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UN / LIBYA
STORY: UN / EU JCPOA REAX
TRT: 02:11
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 25 AUGUST 2020, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
25 AUGUST 2020, NEW YORK CITY
2. Multiple screens
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephanie Williams, Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya:
“16 months ago, we were on the cusp of a broadly gauged Libyan national conference that would have established the framework to replace the current divided political structures with one that would have more clearly reflected the legitimate aspirations of all Libyans. That effort was upended by those who falsely believed they could achieve their aims through the use of force. After 14 months of needless death and destruction, they did not succeed. The use of oil as a weapon of war has only exacerbated the misery of the Libyan people.”
4. Multiple screens
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Stephanie Williams, Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL):
“The immiseration of the Libyan people is further compounded by the debilitating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which appears to be spiralling out of control. The number of confirmed cases has more than doubled in the last two weeks, with 15,156 cases and 250 recorded deaths as at 1 September. Exponential increases are a worrying trend with community transmission now reported in some of Libya’s main cities, including Tripoli and Sebha. We are, however, looking at the problem through a keyhole, as persistent shortages in testing capabilities, adequate health care facilities and contact tracing mean that the true scale of the pandemic in Libya is likely to be much higher.”
6. Multiple screens
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Günter Sautter, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the United Nations:
“Delivery of guns and bombs, of UAVs, of missiles and launch systems, of armoured vehicles, of ground and air defence systems, this entire build-up of arms and military materials is obvious as is the harmful presence of foreign fighters and mercenaries. These blatant violations of the arms embargo must end.”
8. Multiple screens
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Taher El Sonni, Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations:
“We call on the United Nations to expedite the process in appointing the new UN representative and for this Council to reach consensus. Because there are those who try to take advantage of this void to undermine UN efforts. We don’t mind the proposals presented as assigning a Special UN Envoy and Head of Mission. What we really care about is just this needless process to conclude quickly, and through the Mission we ask to resume immediately a comprehensive political dialogue.”
10. Multiple screens
The top United Nations (UN) official in Libya today (2 Sep) told the Security Council that those “who falsely believed they could achieve their aims through the use of force” have not succeeded, and “the use of oil as a weapon of war has only exacerbated the misery of the Libyan people.”
The Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Support Mission in Libya, Stephanie Williams, said, “16 months ago, we were on the cusp of a broadly gauged Libyan national conference that would have established the framework to replace the current divided political structures with one that would have more clearly reflected the legitimate aspirations of all Libyans.”
Those efforts, she said, were upended by the resumption of violence.
Williams told the Council that “the immiseration of the Libyan people is further compounded by the debilitating effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, which appears to be spiralling out of control.”
The number of confirmed cases, she said, “has more than doubled in the last two weeks, with 15,156 cases and 250 recorded deaths as at 1 September.”
The UN official said “exponential increases are a worrying trend with community transmission now reported in some of Libya’s main cities, including Tripoli and Sebha. We are, however, looking at the problem through a keyhole, as persistent shortages in testing capabilities, adequate health care facilities and contact tracing mean that the true scale of the pandemic in Libya is likely to be much higher.”
In his address to the Council, German Ambassador Günter Sautter said, “delivery of guns and bombs, of UAVs, of missiles and launch systems, of armoured vehicles, of ground and air defence systems, this entire build-up of arms and military materials is obvious as is the harmful presence of foreign fighters and mercenaries. These blatant violations of the arms embargo must end.”
Germany is the Chair of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1970 (2011) concerning Libya.
For his part, Libyan Ambassador Taher El Sonni called on the UN “to expedite the process in appointing the new UN representative and for this Council to reach consensus,” adding that “there are those who try to take advantage of this void to undermine UN efforts.”
El Sonni said, “we don’t mind the proposals presented as assigning a Special UN Envoy and Head of Mission. What we really care about is just this needless process to conclude quickly, and through the Mission we ask to resume immediately a comprehensive political dialogue.”
Williams was named Acting Special Representative in March, replacing outgoing Special Representative Ghassan Salamé until the appointment of a successor is confirmed.
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