18 Apr 2012

UN / RICE

US Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters today that there was “reason to be concerned” that thus far the conditions “are not in place” for a larger UN observer mission to Syria and chided North Korea for reneging on its recent nuclear deal with the United States. UNTV

Posted at: April 18, 2012 1:28 pm

Duration: 01:52

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / RICE
TRT: 1.52
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 18 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations Headquarters

18 APRIL 2012, NEW YORK

2. Wide shot, Ambassador Susan Rice approaching microphone
3. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Susan Rice, President of the Security Council for the Month of April and Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
"We'll be able to determine whether the conditions that the Council said must be in place are in fact in place. The Security Council was clear: There needs to be a sustained cessation of violence; there has to be the ability for this advance contingent to be able to operate and move freely and unimpeded and I think there's reason on both counts to be concerned that thus far, those conditions are not in place."
5. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Susan Rice, President of the Security Council for the Month of April and Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
"These monitors are not themselves, whether they're thirty, two-fifty or two thousand, going to sustain the ceasefire. These are Chapter VI, unarmed observers, who will only, no matter what their numbers, be able to observe and report on what is going on the ground. That is why we've been so clear, and the Secretary-General's been so clear that the onus for implementing the cessation lies with the government and of course in reciprocity with the opposition."
7. Cutaway, journalist taking notes
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Susan Rice, President of the Security Council for the Month of April and Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
"From a practical point of view, that agreement is not operational, since they went ahead and violated it, and announced that they intended to violate it merely a few weeks after it was signed. So you know I think that the statement yesterday by the North Koreans is in the vein of many statements that we've heard in the past. I think that the important thing for North Korea to understand is that the Council issued a very strong and united determination that if there should be further acts, whether missile launches or a nuclear test, that the Council stands ready to take further action."
9. Cutaway, journalist typing
10. Wide shot, Ambassador Rice leaving microphone

STORYLINE:

United States Ambassador Susan Rice today (18 April) warned that the United Nations (UN) Security Council would not authorize additional monitors for Syria unless its conditions for a full observer mission are met.

Speaking to reporters outside the Security Council in New York, Rice, who is the body's chair for the month of April, said that she expected to receive the Joint Special Envoy of the UN and the League of Arab States, Kofi Annan's report later today and that the Council would discuss it in a closed meeting tomorrow morning.

On the basis of that report, she said the Council would assess whether the conditions for a full observer mission are met, namely a sustained cessation of violence and the ability for the advance contingent currently on the ground to be able to operate freely and unimpeded. Speaking in her national capacity, Rice said that "I think there's reason on both counts to be concerned that thus far, those conditions are not in place."

The Council on Saturday (14 April) authorized the deployment of an advance team of 30 unarmed military observers to liaise with the parties and to begin to report on the implementation of a full cessation of armed violence, pending the deployment of a UN supervision mission that will be tasked with monitoring the ceasefire. The first group of six observers arrived in Syria on Monday (16 April).

In response to a question on the appropriate size of the full supervision mission, Rice pointed out that regardless of their number, the monitors were unarmed observers who would not sustain the ceasefire. She reiterated that "the onus for implementing the cessation lies with the government and of course in reciprocity with the opposition."

Asked for a reaction in her national capacity to North Korea's announcement that it no longer feels bound by a recent nuclear deal with the United States, Rice noted that "from a practical point of view, that agreement is not operational", in that the United States had suspended food aid following last week's missile launch by North Korea in contravention of the deal.

Rice pointed out that North Korea had violated the agreement and "announced that they intended to violate it merely a few weeks after it was signed". She warned that "if there should be further acts, whether missile launches or a nuclear test, that the Council stands ready to take further action."