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American Morning

Interview with Former Iraqi Nuclear Scientist

Aired February 28, 2003 - 07:08   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: He defied Saddam Hussein and lives to tell the story. Hussain Al-Shahristani was a leading Iraqi scientist when he refused the Iraqi president's request to build nuclear weapons. That was in 1979. As a result, he was tortured, and spent nearly 12 years in prison before escaping.
Now, he works with Iraq's opposition, and says Saddam does have chemical and biological weapons.

I had the chance to talk with him yesterday, and I asked him where the nerve agents are being stored, and what Saddam plans to do with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUSSAIN AL-SHAHRISTANI, NUCLEAR SCIENTIST: He has a very elaborate concealment system with more than 2,000 special security officers trained to move these around, hide them deep underground, build a tunnel system and thereby guard it, which he has been using in the past to move about the city and also to store some of these.

ZAHN: How extensive is the tunnel system?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: The reports we keep hearing from inside Iraq that he has in the last decade expanded them to a multilayer system connecting his presidential palaces, security headquarters, command centers, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) store them and so on. So, I estimate it's a few tens of kilometers of tunnels under Baghdad.

ZAHN: Now, we know you got out of the country in '91. At that time, did you see evidence of this tunnel system?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: No, as a matter of fact, I was in jail until 1991, so I personally didn't have a chance to see any of these tunnels. But recently, I have spoken to people who have been working in these tunnels, and specifically on weapons of mass destruction.

ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit more about these tunnels. Are you being told by your contacts in Iraq that that is where some of this weaponry now is being stored, areas that inspectors can't get to?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: Well, so far, they have not been to them, and it's to me surprising that the inspectors have not found their way to the tunnel system yet.

ZAHN: And why do you think they haven't found this tunnel system? AL-SHAHRISTANI: Well, Saddam has been concealing these. Most people who have known about these in the past have been taken out by the regime, and they are not to be found anymore. And the only people who actually use the tunnel system are his most trusted security officers. So, there's very, very small information about these tunnels, and I presume it has not been communicated to the inspectors by the intelligence agencies yet.

ZAHN: It is your belief that Saddam Hussein has a plan, a significant plan in the works to create what you would call a chemical belt?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: There was a report from the resistance groups inside Iraq that Saddam has considered sitting up a chemical belt around Baghdad, entrapping about four million residents in the city and use them as a human shield to fight his street battles. This is what I have heard from some political activists inside the country recently.

ZAHN: And what is their understanding of how it would work?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: He has not started to implement that program yet, but when he decides to do that, I assume he will be burying in very shallow holes under the ground bottles at distances -- well, perhaps 100 meters from one hole to another, and put a remote -- or put a detonator that he can remotely detonate from his command centers. And whenever he decides the time is right, he will try to detonate it so as to entrap the people inside the city and also to hinder the advancement of the troops to the city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Al-Shahristani told me he is sure Saddam would want to build this belt, but many of his soldiers might turn against him before it could be done. We note once again that Mr. Shahristani has been out of Iraq since 1991, but the Pentagon is aware of tunnels and bunkers in and around 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 28, 2003 - 07:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: He defied Saddam Hussein and lives to tell the story. Hussain Al-Shahristani was a leading Iraqi scientist when he refused the Iraqi president's request to build nuclear weapons. That was in 1979. As a result, he was tortured, and spent nearly 12 years in prison before escaping.
Now, he works with Iraq's opposition, and says Saddam does have chemical and biological weapons.

I had the chance to talk with him yesterday, and I asked him where the nerve agents are being stored, and what Saddam plans to do with them.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUSSAIN AL-SHAHRISTANI, NUCLEAR SCIENTIST: He has a very elaborate concealment system with more than 2,000 special security officers trained to move these around, hide them deep underground, build a tunnel system and thereby guard it, which he has been using in the past to move about the city and also to store some of these.

ZAHN: How extensive is the tunnel system?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: The reports we keep hearing from inside Iraq that he has in the last decade expanded them to a multilayer system connecting his presidential palaces, security headquarters, command centers, (UNINTELLIGIBLE) store them and so on. So, I estimate it's a few tens of kilometers of tunnels under Baghdad.

ZAHN: Now, we know you got out of the country in '91. At that time, did you see evidence of this tunnel system?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: No, as a matter of fact, I was in jail until 1991, so I personally didn't have a chance to see any of these tunnels. But recently, I have spoken to people who have been working in these tunnels, and specifically on weapons of mass destruction.

ZAHN: Let's talk a little bit more about these tunnels. Are you being told by your contacts in Iraq that that is where some of this weaponry now is being stored, areas that inspectors can't get to?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: Well, so far, they have not been to them, and it's to me surprising that the inspectors have not found their way to the tunnel system yet.

ZAHN: And why do you think they haven't found this tunnel system? AL-SHAHRISTANI: Well, Saddam has been concealing these. Most people who have known about these in the past have been taken out by the regime, and they are not to be found anymore. And the only people who actually use the tunnel system are his most trusted security officers. So, there's very, very small information about these tunnels, and I presume it has not been communicated to the inspectors by the intelligence agencies yet.

ZAHN: It is your belief that Saddam Hussein has a plan, a significant plan in the works to create what you would call a chemical belt?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: There was a report from the resistance groups inside Iraq that Saddam has considered sitting up a chemical belt around Baghdad, entrapping about four million residents in the city and use them as a human shield to fight his street battles. This is what I have heard from some political activists inside the country recently.

ZAHN: And what is their understanding of how it would work?

AL-SHAHRISTANI: He has not started to implement that program yet, but when he decides to do that, I assume he will be burying in very shallow holes under the ground bottles at distances -- well, perhaps 100 meters from one hole to another, and put a remote -- or put a detonator that he can remotely detonate from his command centers. And whenever he decides the time is right, he will try to detonate it so as to entrap the people inside the city and also to hinder the advancement of the troops to the city.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ZAHN: Al-Shahristani told me he is sure Saddam would want to build this belt, but many of his soldiers might turn against him before it could be done. We note once again that Mr. Shahristani has been out of Iraq since 1991, but the Pentagon is aware of tunnels and bunkers in and around 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.