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CNN Live Sunday
U.N., Iraqi Officials Meet in Austria
Aired September 29, 2002 - 18:04 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: U.N. and Iraqi officials are gathering in Austria for what may be the first test of whether Iraq will actually allow weapons inspectors back in. CNN's Chris Burns is on duty in Vienna with more on how important this meeting is. Chris, have the players all assembled yet?
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well not quite yet, Carol. They will be later this morning, but behind me is -- why is it in Vienna? This is the International Atomic Energy Agency. This is the nuclear watchdog of the world and they are going to sending one of the teams to Iraq if they do pull off these talks that are supposed to happen later today, talks focusing mainly on technical aspects.
And the Iraqis are supposed to be giving a list of what's called dual use elements, equipment and other supplies that could be used, not only for civilian but also for military purposes. Those would be the things that the inspectors would come and look at. So, the IAEA and UNMOVIC which are the U.N. inspectors are going to be meeting with the delegation of the Iraqis later today, at least two days' worth of talks focusing on that.
This is the first test to see really how malleable and how accepting the Iraqis are about two weeks after they gave a letter saying that they agreed to unconditional inspections. And, the inspections had ended about four years ago when the inspectors left being unsuccessful, being stonewalled by the Iraqis parking lot standoffs as they tried to inspect various places that the Iraqis were blocking off, including presidential palaces but the U.N. inspectors say it will be different this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA FLEMING, SPOKESWOMAN, IAEA: We have better equipment and we have certainly a lot of expertise and experience from what took place in the '90s and we believe that we, if given unfettered access and full cooperation, that we would have a very good chance of finding out the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: But now the U.S. and Britain are pushing for a tougher resolution now, demanding that the timeline be sped up for inspections and that there be the possible use of force used as a sort of Damocles if you will over the heads of the Iraqis to comply.
Now, the British came out with a report in the last few days exposing a number of aspects of what they believe are the projects of weapons of mass destructions by the Iraqis saying that there could be even a -- the Iraqis could build a nuclear bomb within a year and that they are developing missile technology there, this being reasons why Prime Minister Tony Blair says a new resolution is necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAIR: The key thing, though, is that the United Nations has got to be the way of dealing with this. I mean I totally understand the concerns that people have; the worries they have about precipitant military action but the United Nations has taken a very clear position on this. It said Iraq must disarm itself of these weapons that the existence of these weapons in the hands of this regime is a threat to the world, and the United Nations has to be the way of dealing with this issue not the way of avoiding dealing with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Now with the U.S., France, and China being permanent members of the Security Council with veto powers, they could block such a resolution. Debate in the U.S. all these aspects are indicative perhaps of how will the Iraqis react, how will they comply is going to be very interesting later today to see how bendable they are -- Carol.
LIN: And, Chris, you'll be covering it for us. Thank you very much. Chris Burns live in Vienna, very late night, just after midnight there.
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 September 29, 2002 - 18:04 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: U.N. and Iraqi officials are gathering in Austria for what may be the first test of whether Iraq will actually allow weapons inspectors back in. CNN's Chris Burns is on duty in Vienna with more on how important this meeting is. Chris, have the players all assembled yet?
CHRIS BURNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well not quite yet, Carol. They will be later this morning, but behind me is -- why is it in Vienna? This is the International Atomic Energy Agency. This is the nuclear watchdog of the world and they are going to sending one of the teams to Iraq if they do pull off these talks that are supposed to happen later today, talks focusing mainly on technical aspects.
And the Iraqis are supposed to be giving a list of what's called dual use elements, equipment and other supplies that could be used, not only for civilian but also for military purposes. Those would be the things that the inspectors would come and look at. So, the IAEA and UNMOVIC which are the U.N. inspectors are going to be meeting with the delegation of the Iraqis later today, at least two days' worth of talks focusing on that.
This is the first test to see really how malleable and how accepting the Iraqis are about two weeks after they gave a letter saying that they agreed to unconditional inspections. And, the inspections had ended about four years ago when the inspectors left being unsuccessful, being stonewalled by the Iraqis parking lot standoffs as they tried to inspect various places that the Iraqis were blocking off, including presidential palaces but the U.N. inspectors say it will be different this time.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MELISSA FLEMING, SPOKESWOMAN, IAEA: We have better equipment and we have certainly a lot of expertise and experience from what took place in the '90s and we believe that we, if given unfettered access and full cooperation, that we would have a very good chance of finding out the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: But now the U.S. and Britain are pushing for a tougher resolution now, demanding that the timeline be sped up for inspections and that there be the possible use of force used as a sort of Damocles if you will over the heads of the Iraqis to comply.
Now, the British came out with a report in the last few days exposing a number of aspects of what they believe are the projects of weapons of mass destructions by the Iraqis saying that there could be even a -- the Iraqis could build a nuclear bomb within a year and that they are developing missile technology there, this being reasons why Prime Minister Tony Blair says a new resolution is necessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BLAIR: The key thing, though, is that the United Nations has got to be the way of dealing with this. I mean I totally understand the concerns that people have; the worries they have about precipitant military action but the United Nations has taken a very clear position on this. It said Iraq must disarm itself of these weapons that the existence of these weapons in the hands of this regime is a threat to the world, and the United Nations has to be the way of dealing with this issue not the way of avoiding dealing with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNS: Now with the U.S., France, and China being permanent members of the Security Council with veto powers, they could block such a resolution. Debate in the U.S. all these aspects are indicative perhaps of how will the Iraqis react, how will they comply is going to be very interesting later today to see how bendable they are -- Carol.
LIN: And, Chris, you'll be covering it for us. Thank you very much. Chris Burns live in Vienna, very late night, just after midnight there.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
