Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Sunday Morning
Bin Laden: Nuclear Weapons Will be Used Under Provocation
Aired November 11, 2001 - 07:01 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: We are learning more today about Osama bin Laden's interview in the Pakistani newspaper. The accused terrorist mastermind is quoted as saying that he has nuclear and chemical weapons, and he'd use them against the U.S. if provoked.
CNN's Nic Robertson has been investigated the reports. He is in Islamabad to tell us what he knows -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Martin, those reports first surfaced here in Pakistan yesterday and CNN went out of its way to convince ourselves that the report or the interview was genuine. So we went to meet Hamid Mir, the journalist who said he interviewed Osama bin Laden. And he showed us photographs that he said were taken in the last few days of him meeting with Osama bin Laden.
And indeed, he and Osama bin Laden were featured in those pictures. We saw the negative of those photographs. We saw the stamps in his passport where he -- showing he left Pakistan for Afghanistan at those dates, came back at that time. And he also played us a segment of his interview as recorded on an audiotape. The voices on that, we were told, were of Osama bin Laden and the interview was being translating back into English by Osama bin Laden's lieutenant, Dr. Ayman Al-Zawahiri.
Now, Hamid Mir describes being taken to that interview and he said it was somewhere in the mountains, he believed north of Kabul. He said it was very cold. He describes being blindfolded. He describes being wrapped in a carpet at certain times on the backseat of a Land Cruiser car and then being driven for five hours to an unknown destination. He said when he got there, he could hear gunfire going on in the background.
He described the location he was taken to, where he met with Osama bin Laden -- he described that location as more of a mud hutch than a cave, that there were blankets on the wall, disguising the location so he couldn't give a -- get an accurate feel of where he was. But he said, during that interview, he asked Osama bin Laden the question of his nuclear capability.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMID MIR, PAKISTANI JOURNALIST: I put that question that according to some reports in different western newspapers, you are trying to acquire some nuclear and chemical weapons. He was very brief. He said that if the United States of America is going to use chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we reserve the right to respond back. He said that we will not use these kinds of weapons first. So this is -- these weapons are just for defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now he also said that he doubted himself. Hamid Mir said he doubted whether Osama bin Laden does have those nuclear capabilities and the certainly that is the view of a lot of terrorism analysts who think that maybe Osama bin Laden, in the past, has in fact tried to acquire nuclear type material, but is unlikely to have developed the expertise to weaponize it. They do say, however, it is possible that he has some form of chemical and possibly biological warfare type capability. Although, that, they believe, is limited.
Now, Mir also said that Osama bin Laden denied his involvement in the September 11 attacks. He said that the United States didn't have any evidence against him. Now, for Hamid Mir, he said that the key thing that came out of this interview for him was an apparent U-turn by Osama bin Laden on his policy to United States citizens.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIR: He took a U-turn on the issue of the killing of Americans. Previously, he was saying -- he was quoted in different interviews, that he said that "I am against all the Americans." But this time, he said, "I'm not against all the American people. I am only against the American policies."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERTSON: Now this is something that surprises analysts as well because until now, Osama bin Laden has only ratcheted up his rhetoric against American citizens, including them on targets as well as American military personnel and government officials. Now, Mir said that during this interview, this 90-minute interview, with Osama bin Laden, about four times an hour, Osama bin Laden was contacted, being given updated military reports on the progress of the war, particularly as it progressed around the key northern city in Afghanistan of Mazar-e-Sharif -- Martin.
SAVIDGE: Well, Nic, one of the things, actually a number of things I found interesting about this interview were the details that you bring out there. First and foremost, the fact that apparently it implies that Osama bin Laden is still in Afghanistan and geographically appears to be located north of the capital.
ROBERTSON: Yes, I think it's very difficult to know for sure, exactly, where he is. Hamid Mir said it was only -- he could only guess that he was north of the capital because he felt that he was up higher in the mountains. And the mountains do get higher north of Kabul. He said he believed that because he was very, very cold. Although surprising to hear that Osama bin Laden would put himself in a location where gunfire could be heard and claiming that he was possibly somewhere closer to battlefront or somewhere that might be -- being targeted by American aircraft. Now, Mir said that Osama bin Laden not only keeps in touch with a battlefield on the ground inside Afghanistan but also that he keeps in touch with events going on in the world through television, through CNN and other television broadcasts, that he is able to get a sense of what's happening in the world. And part of that conversation with Hamid Mir, Osama bin Laden was saying that he was very encouraged to see coming out on the streets in the United States and Europe protesting against these air strikes. In fact, Hamid Mir said Osama bin Laden was encouraging people to do that.
SAVIDGE: Some very interesting information, Nic. So of course, we'll continue to work on the translation and going over the details. Thank you very much for joining us live from Islamabad this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
