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CNN Sunday Morning
Chief U.N. Inspectors Begin Second Round of Talks in Baghdad
Aired February 09, 2003 - 07:02 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: Now, to our top story this morning. With the threat of war looming large over Iraq, the chief U.N. weapons inspectors beginning today's second round of talks in Baghdad as we speak. Rym Brahimi joining us from Baghdad with the latest. Hello, Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. With the two U.N. chief weapons inspectors are actually in a lunch break right now, they've held their second round of talks.
It lasted some two and half hours, Miles, last night. Yesterday evening's discussions lasted from three and a half hours. The -- some documents were presented by the Iraqi side both yesterday and this morning, we're told, by a spokesman from the International Atomic Energy Agency. That spokesman -- that spokesman also said that the discussions were very detailed and technical.
Now, of course this is very important because Mohamed ElBaradei and Hans Blix have both said that beyond those three main issues, that were the private interviews with scientists, the overflight of U-2 planes and enforcing the decision to ban any activities related to prohibited weapons. Well, they wanted to see some concrete progress, concrete evidence, documents, people in charge of past weapons programs, to make sure that they know of what is happening to answer those outstanding issues that were raised in Dr. Blix's previous report.
The talks are supposed to resume in about an hour from now, Miles, and of course they're very crucial, because they're going to determine what Hans Blix will tell the U.N. Security Council on February 14 -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Rym, any chance Dr. Blix, or Mr. ElBaradei will get a chance to see Saddam Hussein?
BRAHIMI: Miles, it looks very unlikely. The two chief U.N. weapons inspectors had asked to talk to officials at the highest level. Now, last time they were here they spoke to Vice President Tahi Yassin Ramadan, that's about as high as it gets if you're not seeing the president here.
Now, Mohamed ElBaradei had suggested that he'd be happy to talk to President Saddam Hussein, but that doesn't look likely for now. They are having lunch, we are told, with a high level official, and yesterday's dinner was hosted by the foreign minister, Naji Sabri -- so, I think that's were it's going to go. They just want to make sure, from what we know from U.N. sources, that their messages are being conveyed, that they're -- what they want to see happen for them to be able to present a correct report on Friday -- well, they want to make sure that it goes up to the very top, definitely -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Rym Brahimi in Baghdad, thanks 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
Baghdad>
Aired February 9, 2003 - 07:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now, to our top story this morning. With the threat of war looming large over Iraq, the chief U.N. weapons inspectors beginning today's second round of talks in Baghdad as we speak. Rym Brahimi joining us from Baghdad with the latest. Hello, Rym.
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hello, Miles. With the two U.N. chief weapons inspectors are actually in a lunch break right now, they've held their second round of talks.
It lasted some two and half hours, Miles, last night. Yesterday evening's discussions lasted from three and a half hours. The -- some documents were presented by the Iraqi side both yesterday and this morning, we're told, by a spokesman from the International Atomic Energy Agency. That spokesman -- that spokesman also said that the discussions were very detailed and technical.
Now, of course this is very important because Mohamed ElBaradei and Hans Blix have both said that beyond those three main issues, that were the private interviews with scientists, the overflight of U-2 planes and enforcing the decision to ban any activities related to prohibited weapons. Well, they wanted to see some concrete progress, concrete evidence, documents, people in charge of past weapons programs, to make sure that they know of what is happening to answer those outstanding issues that were raised in Dr. Blix's previous report.
The talks are supposed to resume in about an hour from now, Miles, and of course they're very crucial, because they're going to determine what Hans Blix will tell the U.N. Security Council on February 14 -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Rym, any chance Dr. Blix, or Mr. ElBaradei will get a chance to see Saddam Hussein?
BRAHIMI: Miles, it looks very unlikely. The two chief U.N. weapons inspectors had asked to talk to officials at the highest level. Now, last time they were here they spoke to Vice President Tahi Yassin Ramadan, that's about as high as it gets if you're not seeing the president here.
Now, Mohamed ElBaradei had suggested that he'd be happy to talk to President Saddam Hussein, but that doesn't look likely for now. They are having lunch, we are told, with a high level official, and yesterday's dinner was hosted by the foreign minister, Naji Sabri -- so, I think that's were it's going to go. They just want to make sure, from what we know from U.N. sources, that their messages are being conveyed, that they're -- what they want to see happen for them to be able to present a correct report on Friday -- well, they want to make sure that it goes up to the very top, definitely -- Miles.
O'BRIEN: Rym Brahimi in Baghdad, thanks 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
Baghdad>
