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American Morning
Saddam Hussein Calling Emergency Meeting of Parliament
Aired November 11, 2002 - 08:43 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Friday's looming deadline for Iraq to respond to the new U.N. resolution. Saddam Hussein is calling an emergency meeting of the parliament today to consider Iraq's options. Let's go to Baghdad right now, where Jane Arraf joins us live with the very latest.
Good morning, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Paula, it's almost dusk here in Baghdad, and you can probably hear the mosque behind me, reading the Koran, as people rush home to break the today's fast during this holy month of Ramadan. In just a couple of hours, the national assembly will have a different kind of call. They are being called to an emergency session by President Saddam Hussein. Now he won't be there, but he's asked them to meet to discuss the Security Council resolution, demanding that Iraq let the weapons inspectors back. That isn't the end of the story, though, that national assembly meeting. It then goes to the Revolution Command Council, which is the highest body in the land, chaired by the Iraqi president.
Now, the upshot of this all is they are expected to approve the resolution. They've been hearing from their allies abroad and in the Arab world as the Arab League meeting, particularly in Cairo, that they really have to do this, they have to let the weapons inspectors back in. That appears to be what they are prepared to do this evening -- Paula.
ZAHN: Well, Jane, there is a big difference between letting the weapons inspectors back in, and actually complying with the U.N. resolutions. I know it's very difficult for Iraqis to speak freely about what they expect. But what is the buzz there?
ARRAF: Well, it's actually a huge deal that they are accepting this resolution to begin with. You have to remember that there were seven years of inspections. This is not a new story. Now, when those inspectors left in 1998, they left after some disputes with previous inspection regime, which accused UNSCOM them of not cooperating, and Baghdad was bombed just hours later by the U.S. and Britain. So Iraq has been quite reluctant, as have Iraqis, to let those inspectors back in. However, we are down to one-last-chance territory, and Iraq has taken that to heart. The feeling is they will, indeed comply, as far as they feel they want to or as far as they can, because they feel that this time, they have no choice -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thank you, Jane Arraf.
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 November 11, 2002 - 08:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Back to Friday's looming deadline for Iraq to respond to the new U.N. resolution. Saddam Hussein is calling an emergency meeting of the parliament today to consider Iraq's options. Let's go to Baghdad right now, where Jane Arraf joins us live with the very latest.
Good morning, Jane.
JANE ARRAF, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Paula, it's almost dusk here in Baghdad, and you can probably hear the mosque behind me, reading the Koran, as people rush home to break the today's fast during this holy month of Ramadan. In just a couple of hours, the national assembly will have a different kind of call. They are being called to an emergency session by President Saddam Hussein. Now he won't be there, but he's asked them to meet to discuss the Security Council resolution, demanding that Iraq let the weapons inspectors back. That isn't the end of the story, though, that national assembly meeting. It then goes to the Revolution Command Council, which is the highest body in the land, chaired by the Iraqi president.
Now, the upshot of this all is they are expected to approve the resolution. They've been hearing from their allies abroad and in the Arab world as the Arab League meeting, particularly in Cairo, that they really have to do this, they have to let the weapons inspectors back in. That appears to be what they are prepared to do this evening -- Paula.
ZAHN: Well, Jane, there is a big difference between letting the weapons inspectors back in, and actually complying with the U.N. resolutions. I know it's very difficult for Iraqis to speak freely about what they expect. But what is the buzz there?
ARRAF: Well, it's actually a huge deal that they are accepting this resolution to begin with. You have to remember that there were seven years of inspections. This is not a new story. Now, when those inspectors left in 1998, they left after some disputes with previous inspection regime, which accused UNSCOM them of not cooperating, and Baghdad was bombed just hours later by the U.S. and Britain. So Iraq has been quite reluctant, as have Iraqis, to let those inspectors back in. However, we are down to one-last-chance territory, and Iraq has taken that to heart. The feeling is they will, indeed comply, as far as they feel they want to or as far as they can, because they feel that this time, they have no choice -- Paula.
ZAHN: Thank you, Jane Arraf.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
