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Gadhafi Swears to Dismantle WMD Program

Aired December 22, 2003 - 13:59   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: A long-time pariah in the eyes of the U.S. and U.N. is eying a return to respectability by washing its hands of WMD. Today CNN's Andrea Koppel got an exclusive hour-long interview with Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi. She joins us now from Tripoli with excerpt. Andrea, what's the headline?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, for the first time we're hearing directly from the Libyan leader that he has every intention of abandoning his weapons of mass destruction program, that he is inviting the international inspectors from the IAEA to come in to verify this, and that he really hopes this is the beginning of a new chapter in Libya's relationship with the United States.

I asked him if he would like to meet with President Bush. He said, Sure, if it would help this new relationship, he'd be happy to.

He also did not dispute the fact that the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the recent capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein may have played a role in influencing his decision. He said that it was -- he remarked that he had seen the capture of Saddam, the video that was put on various international networks.

And while he didn't necessarily believe that the capture happened the way that the United States described it, he certainly said that even though this was a guy that he personally didn't like, you could only feel sympathy for Saddam Hussein.

But, I mean, the headlines, Kyra is really this: Gadhafi who has been in power here in Libya for 34 years wants the turn over a new leaf.

PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel, incredible get there. You can see that interview at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time on CNN on "AARON BROWN'S NEWSNIGHT."

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 - 13:59   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A long-time pariah in the eyes of the U.S. and U.N. is eying a return to respectability by washing its hands of WMD. Today CNN's Andrea Koppel got an exclusive hour-long interview with Libya's leader Moammar Gadhafi. She joins us now from Tripoli with excerpt. Andrea, what's the headline?
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN STATE DEPARTMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, for the first time we're hearing directly from the Libyan leader that he has every intention of abandoning his weapons of mass destruction program, that he is inviting the international inspectors from the IAEA to come in to verify this, and that he really hopes this is the beginning of a new chapter in Libya's relationship with the United States.

I asked him if he would like to meet with President Bush. He said, Sure, if it would help this new relationship, he'd be happy to.

He also did not dispute the fact that the U.S.-led war in Iraq and the recent capture of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein may have played a role in influencing his decision. He said that it was -- he remarked that he had seen the capture of Saddam, the video that was put on various international networks.

And while he didn't necessarily believe that the capture happened the way that the United States described it, he certainly said that even though this was a guy that he personally didn't like, you could only feel sympathy for Saddam Hussein.

But, I mean, the headlines, Kyra is really this: Gadhafi who has been in power here in Libya for 34 years wants the turn over a new leaf.

PHILLIPS: Andrea Koppel, incredible get there. You can see that interview at 10:00 p.m. Eastern time on CNN on "AARON BROWN'S NEWSNIGHT."

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