4 Dec 2012

UN / NESIRKY

The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Martin Nesirky today said Ban was "seriously concerned" about the announcement of a planned rocket launch by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and "strongly urges" it to reconsider its decision. He also took questions on the latest developments in Syria. UNTV

Posted at: December 4, 2012 3:00 pm

Duration: 02:24

Available in: SD

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Full script

STORY: UN / NESIRKY
TRT: 2.24
SOURCE: UNTV 
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 4 DECEMBER 2012, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – 2011, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

4 DECEMBER 2012, NEW YORK

2. Wide shot, press conference
3. Med shot, journalist
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nesirky, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General:
"It was decided to reduce the number of international staff in light of the escalating violence in recent days. This violence includes, as you well know, increased fighting around Damascus, the closure of the airport for a few days, and fighting on the road to the airport. It also includes the fact that in recent days two convoys of the UN Disengagement Observer Disengagement Force came under fire and four people were wounded. It was assessed that the general level of instability was such that most UN programming activity would be affected. Let me stress that the United Nations is still in Damascus of course, performing humanitarian operations as security conditions permit."
5. Wide shot, journalists
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nesirky, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General:
"Any use of such terrible weapons would have dire consequences for the population of Syria and of course potentially for a much wider area. So this is something that the international community is extremely concerned about and continues to watch extremely closely. The Secretary-General has, as you will know, in the past communicated his concerns directly, in writing, to the Syrian authorities, indeed to President Assad. And so there should be no doubt about the gravity of this and how seriously we take this."
7. Med shot, journalist
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Martin Nesirky, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General:
"There is obvious concern about this, and what I can tell you is that the Secretary-General is seriously concerned about the announcement of a planned rocket launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. Any such launch would constitute a clear violation of Security Council Resolution 1874, in which the Council demanded that the DPRK not conduct any launch using ballistic missile technology. Such a launch would also heighten tension in the region."
9. Med shot, journalists
10. Wide shot, end of press conference

STORYLINE:

The spokesman for UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today (4 December) said "there should be no doubt about the gravity" of the issue of chemical weapons in Syria, and that Ban was also "seriously concerned" about the announcement of a planned rocket launch by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Speaking at a regular press briefing at UN headquarters, spokesman Martin Nesirky took several questions on the latest developments in Syria.

On the pullout of some UN staff from Damascus, Nesirky said it had been decided to reduce the number of international staff there in light of the escalating violence in recent days, including increased fighting around Damascus and the closure of the airport for several days, as well the recent attacks on two convoys of the UN Disengagement Observer Disengagement Force (UNDOF) in which four people were wounded.

Nesirky stressed that "the United Nations is still in Damascus of course, performing humanitarian operations as security conditions permit".

On the possibility of chemical weapons being used in the Syrian conflict, the spokesman said "any use of such terrible weapons would have dire consequences for the population of Syria and of course potentially for a much wider area". He recalled that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had previously written to the Syrian authorities and President Bashar Assad about the issue and said the international community was following developments "extremely closely".

Turning to the DPRK, Nesirky said the Secretary-General "strongly urges" the country to reconsider its decision to launch a further missile.

"Any such launch would constitute a clear violation of Security Council resolution 1874, in which the Council demanded that the DPRK not conduct any launch using ballistic missile technology," the spokesperson said, reading from a note to correspondents issued today. "Such a launch would also heighten tension in the region."

According to media reports, the DPRK's state news agency on Saturday announced the decision to launch another space satellite, sometime between 10 December and 22 December. A similar attempt in April was unsuccessful.

Nesirky said "the Secretary-General strongly urges the DPRK to reconsider its decision and to suspend all activities related to its ballistic missile programme".  He said Ban "further calls upon the DPRK to re-establish its moratorium on missile launches, as required by the Security Council."