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American Morning

Saddam Hussein's Denials

Aired February 05, 2003 - 07:19   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: Yet again as the world waits for Colin Powell's evidence today at the U.N., inspectors find another empty chemical warhead north of Baghdad.
Nic Robertson back on the scene live now to tell us what is found there and what more is happening in the Iraqi capital.

Nic -- hello.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.

Well, that chemical warhead, the very same from a 122 millimeter missile, the very same as the dozen chemical warheads found almost three weeks ago by U.N. weapons inspectors in an ammunition dump south of Baghdad. Interestingly at that time, the Iraqi officials said we'll launch our own investigation, find out if we have anymore of these warheads. They discovered four more very soon after. Those four were discovered at the same site as where the U.N. weapons inspectors yesterday independently discovered one more. So, now 17 in total of these chemical warheads found here.

Very interestingly, an interview broadcast conducted by a former British parliamentarian with President Saddam Hussein, some interesting things coming out from that interview. He says Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction, challenges anyone to find them. He says that weapons of mass destruction are huge. They're not like an aspirin, he says, so they should be easy to discover if they're really here. Of course, he says they aren't.

He denies that Iraq has ties with al Qaeda. Indeed he said if Iraq did, then he would have no problem -- he would not be ashamed to announce it.

Also, many times during that interview talking about the desire for peace. He told this former British parliamentarian to tell the people of Britain that the Iraqis are good people, that they want peace. However, he also said that if forced and if challenged to war, then the people here are courageous, dignified, and he said there would be no doubt that they would defend their country -- Bill.

HEMMER: We have often heard that in the past several weeks about defending Iraq. Have you been able to detect or have been given any information about how the Iraqi military right now might be getting ready in the field be it Baghdad or in other parts of the country?

ROBERTSON: We took a drive to Mosul (ph) yesterday, 200 miles to the north. On show there, it was a huge parade, 30,000 to 40,000 volunteers. It was very much a show of the strength of Iraq's forces in the north. But of course, way up there, they're very close to Turkey, which could be a place an invasion force would come from. Very close to that area of Iraq that the Kurds control, about 30 or 40 miles away from there. So, it's very important for Iraq to show a strong presence there.

The details of what defenses they're making, very difficult to analyze for us, Bill, as we drive around the country. Yes, we do see a lot more soldiers around. It's very difficult to tell exactly what they're doing however.

HEMMER: Nonetheless, the drum is beating. Thank you, Nic -- Nic Robertson in 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 February 5, 2003 - 07:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Yet again as the world waits for Colin Powell's evidence today at the U.N., inspectors find another empty chemical warhead north of Baghdad.
Nic Robertson back on the scene live now to tell us what is found there and what more is happening in the Iraqi capital.

Nic -- hello.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Bill.

Well, that chemical warhead, the very same from a 122 millimeter missile, the very same as the dozen chemical warheads found almost three weeks ago by U.N. weapons inspectors in an ammunition dump south of Baghdad. Interestingly at that time, the Iraqi officials said we'll launch our own investigation, find out if we have anymore of these warheads. They discovered four more very soon after. Those four were discovered at the same site as where the U.N. weapons inspectors yesterday independently discovered one more. So, now 17 in total of these chemical warheads found here.

Very interestingly, an interview broadcast conducted by a former British parliamentarian with President Saddam Hussein, some interesting things coming out from that interview. He says Iraq does not have weapons of mass destruction, challenges anyone to find them. He says that weapons of mass destruction are huge. They're not like an aspirin, he says, so they should be easy to discover if they're really here. Of course, he says they aren't.

He denies that Iraq has ties with al Qaeda. Indeed he said if Iraq did, then he would have no problem -- he would not be ashamed to announce it.

Also, many times during that interview talking about the desire for peace. He told this former British parliamentarian to tell the people of Britain that the Iraqis are good people, that they want peace. However, he also said that if forced and if challenged to war, then the people here are courageous, dignified, and he said there would be no doubt that they would defend their country -- Bill.

HEMMER: We have often heard that in the past several weeks about defending Iraq. Have you been able to detect or have been given any information about how the Iraqi military right now might be getting ready in the field be it Baghdad or in other parts of the country?

ROBERTSON: We took a drive to Mosul (ph) yesterday, 200 miles to the north. On show there, it was a huge parade, 30,000 to 40,000 volunteers. It was very much a show of the strength of Iraq's forces in the north. But of course, way up there, they're very close to Turkey, which could be a place an invasion force would come from. Very close to that area of Iraq that the Kurds control, about 30 or 40 miles away from there. So, it's very important for Iraq to show a strong presence there.

The details of what defenses they're making, very difficult to analyze for us, Bill, as we drive around the country. Yes, we do see a lot more soldiers around. It's very difficult to tell exactly what they're doing however.

HEMMER: Nonetheless, the drum is beating. Thank you, Nic -- Nic Robertson in 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