Return to Transcripts main page
American Morning
Weapons Inspectors On Hunt In Iraq
Aired December 31, 2002 - 07:11 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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: UN inspectors are back on the hunt in Iraq this morning, and this, as chief weapons inspector Hans Blix plans to return to Iraq in mid-January -- that right before making a final report to the UN.
Our Rym Brahimi is standing by in Baghdad. She's got the very latest on this for us this morning.
Hello -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
Well, indeed, actually the Iraqi foreign minister has characterized the latest inspections in the past couple of days as very intrusive, saying that the inspectors spread out in the sites in a very surprising way, froze the sites within each building basically, employers weren't allowed to leave or enter their buildings even within the same site.
Now today, several teams went out again today. At least seven sites I think are being visited. Among them, a water -- a bottled water factory, a drug research center, an oil research and development center. So, still a lot of work in different, a big variety of fields there.
Now, in the middle of this tension, the buildup continues, and Iraqis are well aware of that, a lot of tension.
The newspaper here, the English-language newspaper you can see, Leon, saying Iraqis vow to fight harder than in 1991.
Now, despite this increase of tension, Iraq has been host to a series of peace groups; the latest, the National Council of Churches, a U.S.-based organization. They were here earlier today, and they met with Iraq's vice minister, Tariq Aziz. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEP. PRIME MINISTER: If it were in the hands of those honest ladies and gentlemen, then my answer would be yes. But you know, it's not in their hands. The situation is still in the hands of the warmongers. We hope that they will listen to the voice of peace here in Iraq, as well as in America. We hope so.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRAHIMI: Well, meanwhile, this may have been the last day of the year, Leon. It certainly isn't the last day of the inspectors' mission here on the ground. There will be a lot to do, and people are really wondering what's going to happen in the New Year -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well, Rym, I'm wondering what is it that Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, is going to be doing when he does go back to Iraq. What do we know about that? And is this in any way his return, and is it in any way connected to perhaps the efforts to take any of these scientists out to be interviewed outside of the country there?
BRAHIMI: Leon, that's a very good question. It may have something to do with the scientists indeed. There are a lot of questions over the procedures, over the modalities of eventually being able to take Iraqi scientists out of the country. And while people like Hans Blix have insisted that they are not leading an abduction agency, they have also been looking at ways of seeing how that can be arranged.
There is another issue they might want to address, and that is the weapons declaration that Iraq submitted earlier this month, Leon, and that Hans Blix said doesn't reveal any new information. Now, there will be fuller assessment of that on January the 9th, but no doubt Hans Blix will be responding to offers by Iraqi officials to present maybe more evidence or respond to more of the questions that the UN chief weapons inspector may have regarding that declaration -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you very much, Rym -- Rym Brahimi reporting live for us from Baghdad.
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 31, 2002 - 07:11 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: UN inspectors are back on the hunt in Iraq this morning, and this, as chief weapons inspector Hans Blix plans to return to Iraq in mid-January -- that right before making a final report to the UN.
Our Rym Brahimi is standing by in Baghdad. She's got the very latest on this for us this morning.
Hello -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Leon.
Well, indeed, actually the Iraqi foreign minister has characterized the latest inspections in the past couple of days as very intrusive, saying that the inspectors spread out in the sites in a very surprising way, froze the sites within each building basically, employers weren't allowed to leave or enter their buildings even within the same site.
Now today, several teams went out again today. At least seven sites I think are being visited. Among them, a water -- a bottled water factory, a drug research center, an oil research and development center. So, still a lot of work in different, a big variety of fields there.
Now, in the middle of this tension, the buildup continues, and Iraqis are well aware of that, a lot of tension.
The newspaper here, the English-language newspaper you can see, Leon, saying Iraqis vow to fight harder than in 1991.
Now, despite this increase of tension, Iraq has been host to a series of peace groups; the latest, the National Council of Churches, a U.S.-based organization. They were here earlier today, and they met with Iraq's vice minister, Tariq Aziz. Let's listen to what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TARIQ AZIZ, IRAQI DEP. PRIME MINISTER: If it were in the hands of those honest ladies and gentlemen, then my answer would be yes. But you know, it's not in their hands. The situation is still in the hands of the warmongers. We hope that they will listen to the voice of peace here in Iraq, as well as in America. We hope so.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BRAHIMI: Well, meanwhile, this may have been the last day of the year, Leon. It certainly isn't the last day of the inspectors' mission here on the ground. There will be a lot to do, and people are really wondering what's going to happen in the New Year -- Leon.
HARRIS: Well, Rym, I'm wondering what is it that Hans Blix, the chief UN weapons inspector, is going to be doing when he does go back to Iraq. What do we know about that? And is this in any way his return, and is it in any way connected to perhaps the efforts to take any of these scientists out to be interviewed outside of the country there?
BRAHIMI: Leon, that's a very good question. It may have something to do with the scientists indeed. There are a lot of questions over the procedures, over the modalities of eventually being able to take Iraqi scientists out of the country. And while people like Hans Blix have insisted that they are not leading an abduction agency, they have also been looking at ways of seeing how that can be arranged.
There is another issue they might want to address, and that is the weapons declaration that Iraq submitted earlier this month, Leon, and that Hans Blix said doesn't reveal any new information. Now, there will be fuller assessment of that on January the 9th, but no doubt Hans Blix will be responding to offers by Iraqi officials to present maybe more evidence or respond to more of the questions that the UN chief weapons inspector may have regarding that declaration -- Leon.
HARRIS: Thank you very much, Rym -- Rym Brahimi reporting live for us from Baghdad.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
