1 Oct 2012

UN / CHEMICAL WEAPONS

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today (1 October) highlighted the continuing global threat posed by chemical weapons, voicing particular concern with statements by the Syrian Government regarding the existence and possible use of these tools of mass destruction. UNTV

Posted at: October 1, 2012 7:12 pm

Duration: 02:07

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / CHEMICAL WEAPONS
TRT: 2.07
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 1 OCTOBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

1 OCTOBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Pan right, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Ahmet Uzumcu, walking up to the microphone

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

3. Cutaway, hands taking notes

1 OCTOBER  2012, NEW YORK CITY

4. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
"The Convention now has 188 States Parties. Three-quarters of the world's declared chemical weapons stockpiles have been eliminated. But eight states are not yet party to the Convention and the overall threat remains a serious global concern. One of those States is the Syrian Arab Republic."

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

5. Cutaway, hands taking notes

1 OCTOBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

6. Pan left, Ban leaving stakeout area
7. Wide shot, conference room
8. Wide shot, Ban Ki-moon and Ahmet Uzumcu at the podium
9. Wide shot, delegates in audience
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Ahmet Uzumcu, Director-General, Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons:
"There was recently a declaration emanating from a state not party to the convention alluding to the astonishing possibility of the use of chemical weapons. We must deplore this development. It flies in the face of the global sentiment that regards chemical weapons as abhorrent and unacceptable. We must therefore redouble our efforts to persuade remaining eight states to join the convention."
11. Wide shot, delegates
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
"I once again emphasize the fundamental responsibility of the Syrian Government to ensure the safety and security of any such stockpiles. The use of such weapons would be an outrageous crime with dire consequences."
13. Wide shot, delegates
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Ali Akbar Salehi, Foreign Minister of the Islamic Republic of Iran:
"We believe that the effective contribution of the convention to international and regional peace and security would be enhanced through universal adherence to the convention. In this context, NAM [Non-Aligned Movement] states parties to the CWC [Chemical Weapons Convention] invite all non-parties to accede to the convention as soon as possible with a view to achieve its universality."
15. Wide shot, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon leaving meeting

STORYLINE:

Speaking to reporters in New York ahead of a high-level meeting marking the 15th anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention today, Ban noted that 188 countries have joined the convention, and three-quarters of the world's declared chemical weapons stockpiles have been eliminated.

But he pointed out that eight states are not yet party to the convention and "the overall threat remains a serious global concern".

According to media reports, the Syrian government acknowledged in July that it possessed chemical weapons when it threatened to use them if attacked by outside countries, through not against its own population.

At today's high-level meeting on the margins of the General Assembly's general debate, many speakers also singled out Syria as a particular source of concern.

The head of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons – the body set up to implement the convention - Ahmet Uzumcu, referred to a recent "declaration emanating from a state not party to the convention alluding to the astonishing possibility of the use of chemical weapons". He said this development must be deplored as "it flies in the face of the global sentiment that regards chemical weapons as abhorrent and unacceptable", and called for a redoubling of efforts to persuade the remaining eight states to join the convention.

Secretary-General Ban told the meeting that it was the "fundamental responsibility of the Syrian government to ensure the safety and security" of any chemical weapons stockpiles. He added that the use of such weapons "would be an outrageous crime with dire consequences".

Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, speaking on behalf of the 120-member Non-Aligned Movement, did not refer specifically to Syria, but said the members of the group who were parties, like Iran, to the convention, "invite all non-parties to accede to the convention as soon as possible with a view to achieve its universality".

In a media interview broadcast Monday, Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem claimed that the issue of chemical weapons in Syria was an "invention" of the United States government.

Besides Syria, the non-party states to the Chemical Weapons Convention are Angola, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Egypt, Israel, Myanmar, Somalia and South Sudan.