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STORY: UN / SYRIA WRAP
TRT: 2:45
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ARABIC / ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 25 SEPTEMBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY / RECENT
RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters
25 SEPTEMBER 2016, NEW YORK CITY
2. Pan left, Security Council meeting
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Staffan de Mistura, Special Envoy for Syria, United Nations:
“We now hear of bunker busting bombs being used and see pictures of large craters in the earth much larger than in previous aerial bombings. If they are confirmed the systematic indiscriminate use of such weapons in areas where civilians and civilian infrastructure present, this may amount to war crimes. Civilians across town must be asking indeed themselves where on earth is safe to be in this tormented city?”
4. Wide shot, US ambassador speaking to the Council
SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Instead of pursuing peace, Russia and Assad make war. Instead of helping get life-saving aid to civilians, Russia and Assad are bombing the humanitarian convoys, hospitals, and first responders who are trying desperately to keep people alive. Russia will argue today, no doubt, that these attacks are meant to fight terrorism, and that the people killed in this offensive are terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. This is absurd.”
5. Med shot, Syrian ambassador
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Samantha Power, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“What Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counterterrorism; it is barbarism.”
7. Wide shot, British ambassador speaking to the Council
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthew Rycroft, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, United Kingdom:
“It is difficult to deny, that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes.”
9. Wide shot, Russian ambassador speaking to the Council
10. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
“The humanitarian situation in Aleppo could have been normalized in August, but that was not allowed because the armed groups prevented that. They with the help of external sponsors wanted to strike the humanitarian corridors.”
11. Med shot, US ambassador taking notes
12. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Bashar Ja’afari, Permanent Representative of Syria to the United Nations:
“We believe that the call by some of the permanent members of this Council for this meeting is a message to Al Nusra Front, and other terrorist groups which are aligned with it, that the political support and cover are still valid and will not stop, and that the weapon of terrorism to put pressure on the Syrian government and its allies is still viable.”
13. Wide shot, Security Council
UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura told the Security Council that the past week has been one of the worst ones in Syria during the nearly six years of this devastating conflict.
In an emergency meeting on Sunday (25 Sep), de Mistura noted that UN human rights workers received information in recent days of dozens of airstrikes hitting residential buildings across eastern Aleppo, causing scores of reported civilian deaths and injuries, including those of many children.
He said “we now hear of bunker busting bombs being used and see pictures of large craters in the earth much larger than in previous aerial bombings”, adding “if they are confirmed the systematic indiscriminate use of such weapons in areas where civilians and civilian infrastructure present, this may amount to war crimes. Civilians across town must be asking indeed themselves where on earth is safe to be in this tormented city?”
US ambassador Samantha Power told the Council “instead of pursuing peace, Russia and Assad make war. Instead of helping get life-saving aid to civilians, Russia and Assad are bombing the humanitarian convoys, hospitals, and first responders who are trying desperately to keep people alive. Russia will argue today, no doubt, that these attacks are meant to fight terrorism, and that the people killed in this offensive are terrorists or terrorist sympathizers. This is absurd.”
She emphasized, “what Russia is sponsoring and doing is not counterterrorism; it is barbarism.”
Also speaking to the Council, the British ambassador Matthew Rycroft pointed out that after five years of conflict Syria and Russia “plunged to new depths and unleashed a new hell on Aleppo.” He added “it is difficult to deny, that Russia is partnering with the Syrian regime to carry out war crimes.”
For his part, the Russian ambassador Vitaly Churkin blamed the United States and its allies for supporting armed groups across the Middle East. He said “the humanitarian situation in Aleppo could have been normalized in August, but that was not allowed because the armed groups prevented that. They with the help of external sponsors wanted to strike the humanitarian corridors.”
The Syrian ambassador Bashar Ja’afari stressed that the victory of the Syrian government and its allies is “undoubtedly” coming, adding that victory would further the implementation of Security Council resolutions related to fighting terrorism.
He said “we believe that the call by some of the permanent members of this Council for this meeting is a message to Al Nusra Front, and other terrorist groups which are aligned with it, that the political support and cover are still valid and will not stop, and that the weapon of terrorism to put pressure on the Syrian government and its allies is still viable.”
