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STORY: UN / REPORT SAUDI REAX
TRT: 01:35
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 06 OCTOBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
RECENT - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, UNHQ exterior
06 OCTOBER 2017, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, press room
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations:
“While the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia expresses its welcome and appreciation, we reject the inaccurate and misleading information and figures contained in the report, and we express our strong reservation with respect to this information.”
4. Wide shot, dias
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations:
“There are situations of recruitment of child soldiers in which the Houthis throw into battle large numbers of children to fight on their behalf. We believe that in such cases, if there are casualties, the responsibility actually lays with the party that has put them forward while they should not have been put forward for battle.”
6. Wide shot, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, Permanent Representative of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations:
“Last year there was very very little consolation, almost nil, between us and the unit responsible for children in armed conflict. So, we protested that. Secondly, there was a listing in a so-called black list or the ‘bad guys’ list. This year we do not have that listing, so that’s an important difference. Now we think that there is no justification whatsoever for the coalition to be listed anywhere.”
8. Wide shot, press room
The Saudi ambassador to the UN said his government rejects “the inaccurate and misleading information and figures” in the latest UN report on children in armed conflict.
Speaking to reporters in New York today (06 Oct), ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi attributed the effects of the Yemeni conflict to rebel forces which he said have put the civilian population at risk, including using children as human shields. He expressed Saudi Arabia’s belief that the figures attributed to Houthi rebels in the report are underrepresented while those attributed to the Saudi-led coalition in Yemen are over-represented because the source of the information in both cases is one, organizations affiliated with the rebels. Al-Mouallimi added that when the “throw into battle large numbers of children to fight on their behalf”, the resulting casualties “lays with the party that has put them forward while they should not have been put forward for battle.”
The Saudi ambassador expressed his country’s “appreciation” for the report’s recognition of efforts made by the collation to improve the protection of children adding that the issue was handled differently than the previous report. He said this period’s report did not have “a so-called black list or the ‘bad guys’ list” as in its predecessor. He said, “We think that there is no justification whatsoever for the coalition to be listed anywhere” because it is conducting its activities in accordance with international law and is making an effort to protect children and all other civilians as the report testifies.
