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CNN Sunday Morning
Bush Works With International Community to Get New U.N. Resolution
Aired February 23, 2003 - 07:31 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.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush has been working with the leaders of Spain, Italy and Britain to draft and build support for a new U.N. resolution to disarm Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, U.N. weapons inspectors visited two sites today involved -- on Sunday, involved in missile production.
For the latest on what's going on inside Iraq, we head to our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson.
NIC ROBERTSON: Well Jonathan, at the heart of the inspectors work here, the al Samoud two missiles that Hans Blix, the U.N. weapons chief, has told Iraqi officials they must begin destroying by March the 1st, no word from Iraqi officials if they'll do that. We are expecting to arrive here today. A team of South African experts who were involved in Iraq, or rather involved in South Africa's disarm -- weapons of mass destruction disarmament process in the 1990s, they're expected to give advice and their experience to Iraqi officials here.
But whether over the last few days and weeks we had seen a number of very different peace activists arriving here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): From the cute, that's Miss Germany brought in by her country's top tabloid paper, to the accusing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want the media to be objective.
ROBERTSON: Brought in by their conviction the world's not getting the peace message. To the seasoned. He tried to stop the 1991 Gulf War.
RAMSEY CLARK, PEACE ACTIVIST: I spent two weeks driving around, look at the damage they done, the civilians that they killed.
ROBERTSON: Dozens of international peace activists have been turning up on Iraq, a country traditionally hard to get a visa for.
KEN O'KEEFE, PEACE ACTIVIST: It was only an idea less than two months ago. And now we've got people coming from all points of the globe converging on Baghdad. The number's growing every day.
ROBERTSON: Some offering to become human shields by living in power stations, the water treatment plants, so-called strategic sites during the bombing. Forest ranger Leo. LEO, FOREST RANGER: We must still get our point across to the people that if they will need to watch the Iraqis die, will they be willing to watch their own people die?
ROBERTSON: Many for now living in an Iraqi government paid hotel. Of those we talked to, none support the Iraqi leader, like retired teacher, Faith.
FAITH, RETIRED TEACHER: But I'm not here to protect him or his regime. I'm here because of the Iraqi people who have already been devastated by years.
ROBERTSON: Of those who have come to offer a political life line to the Iraqi leader, none have succeeded.
(on camera): In the Gulf War, peace activists camping in Iraq's border with Saudi Arabia were eventually brought to Baghdad by Iraqi officials. After a week or so corralled in one of the capitol's hotels, they were escorted out of the country.
(voice-over): Hard to tell if Ms. Vodjanikova, the 19-year-old German beauty queen, has had an impact beyond the headlines back home. Here, she turned heads, but maybe not changed minds.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Now changing minds may be the intention of the U.N. weapons inspectors here in the South African mission with regard to Iraq's cooperation with the U.N. weapons inspectors, but on those peace activists, there's no indication so far, Jonathan, that we've seen that they have actually taken a permanent residence in any of these electrical or water treatment facilities.
KARL: Now Nic, you mentioned that the peace activists, some of them are staying in Iraqi paid hotel rooms. What's your sense for those that are offering to be human shields, how much support they expect to be getting from the Iraqis in terms of where to go, where the key locations would be, what the key power stations would be, to serve as these so-called human shields?
ROBERTSON: What they tell us is that they've been given an option of where they can go. One man I talked to said that he chose a water treatment facility, rather than a power plant. The Iraqi officials are determining which location the human shields say that -- human shields are given in element of choice. But as far as concern when they can go to these sites, that's not under their control. For right now, they're in a government paid hotel. They say that that's not really where they want to be. They want to get out to these different sites that their movements are not in their own hands at this time. Where they go, when they go depends on the Iraqi government -- Jonathan.
KARL: All right, Nic Robertson in Baghdad. And Nic, we'll be seeing you later in our 9:00 hour for "Insight & Input." Look forward to that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Resolution>
Aired February 23, 2003 - 07:31 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JONATHAN KARL, CNN ANCHOR: President Bush has been working with the leaders of Spain, Italy and Britain to draft and build support for a new U.N. resolution to disarm Saddam Hussein. Meanwhile, U.N. weapons inspectors visited two sites today involved -- on Sunday, involved in missile production.
For the latest on what's going on inside Iraq, we head to our senior international correspondent, Nic Robertson.
NIC ROBERTSON: Well Jonathan, at the heart of the inspectors work here, the al Samoud two missiles that Hans Blix, the U.N. weapons chief, has told Iraqi officials they must begin destroying by March the 1st, no word from Iraqi officials if they'll do that. We are expecting to arrive here today. A team of South African experts who were involved in Iraq, or rather involved in South Africa's disarm -- weapons of mass destruction disarmament process in the 1990s, they're expected to give advice and their experience to Iraqi officials here.
But whether over the last few days and weeks we had seen a number of very different peace activists arriving here.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON (voice-over): From the cute, that's Miss Germany brought in by her country's top tabloid paper, to the accusing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We want the media to be objective.
ROBERTSON: Brought in by their conviction the world's not getting the peace message. To the seasoned. He tried to stop the 1991 Gulf War.
RAMSEY CLARK, PEACE ACTIVIST: I spent two weeks driving around, look at the damage they done, the civilians that they killed.
ROBERTSON: Dozens of international peace activists have been turning up on Iraq, a country traditionally hard to get a visa for.
KEN O'KEEFE, PEACE ACTIVIST: It was only an idea less than two months ago. And now we've got people coming from all points of the globe converging on Baghdad. The number's growing every day.
ROBERTSON: Some offering to become human shields by living in power stations, the water treatment plants, so-called strategic sites during the bombing. Forest ranger Leo. LEO, FOREST RANGER: We must still get our point across to the people that if they will need to watch the Iraqis die, will they be willing to watch their own people die?
ROBERTSON: Many for now living in an Iraqi government paid hotel. Of those we talked to, none support the Iraqi leader, like retired teacher, Faith.
FAITH, RETIRED TEACHER: But I'm not here to protect him or his regime. I'm here because of the Iraqi people who have already been devastated by years.
ROBERTSON: Of those who have come to offer a political life line to the Iraqi leader, none have succeeded.
(on camera): In the Gulf War, peace activists camping in Iraq's border with Saudi Arabia were eventually brought to Baghdad by Iraqi officials. After a week or so corralled in one of the capitol's hotels, they were escorted out of the country.
(voice-over): Hard to tell if Ms. Vodjanikova, the 19-year-old German beauty queen, has had an impact beyond the headlines back home. Here, she turned heads, but maybe not changed minds.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ROBERTSON: Now changing minds may be the intention of the U.N. weapons inspectors here in the South African mission with regard to Iraq's cooperation with the U.N. weapons inspectors, but on those peace activists, there's no indication so far, Jonathan, that we've seen that they have actually taken a permanent residence in any of these electrical or water treatment facilities.
KARL: Now Nic, you mentioned that the peace activists, some of them are staying in Iraqi paid hotel rooms. What's your sense for those that are offering to be human shields, how much support they expect to be getting from the Iraqis in terms of where to go, where the key locations would be, what the key power stations would be, to serve as these so-called human shields?
ROBERTSON: What they tell us is that they've been given an option of where they can go. One man I talked to said that he chose a water treatment facility, rather than a power plant. The Iraqi officials are determining which location the human shields say that -- human shields are given in element of choice. But as far as concern when they can go to these sites, that's not under their control. For right now, they're in a government paid hotel. They say that that's not really where they want to be. They want to get out to these different sites that their movements are not in their own hands at this time. Where they go, when they go depends on the Iraqi government -- Jonathan.
KARL: All right, Nic Robertson in Baghdad. And Nic, we'll be seeing you later in our 9:00 hour for "Insight & Input." Look forward to that.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Resolution>
