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CNN Sunday Morning

U.N. Inspectors Continue Work in Baghdad

Aired December 29, 2002 - 10:07   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: In Iraq, it was back to work again today for inspectors searching throughout Baghdad for weapons of mass destruction. Teams marked the 30th day of their weapons hunt by visiting a number of sites. Our Rym Brahimi is standing by live in Baghdad with the very latest -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. Well, three sites at least today. That's as far as we know from Iraqi officials. One of the sites, a custom's office in Baghdad, so no doubt the inspectors will be trying to find records or any information on what has been coming in to Iraq, any kind of equipment there that could be of interest to them.

As you know also, Fredricka, Baghdad has released a list of more than 500 Iraqi scientists that could be interviewed by the United Nations weapons inspectors. Now, the issue here is, of course, will they be willing to be interviewed alone. Well, so far, the two interviews that have taken place with the U.N. weapons inspectors, both scientists have been refused to be alone in that room with the weapons inspectors, asking for a witness from the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate to be present.

The next step will also be, obviously, will they be willing to talk abroad or will they want to stay in the country. And again, so far the scientists have said they want to stay in the country, those two that were interviewed.

Now, a couple of other things happening here, Fredricka. A meeting set by Saddam Hussein to discuss Arab regional and international affairs, a very high-level meeting with his top advisers from the Ba'ath ruling party. And then, a bit of an event here for people who live in Baghdad, a plane flew very, very fast, making a huge booming noise. A lot of eyewitnesses rushed out into the streets thinking this may be a plane that was breaking the sound barrier. We don't have any details. But, you know, Fredricka, we notice when a plane flies over Baghdad, because of the sanctions, obviously, there aren't that many planes flying over the city -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Rym, you mentioned that two of the scientists who have already been interviewed, is anything more being learned about? The large pool of scientists, I remember, as of late last night, they were still trying to translate a number of the names on the list of 500.

BRAHIMI: That's right, Fredricka. Well, yes, there are a lot of names on that list and they're all in hierarchical order, so going from the top-level scientists down to the engineers and the technicians. I'm not sure where they've reached in their translation either in New York, U.N. headquarters, or here in Baghdad. But definitely that was a lot of lists, a big, big list.

And I think the main thing now is going to be to find out the procedures, how do they go about interviewing these people. There were a lot of questions as to how it worked out in the first two formal interviews. You see, the first one, Fredricka, the inspectors just went to the university and said, "We want to talk to this man." And they did the interview there and then. In the second case, they actually called the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate and asked them to get in touch with the scientist. So they haven't actually established a set procedure for that.

And then, of course, there's that famous question about how would they go about trying to interview Iraqi scientists abroad if those scientists, so far, are saying, "Well, we don't want to leave Iraq" -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rym Brahimi. Thank you very much from 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 December 29, 2002 - 10:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: In Iraq, it was back to work again today for inspectors searching throughout Baghdad for weapons of mass destruction. Teams marked the 30th day of their weapons hunt by visiting a number of sites. Our Rym Brahimi is standing by live in Baghdad with the very latest -- Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fredricka. Well, three sites at least today. That's as far as we know from Iraqi officials. One of the sites, a custom's office in Baghdad, so no doubt the inspectors will be trying to find records or any information on what has been coming in to Iraq, any kind of equipment there that could be of interest to them.

As you know also, Fredricka, Baghdad has released a list of more than 500 Iraqi scientists that could be interviewed by the United Nations weapons inspectors. Now, the issue here is, of course, will they be willing to be interviewed alone. Well, so far, the two interviews that have taken place with the U.N. weapons inspectors, both scientists have been refused to be alone in that room with the weapons inspectors, asking for a witness from the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate to be present.

The next step will also be, obviously, will they be willing to talk abroad or will they want to stay in the country. And again, so far the scientists have said they want to stay in the country, those two that were interviewed.

Now, a couple of other things happening here, Fredricka. A meeting set by Saddam Hussein to discuss Arab regional and international affairs, a very high-level meeting with his top advisers from the Ba'ath ruling party. And then, a bit of an event here for people who live in Baghdad, a plane flew very, very fast, making a huge booming noise. A lot of eyewitnesses rushed out into the streets thinking this may be a plane that was breaking the sound barrier. We don't have any details. But, you know, Fredricka, we notice when a plane flies over Baghdad, because of the sanctions, obviously, there aren't that many planes flying over the city -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Well, Rym, you mentioned that two of the scientists who have already been interviewed, is anything more being learned about? The large pool of scientists, I remember, as of late last night, they were still trying to translate a number of the names on the list of 500.

BRAHIMI: That's right, Fredricka. Well, yes, there are a lot of names on that list and they're all in hierarchical order, so going from the top-level scientists down to the engineers and the technicians. I'm not sure where they've reached in their translation either in New York, U.N. headquarters, or here in Baghdad. But definitely that was a lot of lists, a big, big list.

And I think the main thing now is going to be to find out the procedures, how do they go about interviewing these people. There were a lot of questions as to how it worked out in the first two formal interviews. You see, the first one, Fredricka, the inspectors just went to the university and said, "We want to talk to this man." And they did the interview there and then. In the second case, they actually called the Iraqi National Monitoring Directorate and asked them to get in touch with the scientist. So they haven't actually established a set procedure for that.

And then, of course, there's that famous question about how would they go about trying to interview Iraqi scientists abroad if those scientists, so far, are saying, "Well, we don't want to leave Iraq" -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rym Brahimi. Thank you very much from 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