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GENEVA / SYRIA WRAP
STORY: UN / SYRIA WRAP
TRT: 03:38
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 18 DECEMBER 2018, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND / RECENT
RECENT - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
1. Wide shot, exterior, Palais des Nations
18 DECEMBER 2018, GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
2. Pan right, arrival Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov
3. Pan right, arrival Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu
4. Close up, cameras
5. Pan right, arrival Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif
6. Pan left, arrival UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura
7. Various shots, afternoon session of joint meeting of delegations from Iran, Russia and Turkey with UN Special Envoy for Syria
8. Various shots, Russian and Iranian foreign ministers at Council Chamber
9. Wide shot, Council Chamber
10. Med shot, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu in the Council Chamber
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Russia:
“The work of the Constitutional Committee should be governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement aimed at reaching general agreement of its members which would enable the outcome to receive the widest possible support by the Syrian people.”
12. Med shot, Lavrov, Çavuşoğlu and Javad Zarif shaking hands
13. Wide shot, arrival de Mistura at press briefing room
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“I believe that there is an extra mile to go - an extra mile to go - in the marathon effort to ensure the necessary package for a credible, balanced and inclusive constitutional committee – and for including a balanced chairing arrangement and drafting body and voting threshold – to be established under the UN auspices in Geneva.”
15. Med shot, journalists
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“These consultations were a key part of our own intensive effort at the request of the Secretary-General to fundamentally advance the possibility of establishing a Syrian-owned, Syrian-led, UN-facilitated constitutional committee in order to draft for a popular approval a constitutional reform, as contribution to the political settlement in Syria that gives effect to the Sochi Final Statement of 30 January 2018, within the context of the Geneva process to implement Security Council resolution 2254.”
17. Med shot, journalists
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, UN Special Envoy for Syria:
“I am not tired, I am not frustrated, in our job we cannot afford to be frustrated, otherwise you would not be a mediator. You can’t be a doctor and be frustrated by diseases. But I did so because a) at a certain point you need to draw a line on your personal life as well, at least for a period. And b) because I found an excellent successor who I know will be not only doing along the lines of what we have done but do even better.”
19. Wide shot, podium
The Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, held consultations with the Foreign Ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Turkey and the Russian Federation today (18 Dec) in Geneva. The three Foreign Ministers offered the Special Envoy a significant joint input regarding the constitutional committee.
After morning and afternoon sessions, the three foreign ministers issued a statement, which was read by Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
According to the statement, “the work of the Constitutional Committee should be governed by a sense of compromise and constructive engagement aimed at reaching general agreement of its members which would enable the outcome to receive the widest possible support by the Syrian people.”
Later in the evening, de Mistura spoke to reporters. The Special Envoy, said efforts to establish a constitutional committee for Syria must go the “extra mile” in the marathon effort to ensure the necessary package for a credible, balanced and inclusive constitutional committee – and for including a balanced chairing arrangement and drafting body and voting threshold, to be established under UN auspices in Geneva.
The veteran negotiator confirmed that he had held “intensive” consultations with Lavrov, Mevlüt Cavusoglu of Turkey and Mohammad Javad Zarif of Iran.
The establishment of a 150-member constitutional committee for Syria was agreed at peace talks held in Sochi, Russia, in January.
At a UN Security Council briefing in October, de Mistura noted that the Government of Syria had proposed that the UN withdraw a list of 50 individuals that the organization had suggested should serve on the committee.
This “Middle Third List” included delegates that represented Syrian experts, civil society, independents, tribal leaders and women.
At what was likely his last press conference in Geneva before stepping down as UN Special Envoy for Syria after more than four years in the post, de Mistura explained that he would be going to UN headquarters in New York to consult with the Secretary-General and to brief the Security Council on developments on Thursday.
His comments come after more than seven years of conflict that have claimed hundreds of thousands of lives, displaced millions and destroyed Syria’s economy and infrastructure.
Noting that his successor, Norwegian diplomat Geir Pedersen, would start work on 7 January, de Mistura stressed he was stepping down for personal, not professional, reasons.
He said, “I am not tired, I am not frustrated, in our job we cannot afford to be frustrated, otherwise you would not be a mediator. You can’t be a doctor and be frustrated by diseases. But I did so because a: at a certain point you need to draw a line on your personal life as well, at least for a period. And b: because I found an excellent successor who I know will be not only doing along the lines of what we have done but do even better.”
The Special Envoy will further consult with the Secretary-General in New York and he will brief the Security Council on 20 December.
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