3 Nov 2009

UN / SECURITY COUNCIL

Austrian Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, President of the Security Council for November briefs on the Council’s program of work for the month. UNTV

Posted at: November 3, 2009 3:27 pm

Duration: 02:24

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / SECURITY COUNCIL
TRT: 2.24
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 3 NOVEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

RECENT 2009, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

3 NOVEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for November:
"I think that at this point and time, as you know, the priority it seems to me of many people including of the European Union, also of Arab states is to make sure there is a follow up at the national level on both sides in an inquiry both at the Israeli and the Palestinian and I think that for us has priority that these very grave allegations are examined thoroughly both by the Israeli side and by the Palestinian side."
4. Cutaway, press conference
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for November:
"The Security Council has an institutional role to play, in particular in issues evidently in the Security Council's agenda, in matters of international peace and security, but an institutional role to play in all places where  missions of the United Nations are on the ground; and therefore there is clearly a priority when it comes to Afghanistan because that also was the subject which we discussed just a few days ago; the subject of the security of the UN mission, and we felt that it was very important that the Secretary-General was prepared to brief us on that and we also felt that it was right for him to address the General Assembly on these matters and he received a commitment by the Security Council in support of his matters."
6. Cutaway, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting, Permanent Representative of Austria to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for November:
"I can only say that in my national capacity I've underlined repeatedly in discussions in the Council that it is important that protecting civilians is the priority task of MONUC and that this priority becomes visible in everything MONUC does, and therefore I think the decision -if you ask me in my national capacity, my opinion on the subject- the decision that the Under-Secretary-General took was the only possible decision because the United Nations is there to protect civilians and it can not support activities which in the final outcome do not only not protect civilians but endanger them and cause additional problems, plus he has our national support on this issue."
8. Wide shot, press conference

STORYLINE:

Austrian Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting who will chair the Security Council during the month of November briefed reporters today (3 November) at the United Nations on the program of the council for this month.

Commenting on the Goldstone report, Mayr-Harting said that he thought the priority was to make sure there was a follow up at the national level on both the Israeli and the Palestinian sides. He added that for Austria it was a priority that those "very grave allegations are examined thoroughly both by the Israeli side and by the Palestinian side."

Responding to why the Security Council was not bringing to the table the issue of Pakistan, when the security situation there was as fragile as in Afghanistan, he said that the Security Council had an institutional role to play, in particular on issues where missions of the United Nations were on the ground and therefore, he said there was clearly a priority when it came to Afghanistan.

Commenting on yesterday's decision by the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) to suspend support for Congolese government army units that may be involved in massacres in the country's east, Mayr-Harting said that he had repeatedly underlined in discussions in the Council that it was important that protecting civilians was the priority task of MONUC.

He added that Under-Secretary-General Alain Le Roy's decision "the only possible decision" because the United Nations was there to protect civilians and could not support activities "which in the final outcome do not only not protect civilians but endanger them and cause additional problems."

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