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CNN Sunday Morning

U.S. May Need Kurds' Help

Aired December 22, 2002 - 07:05   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to U.S. war preparations in the Kurd regions of northern Iraq. The U.S. has been protecting the Kurds by patrolling the no-fly zone over northern Iraq since the Gulf War ended. Now, the U.S. may need the Kurds' help, should Western forces enter Iraq.
CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad, and Rym, maybe you could explain why the role of the Kurds would be so pivotal.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this is a very important issue for everybody actually that may be involved in potential war here. The Kurds, as you know, are not of the same ethnic origin as the Arabs that make up the main population here in Iraq. They're a minority. Some of them are actually attached, or have pledged allegiance to Baghdad; others haven't but are still in may be in direct talks with Baghdad from to time, although they do talk to the U.S., to Britain, to a lot of other people.

The Kurds have wanted to have an autonomous region. Some have wanted independence. There has been a lot of strife and struggle in those regions, not only the Kurds as opposed to Turkey, because there are a lot of Kurds living in Turkey, and Iran as well, and in Syria, or as well as in Iraq, but also among the Kurds, between themselves, a lot of different factions. There's been a lot of infighting between themselves as well.

They could play a critical role because, of course, if there are rumors there are always these voices about American troops in that region -- well, they could be a gateway opening the door to Baghdad, or they could not. If they chose to, you know, if they thought that at the end of the day that it wasn't in their interest to do so, they might end up saying, we're not sure this is what we want.

What we do know, though, Fredricka, is that they do want some measure of autonomy, and they are getting a pretty good deal now, even as they're being controlled mainly by Kurdish groups, or by the United Nations in many ways, they get a lot of the proceeds for instance that's come into Iraq through the Oil for Food deal that Iraq has through the United Nations, but still there's -- there are a lot of different physical problems that remain unsolved -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Rym, let's now talk about the weapons inspections ongoing there. What is the latest, and you know, what do you know about what movement or what inspections sites there may be for today?

BRAHIMI: Well, the inspectors have been out again today. We're only a few days before Christmas, but they've been going out all the time, even on Muslim days of rest. I mean, they've been working very hard. There's been more than 100 of them on the ground, as you know, Fredricka. They went to several sites today. We know of a water facility. They've been to a detergent factory. Some of them went to a missile place, where there was missile activity in the past, and another group went to a new site -- it's a site that has -- that does some space research.

Now, it would be interesting to know, we're hoping to hear from the spokesman of the U.N. inspection team here, whether those, whether that new site came in Iraq's weapons declaration on December the 7th, or whether it's a site a that may have been indicated in U.S. intelligence reports.

Meanwhile, we're also hoping to have an official reaction to the United States saying that Iraq is in material breach, and two, United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix who says, the declaration is incomplete. But the newspapers, the state-run media have all been very vocal, accusing the U.S. of trying to dominate the world by saying that Iraq is in material breach and of trying to find a pretext to launch a war against Iraq -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rym Brahimi, thank you very much from Baghdad -- appreciate it.

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 22, 2002 - 07:05   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to U.S. war preparations in the Kurd regions of northern Iraq. The U.S. has been protecting the Kurds by patrolling the no-fly zone over northern Iraq since the Gulf War ended. Now, the U.S. may need the Kurds' help, should Western forces enter Iraq.
CNN's Rym Brahimi is in Baghdad, and Rym, maybe you could explain why the role of the Kurds would be so pivotal.

RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, this is a very important issue for everybody actually that may be involved in potential war here. The Kurds, as you know, are not of the same ethnic origin as the Arabs that make up the main population here in Iraq. They're a minority. Some of them are actually attached, or have pledged allegiance to Baghdad; others haven't but are still in may be in direct talks with Baghdad from to time, although they do talk to the U.S., to Britain, to a lot of other people.

The Kurds have wanted to have an autonomous region. Some have wanted independence. There has been a lot of strife and struggle in those regions, not only the Kurds as opposed to Turkey, because there are a lot of Kurds living in Turkey, and Iran as well, and in Syria, or as well as in Iraq, but also among the Kurds, between themselves, a lot of different factions. There's been a lot of infighting between themselves as well.

They could play a critical role because, of course, if there are rumors there are always these voices about American troops in that region -- well, they could be a gateway opening the door to Baghdad, or they could not. If they chose to, you know, if they thought that at the end of the day that it wasn't in their interest to do so, they might end up saying, we're not sure this is what we want.

What we do know, though, Fredricka, is that they do want some measure of autonomy, and they are getting a pretty good deal now, even as they're being controlled mainly by Kurdish groups, or by the United Nations in many ways, they get a lot of the proceeds for instance that's come into Iraq through the Oil for Food deal that Iraq has through the United Nations, but still there's -- there are a lot of different physical problems that remain unsolved -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Rym, let's now talk about the weapons inspections ongoing there. What is the latest, and you know, what do you know about what movement or what inspections sites there may be for today?

BRAHIMI: Well, the inspectors have been out again today. We're only a few days before Christmas, but they've been going out all the time, even on Muslim days of rest. I mean, they've been working very hard. There's been more than 100 of them on the ground, as you know, Fredricka. They went to several sites today. We know of a water facility. They've been to a detergent factory. Some of them went to a missile place, where there was missile activity in the past, and another group went to a new site -- it's a site that has -- that does some space research.

Now, it would be interesting to know, we're hoping to hear from the spokesman of the U.N. inspection team here, whether those, whether that new site came in Iraq's weapons declaration on December the 7th, or whether it's a site a that may have been indicated in U.S. intelligence reports.

Meanwhile, we're also hoping to have an official reaction to the United States saying that Iraq is in material breach, and two, United Nations chief weapons inspector Hans Blix who says, the declaration is incomplete. But the newspapers, the state-run media have all been very vocal, accusing the U.S. of trying to dominate the world by saying that Iraq is in material breach and of trying to find a pretext to launch a war against Iraq -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rym Brahimi, thank you very much from Baghdad -- appreciate it.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com