And yet a different U.N. diplomat says that a draft resolution, a copy of it may be circulating as early as next week -- Miles. O'BRIEN: Given the U.N. reluctance on the Bush administration desire to invade Iraq, is there a fair amount of "I told you so" going on around there, Michael?
OKWU: There's definitely a little bit of that going on, Miles. There are some diplomats who have made references to, you know, making your bed and now having to sleep in it.
If anyone thinks that the divisiveness, the division that existed before the war, has completely gone away, they're just plain wrong. There's still vestiges of it. In fact, the Spanish ambassador said earlier this afternoon that yesterday in the Security Council it smelled a little bit like three months ago -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. Michael Okwu at the U.N., appreciate it.
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 August 22, 2003 - 14:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: The investigation into Tuesday's terror attack on the U.N.'s Baghdad headquarters in full swing and one U.S. investigator says it could very likely be an inside job.
CNN's Ben Wedemen with more from Baghdad -- Ben.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators into Tuesday's bombing of United Nations headquarters are apparently now looking at the possibility of some involvement by insiders at the United Nations headquarters.
According to Bernard Kerack (ph), the senior American advisor to the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior, they are looking at the potential involvement in some form or another of Iraqi employees of the United Nations.
Now, many of these employees were also employed by the United Nations headquarters here in Baghdad under the previous regime.
However, it is well known that under the Saddam Hussein regime that all Iraqis who were in some way involved with foreigners or foreign organizations or international organizations were under -- in compulsory contact with the intelligence services, that they had to provide some sort of information, not necessarily always credible, to the intelligent serves, just to keep in touch.
Therefore, it may be premature to go too far in speculating along these lines of any possible involvement by United Nations workers in that attack.
Meanwhile, at Baghdad International Airport, a solemn ceremony to say farewell to the body of Sergio de Mello, a United Nations official in Baghdad killed in Tuesday's suicide bombing. His body was flown out of Baghdad on a Brazilian air force jet.
Meanwhile, despite the bombing, the United Nations says that with a partial staff, a skeleton staff, they will try to resume their operations in Iraq as early as Saturday, tomorrow.
I'm Ben Wedemen, CNN, reporting from Baghdad.
MILES O'BRIEN, ANCHOR: Amid the recent death and destruction, American, British and United Nations officials are scrambling to try to make Iraq safer and get more countries involved.
And today, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw called on U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan. For details we're joined by CNN'S Michael Okwu from U.N. headquarters in New York.
Hello, Michael.
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. This is what Kofi Annan told reporters about a possible resolution that would send a multinational force to Iraq.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: But of course, as one of your colleagues implied this morning, it would also imply, not just burden sharing but also sharing the position and responsibility with the others. If that doesn't happen, I think it's going to be very difficult to get a second resolution that will satisfy everybody.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Now, this was an apparent reference to the U.S. occupation. The secretary-general made his comments after discussions with British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw. Several countries have suggested that the U.S. give up some political and military control.
Straw, who has been supportive of a greater U.N. role here, was tight lipped about the specifics on a resolution or about the discussions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JACK STRAW, BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY: I don't want to be more specific, and for this very good reason, that the discussions that took informally and in private yesterday amongst members of the Security Council were constructive.
Our approach was to say to our colleagues and the Security Council, look, we want that to develop a consensus here and we don't wish to be prescriptive. Now each country on the Security Council come to discussions with the same approach.
But we did show this time last year on 1441 and we have shown, I hope, subsequently with 1483 and 1500, that although people's starting positions may be different, it is possible to reach a strong consensus.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
OKWU: Now, U.N. diplomat says that it is unlikely that the U.S. will cede the kind of control that the other countries are looking for here, and it's also unclear at this point whether other countries are actually serious about ever sending forces into Iraq.
So it's not quite certain whether this resolution will ever come to pass. And yet a different U.N. diplomat says that a draft resolution, a copy of it may be circulating as early as next week -- Miles. O'BRIEN: Given the U.N. reluctance on the Bush administration desire to invade Iraq, is there a fair amount of "I told you so" going on around there, Michael?
OKWU: There's definitely a little bit of that going on, Miles. There are some diplomats who have made references to, you know, making your bed and now having to sleep in it.
If anyone thinks that the divisiveness, the division that existed before the war, has completely gone away, they're just plain wrong. There's still vestiges of it. In fact, the Spanish ambassador said earlier this afternoon that yesterday in the Security Council it smelled a little bit like three months ago -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Interesting. Michael Okwu at the U.N., appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
