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CNN Sunday Morning
Blix Says Weapons Inspections Offer Baghdad Way to Avoid War
Aired November 17, 2002 - 09:02 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.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hans Blix says renewed weapons inspections offer Baghdad a way to avoid war. The U.N. chief weapons inspector arrived in Cyprus a short time ago. It's his last stop before flying to Baghdad tomorrow with an advance team of inspectors. CNN's Richard Roth was on the plane with Dr. Blix and the rest of the team. Joins us now live with an update from Cyprus. Hello, Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. A quietly confident group of inspectors, now here at Larnaca's Airport. They are ready to leave for a hotel. They'll fly into Baghdad tomorrow morning. Hans Blix, the head of the U.N. weapons agency, and Mohammed El-Baradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. There's going to be about 20 or 30 people who are going to go into Baghdad.
They say here at a news conference that it's time. They've been out of Baghdad for nearly four years and they are ready to resume inspections. There's been some criticism in the Arab world about the geographic diversity of those working on the inspection process. Mr. Blix has said that the only Arab nation to offer inspectors for consideration was Jordan. Today, Blix and Mohammed El-Baradei defended the selection process of the inspectors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: We are determined to be an honest organ, a subsidiary of the Security Council, and until now, that is also how we've been perceived. Our composition is one that is normal for the United Nations. The first criteria is competence and skill. The second criteria is that we seek a broad geographical distribution of our staff, and we do have that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Now, Dr. Blix noted that in the past, there, there were people who were on the inspection teams who gave some of the information gathered to various governments, including the United States. Now the employees are hired by the United Nations. Blix again said that he wouldn't tolerate anybody involved in any type of double work or espionage.
As for what they're going to look for, hundreds of sites are available. It's believe they've got 100 or so they want to go for at first. And Dr. Hans Blix addressed the topic of the destination of those on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLIX: There will be lots of allegations about concealment or about putting weapons of mass destruction, mobile targets, et cetera, and it certainly is a challenge to try to find underground installations. We do, of course, expect to get tips from various member states. We also have modern equipment, which is very superior to what we had in the past. But in the first place, we'd like the Iraqis to declare, because this is an opportunity for them to do so, and we hope that they will seize that opportunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: And that's what you'll hear stressed all the time from the leading inspectors. They need cooperation from Iraq. And if Baghdad wants to get out of the sanctions that it's been under for more than 10 years, it can only do so by helping out with the returning inspectors -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Richard, question for you on this communication issue. These people are staffers of the U.N., they are also members or citizens of various countries. Can they report back to their individual countries, and how will this team avoid the perception of espionage?
ROTH: Well, there always could be the double overlap, because the problem is that the U.N. doesn't have its own intelligence networks and sophisticated communications gathering systems, and it is requesting help from governments. So naturally, there is going to be a little bit of feedback.
But this time, the U.N. is stressing that the first customer is the U.N., and they realize, at least the inspector generals here realize, that they will blow all credibility if once again information goes back to the national governments. But that's, of course, what Iraq is fearing, and there probably will be nothing in this area that will calm any fears regarding two-headed monsters.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Richard Roth in Cyprus. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
War>
Aired November 17, 2002 - 09:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Hans Blix says renewed weapons inspections offer Baghdad a way to avoid war. The U.N. chief weapons inspector arrived in Cyprus a short time ago. It's his last stop before flying to Baghdad tomorrow with an advance team of inspectors. CNN's Richard Roth was on the plane with Dr. Blix and the rest of the team. Joins us now live with an update from Cyprus. Hello, Richard.
RICHARD ROTH, CNN SR. U.N. CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. A quietly confident group of inspectors, now here at Larnaca's Airport. They are ready to leave for a hotel. They'll fly into Baghdad tomorrow morning. Hans Blix, the head of the U.N. weapons agency, and Mohammed El-Baradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency. There's going to be about 20 or 30 people who are going to go into Baghdad.
They say here at a news conference that it's time. They've been out of Baghdad for nearly four years and they are ready to resume inspections. There's been some criticism in the Arab world about the geographic diversity of those working on the inspection process. Mr. Blix has said that the only Arab nation to offer inspectors for consideration was Jordan. Today, Blix and Mohammed El-Baradei defended the selection process of the inspectors.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HANS BLIX, U.N. CHIEF WEAPONS INSPECTOR: We are determined to be an honest organ, a subsidiary of the Security Council, and until now, that is also how we've been perceived. Our composition is one that is normal for the United Nations. The first criteria is competence and skill. The second criteria is that we seek a broad geographical distribution of our staff, and we do have that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: Now, Dr. Blix noted that in the past, there, there were people who were on the inspection teams who gave some of the information gathered to various governments, including the United States. Now the employees are hired by the United Nations. Blix again said that he wouldn't tolerate anybody involved in any type of double work or espionage.
As for what they're going to look for, hundreds of sites are available. It's believe they've got 100 or so they want to go for at first. And Dr. Hans Blix addressed the topic of the destination of those on the ground.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLIX: There will be lots of allegations about concealment or about putting weapons of mass destruction, mobile targets, et cetera, and it certainly is a challenge to try to find underground installations. We do, of course, expect to get tips from various member states. We also have modern equipment, which is very superior to what we had in the past. But in the first place, we'd like the Iraqis to declare, because this is an opportunity for them to do so, and we hope that they will seize that opportunity.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROTH: And that's what you'll hear stressed all the time from the leading inspectors. They need cooperation from Iraq. And if Baghdad wants to get out of the sanctions that it's been under for more than 10 years, it can only do so by helping out with the returning inspectors -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Richard, question for you on this communication issue. These people are staffers of the U.N., they are also members or citizens of various countries. Can they report back to their individual countries, and how will this team avoid the perception of espionage?
ROTH: Well, there always could be the double overlap, because the problem is that the U.N. doesn't have its own intelligence networks and sophisticated communications gathering systems, and it is requesting help from governments. So naturally, there is going to be a little bit of feedback.
But this time, the U.N. is stressing that the first customer is the U.N., and they realize, at least the inspector generals here realize, that they will blow all credibility if once again information goes back to the national governments. But that's, of course, what Iraq is fearing, and there probably will be nothing in this area that will calm any fears regarding two-headed monsters.
O'BRIEN: CNN's Richard Roth in Cyprus. Thank you very much.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
War>
