IRAQ SCOTT RITTER RETURNS TO BAGHDAD

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=ThxHHeDxm1Y

(30 Jul 2000) English/Nat • When Scott Ritter showed up at Iraqi weapons depots in the years after the Gulf War, international crises would brew. • Now the former U-N weapons inspector is back - with a documentary film crew and the government's blessing. • Ritter wants to see the sites again, and he could find doors opening far more easily since his shift from ardent defender of intrusive weapons inspections to advocate of lifting sanctions from a nation he says is no longer a threat. • Scott Ritter arrived in Baghdad in very different circumstances to his last visit. • Last time he was here, Ritter was an outspoken member of the U-N weapons inspection team. • Now he's back with a documentary film crew to look again at the Iraqi weapons programme. • He believes that sanctions should be lifted and that the U-N's latest attempt to end the crisis is doomed to fail. • SOUNDBITE: (English) • Resolution 1248 is more about continuing sanctions, not about resolving the crisis. So this new inspection body has virtually no chance of success no matter how well intentioned they are. I have a lot of respect for Hans Blix and for the people who are working for him but unfortunately they have been called upon to implement a flawed resolution. The resolution must be changed before there is any realistic chance of inspectors coming back to Iraq. • SUPER CAPTION: Scott Ritter, Former Weapons Inspector • The United Nations leveled economic sanctions against Iraq after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, and those sanctions are still in place today. • Only after a U-N inspection team verifies the destruction of Iraq's biological, chemical and nuclear weapons and the missiles used to deliver them are the sanctions to be lifted. • Ritter believes Iraq no longer has the ability to create or deploy weapons of mass destruction. • SOUNDBITE: (English) • To have a weapon of mass destruction you have to have a weapon that can be used to deliver a chemical agent, a biological agent, a nuclear agent or a long range ballistic missile to be used to deliver these. Iraq no longer has a long range ballistic missile capability either missiles or production capability. They no longer have chemical weapons or the ability to produce them. It's the same with biological weapons, the same with nuclear. However they have retained documentation related to these programmes, they have retained components related, but the components are not weapons. That component can hurt nobody. • SUPER CAPTION: Scott Ritter, Former Weapons Inspector • Though his visit would have required approval at the highest levels, Ritter acknowledged uncertainty as to the access he would have to weapons sites. • The Iraqi government has not said where he would be allowed to go or with whom he could meet. • SOUNDBITE: (English) • We hope to gain access to a number of locations in Iraq that I was very familiar with as a weapons inspector. There has been a lot of, what I call, irresponsible speculation about what Iraq is doing today now that weapons inspectors are not in Iraq. I think by visiting the site, by talking with Iraqi government officials, we can put together a documentary that shows the reality of the situation in Iraq today. • SUPER CAPTION: Scott Ritter, Former Weapons Inspector • Ritter, a former U-S Marine, was scathingly criticised by Iraq while he was an inspector on the U-N Special Commission, the old inspection team. • He made headlines in January 1998 when his team pulled out of Iraq during a standoff over U-N access to sensitive sites. • It is not clear whether the Iraqi government will co-operate with the new inspectors, or even let them in. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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