|
CNN SHOWDOWN: IRAQ
Does U.N. Have Secret Post-Saddam Plan?
Aired March 5, 2003 - 12:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: We've heard much about U.S. plans for the so-called end game in Iraq. Now a report out of London says the United Nations has already drawn up at least a preliminary post-war plan of its own.
Let's get some details now from the man who wrote the report, "Times" of London correspondent James Bone. He is joining us now live from the United Nations. James, thanks very much for joining us. Give us the upshot, a nutshell. What exactly has the U.N. done?
JAMES BONE, "LONDON TIMES": Well, over the last month, there's been a secret six person panel at the U.N. studying the question of what they call post-regime change Iraq, and what the role of the U.N. should be, and the conclusion is basically that the U.N. should step in after about three months of American rule. The U.N. should step in and organize a political process with the Iraqis, with the aim of setting up some kind of Iraqi transitional authority that would then lead to a new constitution and a full time Iraqi government.
The U.N. has rejected the idea of taking over Iraq under a U.N. administration, a full-blown U.N. administration, saying the U.N. can't handle it. Iraq is 33 times the size of East Timor, where that approach was adopted. And instead, we are going to see the kind of approach that the U.N. adopted in Afghanistan, and probably with the same people. I'm told that Lakhdar Brahimi, who is actually the father of one of your correspondents might be approached to play the same role he played in Afghanistan as the U.N. facilitator of the political process.
BLITZER: That would be Rym Brahimi, one of our correspondents in Baghdad.
(CROSSTALK)
BLITZER: I want you to listen to what the U.N. secretary- general, Kofi Annan, said about your report just a couple hours ago. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KOFI ANNAN, U.N. SECRETARY-GENERAL: There's no U.N. plan for administering post-conflict Iraq. We have no money to make these plans, and in fact, yesterday at the lunch with the Security Council members, we discussed very clearly the status of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) contingency plan, particularly on the humanitarian aspects, and we did raise some of the legal and important issues that will be put (ph) if there were to be a war. So there's no U.N. plan of managing or administrating Iraq. There is some preliminary thinking, but there's no plan and no document.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Some "preliminary thinking" is about as far as he is willing to go. What do you make of those carefully couched words he used?
BONE: Well, no mandate, true. Preliminary thinking, true. No document, untrue. I have it in my pocket as I am sitting here talking to you, so that's untrue. But the -- what people have to understand is the reason why the U.N. is very jumpy about this is Iraq is a U.N. member state. The U.N. does business on a daily basis, a lot of business with the government of Saddam Hussein. It's not allowed under its charter to interfere in the internal affairs of member states. It got caught, when I published this, of planning for another government in Iraq when there's already a government, and most of the U.N. members don't think there should be a war, and don't think there should be regime change.
BLITZER: James Bone with details of his report in the "Times" of London. James, thanks very much. James is a frequent guest on CNN's "DIPLOMATIC LICENSE" with Richard Roth.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
|
