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UN / SYRIA PEDERSEN
STORY: UN / SYRIA PEDERSEN
TRT: 3:27
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 27 JUNE 2019, NEW YORK CITY
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
27 JUNE 2019, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“We must stabilize the situation in Idlib. If that is achieved, we must then avoid the risk of a no-war-no-peace scenario.”
4. Med shot, Syrian ambassador
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“The constitutional committee can be a door-opener. But it will not alone solve the conflict or the challenges facing Syria. This can only unfold if we begin to see real trust and confidence developing, via tangible and reciprocal steps, including on the ground.”
6. Wide shot, Security Council
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“It is now time for the Idlib situation to be stabilized and a nationwide ceasefire pursued. It is in fact past time to launch a constitutional committee. It is also time to try to develop a climate of confidence-building measures. And we clearly need a renewed international support format.”
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Cohen, Acting Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Mr. President, the Council must acknowledge that the Astana Group’s efforts to advance the political process have failed. Seventeen months after the launch of negotiations on forming the Constitutional Committee at Sochi it is time to admit that not only has progress stalled, it is likely to remain out of reach for some time. Because that is where the regime wants it to be – out of reach.”
9. Wide shot, Syrian ambassador
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vladimir Safronkov, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“It is concerning that Al Nusra is trying to reshape itself into a moderate opposition. We all know very well, that rebranding does not mean that they have rejected their terrorist activities. The content remains the same. And the fight against terrorist organizations that have been recognized as such by the UN Security Council by all of us unanimously must be continued. The Astana guarantors are determined to fully implement the agreements on stabilization in Idlib.”
11. Wide shot, Security Council
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar Jaafari, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations:
“It is a great honour that Israel declared it will establish a settlement in the occupied Golan called ‘Trump Heights’; and as such President Trump showed his appreciations for this great honour. As if he is expressing his contentment for adding a residential property to his collection of real estate that he owns around the world, ignoring the fact that this settlement will be established on occupied land; Syrian land which, neither Trump nor anyone else, has the right to dispose of.”
13. Wide shot, Security Council
14. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar Jaafari, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations:
“Without our collective efforts and standing by the Syrian Government to eliminate terrorism, without ending the illegal foreign presence on the entire Syrian territory, and ending the unilateral coercive measures, and without practically preserving the unity, territorial integrity, and independence of Syria; any political process that does not take all this into account remains an unrealistic solution and has no horizon.”
15. Wide shot, Security Council
UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council that the situation in Idlib must be stabilized and if that is achieved, “we must then avoid the risk of a no-war-no-peace scenario.”
Addressing the Council via teleconference from Geneva today (27 Jun), Pedersen said civilians in and around Idlib continue to be killed and hundreds of thousands have been displaced due to the indiscriminate use of force by the warring parties. He said the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) must cease its attacks, but reminded that, even while fighting terrorism, there must be full compliance with international law. He said strikes against civilians and civilian infrastructure - including deconflicted health facilities and humanitarian workers - are absolutely unacceptable.
The Special Envoy said the current escalation and unrest also sends the wrong signal to Syrian refugees and reinforces their doubts over security conditions, conscription, and livelihoods in Syria. He warned from a “no-war-no-peace” scenario with frontlines and frozen but there is periodic unrest, five international armies in perpetual risk of confrontation, and still no political solution.
The Special Envoy added that both Turkey and Russia have reassured him that they remain committed to the September 2018 memorandum of understanding, but he added that we need to see this implemented on the ground.
Pedersen provided details of recent dialogue between the two parties and other officials, saying that he looked forward to consultations in Damascus in the near future. He expressed his belief that the path to concluding the constitutional committee’s composition now may be open.
SOUNDBITE (English) Geir O. Pedersen, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“The constitutional committee can be a door-opener. But it will not alone solve the conflict or the challenges facing Syria. This can only unfold if we begin to see real trust and confidence developing, via tangible and reciprocal steps, including on the ground.”
Pedersen told the Council that now was the time “for the Idlib situation to be stabilized and a nationwide ceasefire pursued. It is in fact past time to launch a constitutional committee. It is also time to try to develop a climate of confidence-building measures. And we clearly need a renewed international support format.”
United States ambassador Jonathan Cohen said the Syrian Government’s escalation of attacks on civilian areas, facilities, and humanitarian actors, including yesterday’s attack on an ambulance carrying White Helmets volunteers, shows that it still believes force will make a solution to the conflict attainable. He said Syria and Russia had given assurances to uphold ceasefires, however, these assurances have repeatedly been broken.
SOUNDBITE (English) Jonathan Cohen, Acting Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Mr. President, the Council must acknowledge that the Astana Group’s efforts to advance the political process have failed. Seventeen months after the launch of negotiations on forming the Constitutional Committee at Sochi it is time to admit that not only has progress stalled, it is likely to remain out of reach for some time. Because that is where the regime wants it to be – out of reach.”
Cohen said Idlib must not become another Aleppo, adding that the US believes that progress on the political front and a genuine de-escalation is still possible, but it requires the Syrian Government to recognize that a healthy political system must accommodate more than one view.
Russian ambassador Vladimir Safronkov said no one can deny that the terrorist organization HTS, which he said was essentially Al Nusra, was continuing provocative attacks against Syrian armed forces, civilians, and a nearby Russian airbase. He said calling on Russia to do nothing in this context was dishonest. Safronkov said Russia was carrying out operations based on specific intelligence and was not doing any damage to civilians and civilian infrastructure.
The Russian ambassador said it was concerning that Al Nusra “is trying to reshape itself into a moderate opposition. We all know very well, that rebranding does not mean that they have rejected their terrorist activities. The content remains the same. And the fight against terrorist organizations that have been recognized as such by the UN Security Council by all of us unanimously must be continued.” He stressed that the Astana guarantors were “determined to fully implement the agreements on stabilization in Idlib.”
Syrian ambassador Bashar Jaafari the Security Council’s silence after more than half a century of occupation had emboldened the US to renege on its commitments towards the occupied territory and recognize so-called sovereignty of Israel. He said this prompted Israel to create a new settlement in the Golan called “Trump Heights” as a reward for the US’s violation of Security Council resolutions; which President Trump thanked in a tweet as a “great honour.”
SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar Jaafari, Permanent Representative of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations:
“It is a great honour that Israel declared it will establish a settlement in the occupied Golan called ‘Trump Heights’; and as such President Trump showed his appreciations for this great honour. As if he is expressing his contentment for adding a residential property to his collection of real estate that he owns around the world, ignoring the fact that this settlement will be established on occupied land; Syrian land which, neither Trump nor anyone else, has the right to dispose of.”
Jaafari reaffirmed his Government’s willingness to cooperate with the Special Envoy to ensure his mission is successful in facilitating Syrian-owned and led inter-Syrian dialogue. However, he stressed that “without our collective efforts and standing by the Syrian Government to eliminate terrorism, without ending the illegal foreign presence on the entire Syrian territory, and ending the unilateral coercive measures, and without practically preserving the unity, territorial integrity, and independence of Syria; any political process that does not take all this into account remains an unrealistic solution and has no horizon.”
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