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STORY: UN / SYRIA UPDATE WRAP
TRT: 2.01
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS
DATELINE: 24 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY / 22 APRIL 2012, DOHA, QATAR / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
24 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
2. Pan right, Ambassador Rice of the United States walks up to the stakeout position
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
3. Close up, cameras
24 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Mr. Annan stated that the situation in Syria, and I quote, continues to be unacceptable, unquote. Mr. Annan expressed his concerns at reports that attacks have resumed at locations directly following the departure of members of the observer team, calling them, and I quote, unacceptable and reprehensible if true. Mr Annan emphasised that, and I quote again, the only promises that count are the promises that are kept.”
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
5. Close up, reporter’s notepad
24 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
“Even though they are not in a position to prevent violence, can by their presence not only provide better information and reporting on what’s happening on the ground, but have at least in the time that they are present in a place, the salutary impact a diminishing of violence. And we have in fact seen that in Homs and Hama and elsewhere. The problem is, and this is what the Joint Special Envoy in part was referring to, is that once they have left the violence in a number of instances has resumed.”
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
7. Close up, reporter’s notepad
24 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK CITY
8. Pan right, Rice walks away from the stakeout position
19 APRIL 2012, QATAR NATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER, DOHA, QATAR
9. Pan left, Qatar National Convention Centre
22 APRIL 2012, DOHA, QATAR
10. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Moncef Marzouki, President, Tunisia:
"We appreciate this resolution. But what we fear most is that this number is not enough, and the Syrian regime will continue, what it has been doing until now, will continue attacking civilians, and there is a need to think about other solutions, including dispatching an Arab force, with the participation of Arab countries mainly, to keep peace and stability for a transitional period."
19 APRIL 2012, QATAR NATIONAL CONVENTION CENTER, DOHA, QATAR
11. Pan left, Qatar National Convention Centre
The Joint Special Envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States for Syria, Kofi Annan, emphasized the need for a speedier deployment of UN military observers to Syria and the implementation of a proposed peace plan to end the violence in the Middle Eastern country.
After Council members were briefed via video-teleconference from Geneva by Annan on Tuesday (24 April), Ambassador Susan Rice of the United States briefed reporters on the latest developments.
Rice quoted Annan, saying that the situation continues to be “unacceptable” as attacks have reportedly resumed at locations directly following the departure of unarmed military observers from the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS).
Again quoting Annan, Rice described the attacks as “unacceptable and reprehensible, if true,” and said that the only promises that count “are the promises that are kept.”
The six-point proposal put forward by Annan, calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, and the start of inclusive political dialogue that takes into account the aspirations of the Syrian people.
Rice highlighted the importance of the work of the military observers saying that “even though they are not in a position to prevent violence, can by their presence not only provide better information and reporting on what’s happening on the ground, but have at least in the time that they are present in a place.”
She added that the problem was that “once they have left the violence in a number of instances has resumed.”
Last weekend, the Council authorized the establishment of the observer mission made up of up to 300 unarmed military observers and deployed for an initial period of 90 days to monitor the cessation of violence, as well as monitor and support the full implementation of a six-point peace plan.
Ahead of UNSMIS’ deployment, an advance team of 30 unarmed military observers was dispatched to liaise with the parties and to begin to report on the implementation of a full cessation of armed violence.
Meanwhile in Doha, Qatar, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki, who is attending the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD XIII) expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the observer mission.
He said that he feared that the number of observers “is not enough, and the Syrian regime will continue what it has been doing until now.”
Marzouki, added that “there is a need to think about other solutions, including dispatching an Arab force, with the participation of Arab countries mainly, to keep peace and stability for a transitional period."
The violence in Syria, which began in March 2011 as a protest movement similar to those across the Middle East and North Africa, has claimed over 9,000 lives, mostly civilians, and displaced tens of thousands.
