2 Oct 2012

UN / ELIASSON SYRIA

United Nations Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said today (2 October) that when the Security Council is not united on the Syrian issue, "it weakens the possibilities of the United Nations to make a difference."

Posted at: October 2, 2012 1:48 pm

Duration: 02:31

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / ELIASSON SYRIA
TRT: 2.31
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 2 OCTOBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

2 OCTOBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. Cutaway, journalists
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations:
"When the Security Council is not united on the issue it weakens the possibilities of the United Nations to make a difference. We have two areas where we can act in the situation. One is to promote a political process, of course Lakhdar Brahimi has the key role; and the other one is to deal with the humanitarian consequences of the situation. The humanitarian consequences are not only limited today to Syria they are very serious also in the neighbouring countries: Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan."
5. Cutaway, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations:
"There are two ways the developments could go now. One is escalation of hostilities with a belief on both sides that a military solution is possible. The other one is that one would hope that there could be a possibility of a reduction of violence and even in the best of  cases soon as ceasefire and with a ceasefire or reduction of fighting it would also enhance the chances of having a political movement."
7. Cutaway, journalist
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General, United Nations:
"Lakhdar Brahimi is taking this work seriously, he is in contact with them and we are very glad that also from the Egyptian side, also hopefully from the Iranian side and the Turkish side and the Iraqi side that one takes into account Lakhdar Brahimi's central role. He is after all the representative of the United Nations, he is the representative of the League of Arab States and one issue one should always avoid –and I speak from my own experience as mediator- is that one should avoid 'forum shopping', so that the different parties can't play out one against the other, but there is coordination going on. And as you may know Lakhdar Brahimi will work from Cairo from next week onwards so that he is in the proximity of the region and of course this implies that he will work very closely with his Egyptian colleagues."
9. Cutaway, journalists
10. Med shot, Eliasson and Spokesperson Martin Nesirky 
11. Wide shot, briefing room

STORYLINE:

Briefing journalists on the developments of the General Assembly debate which concluded yesterday, he said that there were two areas where the UN could act in the Syrian crisis.

One, he said, was to promote "a political process", and there the UN-League of Arab States Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi had the key role; and the other one, he continued was to "deal with the humanitarian consequences of the situation".

Eliasson noted that those humanitarian consequences were not only limited to Syria but "they are very serious also in the neighbouring countries: Lebanon, Iraq, Turkey and Jordan".

When it came to possible developments, Eliasson said that they could go in two directions. One was an "escalation of hostilities with a belief on both sides that a military solution is possible". The other, he said, was that "there could be a possibility of a reduction of violence and even in the best of cases soon a ceasefire".

Responding to whether Special Envoy Brahimi was taking onto consideration the different proposals coming from Iran and Egypt, Eliasson said that Brahimi was in contact with them, "and we are very glad that also from the Egyptian side, also hopefully from the Iranian side and the Turkish side and the Iraqi side that one takes into account Lakhdar Brahimi's central role".

He added that Brahimi would be working from Cairo from next week onwards, "so that he is in the proximity of the region and of course this implies that he will work very closely with his Egyptian colleagues".