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Gadhafi Speaks

Aired December 22, 2003 - 12:59   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: Now the latest word on the Libyan transformation from Moammar Ghadafi himself. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel just wrapped up an exclusive one-on-one interview with the formerly renegade leader.
She joins us now live from Tripoli with the details -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that's right, just got back from spending about an hour from Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, just outside of Tripoli, where I am right now, the capital of Libya. The majority of our interview, as you might imagine, focused on the sudden announcement late last week by President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Libya had agreed to both disclose and completely dismantle its weapons of mass destruction program, something that the Libyan government had denied for years that it had.

Moammar Gadhafi did make a distinction during our interview. What he said that was they have a weapons of mass destruction program, but that Libya does not possess weapons of mass destruction.

I specifically asked him about a report that came out of Washington over the weekend that said that Libya had uranium centrifuge technology. Colonel Gadhafi said that it's not illegal to have uranium, that it's not illegal to have centrifuges, but he did not say that they have nuclear weapons. In fact, he really made a point in saying that the technology and the advancement of is not nearly as far along as some had suggested.

What I asked him, Kyra, about another report, that he had bought missiles from North Korea, long-range scud missiles with the range of 800 kilometers, he absolutely denied that.

As you might imagine, there's all kinds of speculation as to why Colonel Gadhafi, who's been in power here in Libya for 34 years, would suddenly decide to renounce nuclear, and chemical and biological weapons. When I asked him about that, he said the world is a changed place. He said that there's a lot of propaganda that's out there. We've heard it from successive administrations. Libya is on a list of state sponsors of terrorism on the United States. Colonel Gadhafi says that it's a changed world, and that Libya wants to be a part of this changed world.

He even has advice for other so-called rogue states, for Iran, for Syria and for north Korea. he said it really would save their governments a lot of trouble if they would just follow Libya's example and renounce weapons of mass destruction. It was a wide-ranging interview, Kyra. We'll have some sound for our viewers shortly. We covered everything from the 15th anniversary of the bombing of PanAm flight 103, which happened just yesterday on Sunday, the 15th anniversary. We talked about the state of Israel and the peace process, and we also talked about what Libya hopes to get out of this new relationship with the United States. As you might imagine, they hope to have a lot of investment come into this country, especially in the oil industry -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Andrea, quickly, as you sat down with Colonel Gadhafi, what was your sense? Do you think he's seeing what happened in Iraq, what happened in Afghanistan, and he is playing smart politics here?

KOPPEL: Absolutely. I did ask him whether or not he was influenced by what had happened in Iraq, the war, the U.S.-led invasion there, and even seeing the recent pictures of Saddam Hussein, the now toppled Iraqi dictator in U.S. custody. He said that what the U.S. had done with Saddam Hussein made him actually gain a lot of sympathy in the Arab world, even among leaders like Gadhafi, who didn't necessarily like Saddam, and certainly wasn't an ally of his, but even though he doesn't directly say that he was influenced by it, he certainly did not dispute the fact that what happened in Iraq, he recognized that there was writing on the walls and that it was time for Libya to turn a new page and begin a new chapter with the United States -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel, great work from Tripoli. You can see the interview with Moammar Gadhafi at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN."

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 22, 2003 - 12:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now the latest word on the Libyan transformation from Moammar Ghadafi himself. CNN State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel just wrapped up an exclusive one-on-one interview with the formerly renegade leader.
She joins us now live from Tripoli with the details -- Andrea.

ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPT. CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, that's right, just got back from spending about an hour from Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, just outside of Tripoli, where I am right now, the capital of Libya. The majority of our interview, as you might imagine, focused on the sudden announcement late last week by President Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair that Libya had agreed to both disclose and completely dismantle its weapons of mass destruction program, something that the Libyan government had denied for years that it had.

Moammar Gadhafi did make a distinction during our interview. What he said that was they have a weapons of mass destruction program, but that Libya does not possess weapons of mass destruction.

I specifically asked him about a report that came out of Washington over the weekend that said that Libya had uranium centrifuge technology. Colonel Gadhafi said that it's not illegal to have uranium, that it's not illegal to have centrifuges, but he did not say that they have nuclear weapons. In fact, he really made a point in saying that the technology and the advancement of is not nearly as far along as some had suggested.

What I asked him, Kyra, about another report, that he had bought missiles from North Korea, long-range scud missiles with the range of 800 kilometers, he absolutely denied that.

As you might imagine, there's all kinds of speculation as to why Colonel Gadhafi, who's been in power here in Libya for 34 years, would suddenly decide to renounce nuclear, and chemical and biological weapons. When I asked him about that, he said the world is a changed place. He said that there's a lot of propaganda that's out there. We've heard it from successive administrations. Libya is on a list of state sponsors of terrorism on the United States. Colonel Gadhafi says that it's a changed world, and that Libya wants to be a part of this changed world.

He even has advice for other so-called rogue states, for Iran, for Syria and for north Korea. he said it really would save their governments a lot of trouble if they would just follow Libya's example and renounce weapons of mass destruction. It was a wide-ranging interview, Kyra. We'll have some sound for our viewers shortly. We covered everything from the 15th anniversary of the bombing of PanAm flight 103, which happened just yesterday on Sunday, the 15th anniversary. We talked about the state of Israel and the peace process, and we also talked about what Libya hopes to get out of this new relationship with the United States. As you might imagine, they hope to have a lot of investment come into this country, especially in the oil industry -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Andrea, quickly, as you sat down with Colonel Gadhafi, what was your sense? Do you think he's seeing what happened in Iraq, what happened in Afghanistan, and he is playing smart politics here?

KOPPEL: Absolutely. I did ask him whether or not he was influenced by what had happened in Iraq, the war, the U.S.-led invasion there, and even seeing the recent pictures of Saddam Hussein, the now toppled Iraqi dictator in U.S. custody. He said that what the U.S. had done with Saddam Hussein made him actually gain a lot of sympathy in the Arab world, even among leaders like Gadhafi, who didn't necessarily like Saddam, and certainly wasn't an ally of his, but even though he doesn't directly say that he was influenced by it, he certainly did not dispute the fact that what happened in Iraq, he recognized that there was writing on the walls and that it was time for Libya to turn a new page and begin a new chapter with the United States -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel, great work from Tripoli. You can see the interview with Moammar Gadhafi at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on "NEWSNIGHT WITH AARON BROWN."

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