20 Jul 2012

UN / SYRIA

The Security Council today (20 July) renewed for 30 days the mandate of United Nations observers tasked with monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria. UNTV

Posted at: July 20, 2012 2:06 pm

Duration: 02:18

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: UN / SYRIA 
TRT: 2.18
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 20 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

20 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Various shot, Security Council vote
3.	Zoom in, Ambassador Nestor Osorio of Colombia walks up to the stakeout position

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

4.	Close up, cameras

20 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

5.	SOUNDBITE (English) Nestor Osorio, Permanent Representative of Colombia to the United Nations:
"This is not a technical rollover pure and simple. It is a qualification on the condition that this Mission is going to be extended and the Council will keep a close observation in order to see if the safety and the conditions of operations are satisfactory. We hope that in 30 days the state of violence that we are seeing today will have ceased and the possibilities of a Mission with a concrete mandate could be maintained in Syria in order to guarantee peace and security."

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

6.	Close up, laptop

20 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

7.	Zoom out, Ambassador Osorio walks away and Ambassador Susan Rice of the United States walks up to the stakeout position.

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

8.	Close up, reporters' notepads

20 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

9.	SOUNDBITE (English) Susan Rice, Permanent Representative of the United States to the United Nations:
"The US view has long been that Assad's days are numbered and I think that those numbers are getting smaller and smaller. I don't want to speculate about the various scenarios that may unfold. Obviously if the circumstances are such that UNSMIS can operate freely, with relative safety given that they are unarmed monitors, and can implement the key provisions of the six-point plan and which include supporting a political transition of the sort we all embraced in Geneva, then we would welcome that."

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

10.	Close up, reporter's notepad

20 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

11.	Pan left, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of the Russian Federation walks up to the stakeout position.

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

12.	Zoom out, cameras

20 JULY 2012, NEW YORK CITY

13.	SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
"I was somewhat surprised to hear Ambassador Rice's definition or description of this resolution as something that provides for an orderly withdrawal of the Mission. This is not a resolution about withdrawal. It is a resolution about continuation of the activity of the Mission. If a decision were to be taken no to extend the Mission then of course it can withdraw very quickly and I hope safely, but this is not about withdrawal and I think we should not disorient the Mission and the international community by describing it as a withdrawal resolution."
14.	Wide shot, cameras
15.	Zoom out, Churkin walks away from the stakeout position

STORYLINE:

The Security Council today (20 July) renewed for 30 days  the mandate of United Nations observers tasked with monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria

In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council extended the UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) for a "final" period of 30 days, taking into consideration Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's recommendations to reconfigure the Mission, and the operational implications of the increasingly dangerous security situation in the country.

Outside the Council, Ambassador Nestor Osorio of Colombia said this was "not a technical rollover" and the Council "will keep a close observation in order to see if the safety and the conditions of operations are satisfactory" to warrant further extensions.

The Mission had recently suspended its regular patrols due to the escalating violence in the country, where over 10,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and tens of thousands displaced since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 16 months ago.

The Council established UNSMIS in April with an initial 90-day mandate, which expired today.

Ambassador Susan Rice of the United States told reporters that "the US view has long been that Assad's days are numbered and I think that those numbers are getting smaller and smaller."

Rice expressed doubts about further extensions but said "if the circumstances are such that UNSMIS can operate freely, with relative safety given that they are unarmed monitors, and can implement the key provisions of the six-point plan and which include supporting a political transition of the sort we all embraced in Geneva, then we would welcome that."
 
UNSMIS was tasked with monitoring the cessation of violence in Syria, as well as monitoring and supporting the full implementation of the six-point peace plan put forward by the Joint Special Envoy for the UN and the League of Arab States for the Syrian Crisis, Kofi Annan.

That plan calls for an end to violence, access for humanitarian agencies to provide relief to those in need, the release of detainees, the start of inclusive political dialogue, and unrestricted access to the country for the international media.

Also speaking to reporters, Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of the Russian Federation said he was "somewhat surprised to hear Ambassador Rice's definition or description of this resolution as something that provides for an orderly withdrawal of the Mission."

He emphasized this resolution is "about continuation of the activity of the Mission" and "not about withdrawal", adding that "we should not disorient the Mission and the international community by describing it as a withdrawal resolution."

Filed under SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC .