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CNN Saturday Morning News
U.N. Weapons Inspections Expand Operations in Iraq
Aired January 04, 2003 - 07:46 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.
JOHN VAUSE CNN ANCHOR: U.N. weapons inspectors expanded operations in Iraq today setting up a permanent office in the north of the country. Meanwhile, several inspection teams fanned out again across the country looking for illicit weapons.
Let's get an update now from CNN's Rym Brahimi who joins us from Baghdad. Rym what can you tell us?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John as you said the inspectors fanned out again today. These five teams that we know of, one of them though actually spent the night in the southern city of Basra, which is about 500 kilometers, or a five and a half hour drive south from the Iraqi capitol.
Now another team today went out to a site that was visited yesterday by missile experts -- it's a site that is involved in rocket repellant. They went -- they apparently tagged some equipment there when they were out there yesterday and so another team went there again today. We'll probably find out more on that a little later.
Now as you were mentioning John indeed they're opening another office in the north of Iraq about four and a half hours drive north of Baghdad in a city called Mosul. So far they've been working out of a temporary hotel room, if you will, their offices --but they're really going to set up a proper office now. They went up there just today.
Now in the meantime, John, the media campaign -- the state run media campaign I should say -- aimed at convincing the world that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction continues. One newspaper saying that there is no more justification for the United States to attack Iraq because Iraq has been cooperating and then a lot of -- they've been also trumpeting all these mass rallies that have happened like the one in Bahrain against the U.S. presence in the region.
So a lot of -- again -- this media campaign going up. And one interesting article I'd like to point out to you, John, if I may. In this newspaper in Iraq in the political page -- a little article here that actually calls on the United Nations to be careful not to become an instrument of the United States administration. Otherwise it says it would turn U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan into an employee of the U.S. administration.
And finally, you know, in the middle of all that there are some concrete steps. Iraq's diplomats are trying to sort of get their voice heard. Iraq's top diplomats -- the Foreign Minister wrote a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan complaining about bombings in the no-fly zone but also his main point was to condemn the U.S. funding of the opposition or the opponents of the Iraqi leadership -- John.
VAUSE: Could you just tell us -- we're now into a month or so of inspections. More than 200 sites looked at. Is there a sense on the ground there that they're just not finding anything and that they're unlikely to find anything, hence we're seeing a great operation. We're seeing that the opposition -- the secondary office set up -- we're seeing them using helicopters now at least attempting to use helicopters for more surprise inspections. Is there a growing sense there that they just won't find anything?
BRAHIMI: Well that's a good point although in terms of the office and the helicopters that have been planned even before their arrival. These were part of the plans that they set up in the months, actually, before they arrived to begin this round of inspections. They definitely -- there is a sense -- Iraqi officials are telling us all the time they're not finding anything.
They say they know that because the Iraqi scientists for the company, the U.N. inspectors, there with the inspectors in all the meetings and they apparently report to the Iraqi officials that we speak to that nothing has been found so far they say they're competent engineers and scientists and they would have known if there were any activities around.
Now at the same time, there was a sense from the beginning, John, that this would be a very long mission. They believe that this was as you mentioned a little over the 200 -- they've actually carried out more than 200 inspections at some of the sites they've been to many times.
And initially the U.N. Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix had mentioned that he wanted to visit at least 700 sites if not much more. So there has been a sense from the beginning that this might last. But there has also been maybe a lot of pressure on them to deliver and of course there is that deadline of January 27, John, when they will have to give a report to the U.N. Security Council on the 60 days of inspections -- John.
VAUSE: OK, CNN's Rym Brahimi on duty for us in Baghdad. Thank you.
Aired January 4, 2003 - 07:46 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JOHN VAUSE CNN ANCHOR: U.N. weapons inspectors expanded operations in Iraq today setting up a permanent office in the north of the country. Meanwhile, several inspection teams fanned out again across the country looking for illicit weapons.
Let's get an update now from CNN's Rym Brahimi who joins us from Baghdad. Rym what can you tell us?
RYM BRAHIMI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well John as you said the inspectors fanned out again today. These five teams that we know of, one of them though actually spent the night in the southern city of Basra, which is about 500 kilometers, or a five and a half hour drive south from the Iraqi capitol.
Now another team today went out to a site that was visited yesterday by missile experts -- it's a site that is involved in rocket repellant. They went -- they apparently tagged some equipment there when they were out there yesterday and so another team went there again today. We'll probably find out more on that a little later.
Now as you were mentioning John indeed they're opening another office in the north of Iraq about four and a half hours drive north of Baghdad in a city called Mosul. So far they've been working out of a temporary hotel room, if you will, their offices --but they're really going to set up a proper office now. They went up there just today.
Now in the meantime, John, the media campaign -- the state run media campaign I should say -- aimed at convincing the world that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction continues. One newspaper saying that there is no more justification for the United States to attack Iraq because Iraq has been cooperating and then a lot of -- they've been also trumpeting all these mass rallies that have happened like the one in Bahrain against the U.S. presence in the region.
So a lot of -- again -- this media campaign going up. And one interesting article I'd like to point out to you, John, if I may. In this newspaper in Iraq in the political page -- a little article here that actually calls on the United Nations to be careful not to become an instrument of the United States administration. Otherwise it says it would turn U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan into an employee of the U.S. administration.
And finally, you know, in the middle of all that there are some concrete steps. Iraq's diplomats are trying to sort of get their voice heard. Iraq's top diplomats -- the Foreign Minister wrote a letter to U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan complaining about bombings in the no-fly zone but also his main point was to condemn the U.S. funding of the opposition or the opponents of the Iraqi leadership -- John.
VAUSE: Could you just tell us -- we're now into a month or so of inspections. More than 200 sites looked at. Is there a sense on the ground there that they're just not finding anything and that they're unlikely to find anything, hence we're seeing a great operation. We're seeing that the opposition -- the secondary office set up -- we're seeing them using helicopters now at least attempting to use helicopters for more surprise inspections. Is there a growing sense there that they just won't find anything?
BRAHIMI: Well that's a good point although in terms of the office and the helicopters that have been planned even before their arrival. These were part of the plans that they set up in the months, actually, before they arrived to begin this round of inspections. They definitely -- there is a sense -- Iraqi officials are telling us all the time they're not finding anything.
They say they know that because the Iraqi scientists for the company, the U.N. inspectors, there with the inspectors in all the meetings and they apparently report to the Iraqi officials that we speak to that nothing has been found so far they say they're competent engineers and scientists and they would have known if there were any activities around.
Now at the same time, there was a sense from the beginning, John, that this would be a very long mission. They believe that this was as you mentioned a little over the 200 -- they've actually carried out more than 200 inspections at some of the sites they've been to many times.
And initially the U.N. Chief Weapons Inspector Hans Blix had mentioned that he wanted to visit at least 700 sites if not much more. So there has been a sense from the beginning that this might last. But there has also been maybe a lot of pressure on them to deliver and of course there is that deadline of January 27, John, when they will have to give a report to the U.N. Security Council on the 60 days of inspections -- John.
VAUSE: OK, CNN's Rym Brahimi on duty for us in Baghdad. Thank you.
