16 Aug 2012

UN / SYRIA

The President of the Security Council for the month of August announced today (16 August) that the mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) will be allowed to expire and a new liaison office will be established inDamascus. UNTV

Posted at: August 16, 2012 2:38 pm

Duration: 01:55

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / SYRIA 
TRT: 1.55
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 16 AUGUST 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

16 AUGUST 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Araud walks up to the stakeout position

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

3. Close up, reporter's notepad

16 AUGUST 2012, NEW YORK CITY

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Gérard Araud, Permanent Representative of France to the United Nations:
"The dismantling of the UNSMIS will start in a few days, but there will be no…I guess Mr. Mulet and….the responsibility of the Mission will go from DPKO to DPA, from peacekeeping operations to political affairs. Yes, UNSMIS will fade out, but there will be, what is the most important, there will be a UN presence, and we do hope, a useful UN presence."

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

5. Close up, reporter's notepad

16 AUGUST 2012, NEW YORK CITY

6. SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin, Permanent Representative of Russia to the United Nations:
"Well, we are sorry that the UNSMIS mandate is coming to an end. We believe that those members of the Council who insisted that the UNSMIS can't continue do not really show a commitment to ending hostilities and to working towards a political settlement in Syria. However, we are pleased with the letter which was sent to the Council by the Secretary-General of the United Nations on August 10th expressing his intention to establish an effective and flexible UN presence in Damascus which will help end hostilities and which will support negotiated, inclusive political dialogue."

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

7. Close up, reporter's notepad

16 AUGUST 2012, NEW YORK CITY

8. Wide shot, Mulet walks up to the stakeout position

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

9. Close up, reporter's notepad

16 AUGUST 2012, NEW YORK CITY

10. SOUNDBITE (English) Edmund Mulet, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations:
"We have been working on the…to have a liaison office there, and we already are identifying the staff that is currently in Damascus, that will continue there, so all those plans are being prepared, contingency plans, and now we will put them to…will develop that now that we have an official decision by the Security Council."

STORYLINE:

After closed consultations, Ambassador Gérard Araud of France told reporters outside the Council that "the dismantling of the UNSMIS will start in a few days," but added that "there will be a UN presence" which he hopes, will be "a useful UN presence."

Initially set up in April for 90 days, the mission's mandate was extended for another 30 days in late July when the Council adopted resolution 2059. That resolution also indicated that further renewals to UNSMIS' mandate would be possible only if it can be confirmed that the use of heavy weapons has ceased and a reduction in violence by all sides was sufficient to allow the Mission to implement its mandate. With the 30-day extension, the mission's mandate is set to expire on Sunday.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin lamented "that the UNSMIS mandate is coming to an end" and said "those members of the Council who insisted that the UNSMIS can't continue do not really show a commitment to ending hostilities and to working towards a political settlement in Syria."

Churkin however welcomed the letter from the Secretary-General expressing his intention to establish an "effective and flexible UN presence in Damascus."

He said that such a presence "will help end hostilities" and "will support negotiated, inclusive political dialogue."

The Russian Ambassador also informed reporters that he had convened a meeting of the Geneva Action Group for tomorrow in New York to discuss and agree on modalities to end the violence and find a political solution.  The so-called action group consists of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain, as well as Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar and Iraq.

Also speaking to reporters outside the Security Council, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmund Mulet said that work has already started on the establishment of the liaison office, "identifying the staff that is currently in Damascus, that will continue there" and will continue "now that we have an official decision by the Security Council."

Syria has been wracked by violence, with an estimated 17,000 people, mostly civilians, killed since the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began some 17 months ago. Over the past fortnight, there have been reports of an escalation in violence in many towns and villages, as well as the country's two biggest cities, Damascus and Aleppo.

Filed under SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC UNSMIS.