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American Morning
Missiles Seized
Aired December 11, 2002 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to that missile story again from the Indian Ocean. The Bush administration is saying that North Korea is the single largest missile proliferator, and now it appears that Pyongyang has been caught red-handed.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, one of the first to report this story from yesterday.
Good morning -- Barbara. What more are we learning?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, Spanish authorities have just concluded a press conference in Madrid, where they offered new details about all of this.
According to the Spanish authorities, when their troops boarded the ship on Monday, they found 15 Scud missiles and conventional warheads buried in cement cargo that the ship was carrying. They boarded it several hundred miles southeast of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, but the Spanish, as we reported yesterday, had to fire warning shots to make that ship stop.
The vessel, according to the Spanish, also is now on its way to the island of Diego Garcia, where we are assuming the cargo -- the weapons cargo will be unloaded. We are told that once that happens, the crew and the ship will be free to go on their way.
But U.S. sources tell CNN this morning there are a number of legal issues associated with this entire event. The ship, although it is believed to be a North Korean ship, was under maritime law a stateless vessel. It was carrying no flag, no clear markings. That is a violation of maritime law.
We are told in addition, it was carrying what appears to be unmanifested cargo. That also is a violation of international law.
If it is proven that this ship was headed for Yemen, that is an additional potential legal problem. The Bush administration did not sanction Yemen for any of its activities in return for the promise that Yemen would not only go after the al Qaeda terrorists in its country, but that they would stop engaging in this type of weapons trade. So, this could now pose problems for Yemen if it is found that the cargo was headed in that direction.
And finally, under the international maritime intercept operation that is conducted in that part of the world, the coalition has declared that they can board ships and seize what they deem to be illicit cargo that might be in support of the al Qaeda or terrorist activities in the region.
So, all of this is yet to finally unfold -- Bill.
HEMMER: And, Barbara, take me back in history a little bit. Is there any history that suggests that anything like this has been intercepted before, especially as it relates to North Korea?
STARR: Well, actually, what I can tell you, in very recent weeks, there had been a number of intercepted shipments, oddly enough, coming out of Eastern Europe of what is believed to be Scud parts, Scud igniters. But those shipments have clearly been on their way to Iraq, according to intelligence officials.
There's an awful lot of illicit Scud trade that goes on around the world, and when we say illicit, we mean it is generally moved in undeclared cargo, hidden in containers, not openly manifested on routine cargo manifests. So, that's what makes it illicit.
We haven't seen anything like this very recently. The recent ones have been for Iraq.
HEMMER: Barbara, thank you -- Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
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 11, 2002 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to that missile story again from the Indian Ocean. The Bush administration is saying that North Korea is the single largest missile proliferator, and now it appears that Pyongyang has been caught red-handed.
Barbara Starr at the Pentagon, one of the first to report this story from yesterday.
Good morning -- Barbara. What more are we learning?
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
Well, Spanish authorities have just concluded a press conference in Madrid, where they offered new details about all of this.
According to the Spanish authorities, when their troops boarded the ship on Monday, they found 15 Scud missiles and conventional warheads buried in cement cargo that the ship was carrying. They boarded it several hundred miles southeast of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, but the Spanish, as we reported yesterday, had to fire warning shots to make that ship stop.
The vessel, according to the Spanish, also is now on its way to the island of Diego Garcia, where we are assuming the cargo -- the weapons cargo will be unloaded. We are told that once that happens, the crew and the ship will be free to go on their way.
But U.S. sources tell CNN this morning there are a number of legal issues associated with this entire event. The ship, although it is believed to be a North Korean ship, was under maritime law a stateless vessel. It was carrying no flag, no clear markings. That is a violation of maritime law.
We are told in addition, it was carrying what appears to be unmanifested cargo. That also is a violation of international law.
If it is proven that this ship was headed for Yemen, that is an additional potential legal problem. The Bush administration did not sanction Yemen for any of its activities in return for the promise that Yemen would not only go after the al Qaeda terrorists in its country, but that they would stop engaging in this type of weapons trade. So, this could now pose problems for Yemen if it is found that the cargo was headed in that direction.
And finally, under the international maritime intercept operation that is conducted in that part of the world, the coalition has declared that they can board ships and seize what they deem to be illicit cargo that might be in support of the al Qaeda or terrorist activities in the region.
So, all of this is yet to finally unfold -- Bill.
HEMMER: And, Barbara, take me back in history a little bit. Is there any history that suggests that anything like this has been intercepted before, especially as it relates to North Korea?
STARR: Well, actually, what I can tell you, in very recent weeks, there had been a number of intercepted shipments, oddly enough, coming out of Eastern Europe of what is believed to be Scud parts, Scud igniters. But those shipments have clearly been on their way to Iraq, according to intelligence officials.
There's an awful lot of illicit Scud trade that goes on around the world, and when we say illicit, we mean it is generally moved in undeclared cargo, hidden in containers, not openly manifested on routine cargo manifests. So, that's what makes it illicit.
We haven't seen anything like this very recently. The recent ones have been for Iraq.
HEMMER: Barbara, thank you -- Barbara Starr at the Pentagon.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
