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American Morning
U.N. Inspectors Hunting Through More Sites Around Baghdad
Aired December 23, 2002 - 09:31 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: Next to the weapons hunt in Iraq. U.N. inspectors hunting through more sites around Baghdad this morning, while Iraq still maintains it has no weapons, it is inviting an intelligence agent to verify that claim.
Let's turn to our own Rym Brahimi who joins us live from Baghdad.
Good morning, Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Very busy day today for the inspectors. They went to a certain number of sites, as they have been in the past few days. They have stepped up their case, Paula.
Well, today, they went to a baby milk factory, the biological team went there. We understand that they asked the director of that site many questions, including what equipment he used to produce that baby milk, what chemicals were brought in, if any, or used to make that baby milk. It's an interesting site, Paula, because it was at the center of a controversy many years ago. It was bombed in the 1991 Gulf War, and the U.S. was saying it was dual-use facility, potentially used for biological weapons, and Iraq maintaining it was just a baby milk factory.
The rest of the teams spread out in different locations as they -- one team went to a drug research center. Another team went to a space research center that they visited for the first time yesterday. So a lot of work there, Paula. And also, they are planning for now to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day -- Paula.
ZAHN: Rym, what's the final word on inspectors meeting with Iraqi scientists?
BRAHIMI: Well, our understanding from a briefing we had yesterday from President Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser was that I don't think they saw a problem, from what he said, with just meeting, conducting interviews within the country, inside Iraq. In fact, he said that he was going submit, or Iraq was going to submit, a list of scientists and experts that has been requested by the United Nations, a long list starting in the hierarchal order, with top scientists going all the way down to the technicians, Paula.
But of course what he was reluctant to go into, Paula, saying we'll cross that bridge when we get into it, the famous, the big question, as you know, of Iraqi scientists being interviewed abroad with their families -- Paula. ZAHN: Rym Brahimi, thanks.
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 23, 2002 - 09:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Next to the weapons hunt in Iraq. U.N. inspectors hunting through more sites around Baghdad this morning, while Iraq still maintains it has no weapons, it is inviting an intelligence agent to verify that claim.
Let's turn to our own Rym Brahimi who joins us live from Baghdad.
Good morning, Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula.
Very busy day today for the inspectors. They went to a certain number of sites, as they have been in the past few days. They have stepped up their case, Paula.
Well, today, they went to a baby milk factory, the biological team went there. We understand that they asked the director of that site many questions, including what equipment he used to produce that baby milk, what chemicals were brought in, if any, or used to make that baby milk. It's an interesting site, Paula, because it was at the center of a controversy many years ago. It was bombed in the 1991 Gulf War, and the U.S. was saying it was dual-use facility, potentially used for biological weapons, and Iraq maintaining it was just a baby milk factory.
The rest of the teams spread out in different locations as they -- one team went to a drug research center. Another team went to a space research center that they visited for the first time yesterday. So a lot of work there, Paula. And also, they are planning for now to work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day -- Paula.
ZAHN: Rym, what's the final word on inspectors meeting with Iraqi scientists?
BRAHIMI: Well, our understanding from a briefing we had yesterday from President Saddam Hussein's top scientific adviser was that I don't think they saw a problem, from what he said, with just meeting, conducting interviews within the country, inside Iraq. In fact, he said that he was going submit, or Iraq was going to submit, a list of scientists and experts that has been requested by the United Nations, a long list starting in the hierarchal order, with top scientists going all the way down to the technicians, Paula.
But of course what he was reluctant to go into, Paula, saying we'll cross that bridge when we get into it, the famous, the big question, as you know, of Iraqi scientists being interviewed abroad with their families -- Paula. ZAHN: Rym Brahimi, thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
