(15 Dec 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
++CLIENTS NOTE: PLEASE USE UPDATED VIDEO AND SCRIPT SENT AT 1340 GMT++
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Damascus, Syria – 15 December 2024
1. UN convoy arriving at “Four Seasons Hotel”, Geir Pederson getting out of car
2. “Four Seaons Hotel” sign
3. SOUNDBITE (English), Geir Pederson, UN Envoy to Syria:
“We need to get the political process on the way that is inclusive for all Syrians. That process obviously needs to be led by the Syrians themselves. So, it’s a Syrian responsibility with the help of assistance to fulfil it. Let me just continue. Then the second challenge, of course, as I know that the caretaker government is very well aware of, is to get the state institutions (inaudible). You know, obviously just service delivery, the law and order and security is extremely important. Then, of course, we all know that Syria has been through an enormous also humanitarian crisis. So we need to make sure that Syria receives increased immediate humanitarian assistance to the people in Syria and to all the refugees who want to return. This is extremely critical.”
4. SOUNDBITE (English), Geir Pederson, UN Envoy to Syria:
"Then, of course, it’s the whole question about economic recovery. We need to see that this is fixed quickly. We can hopefully see a quick end to the sanctions so that we can see really a rallying around building up Syria again. And then my last point. We need to see, of course, justice and accountability for crime and we need to make sure that that goes through a credible justice system and that we don’t see any revenge."
5. Exterior of hotel
STORYLINE:
The United Nations special envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said Sunday during a visit to Damascus that he hopes to see a “quick end to the sanctions” after the fall of former President Bashar Assad.
The Syrian government has been under strict sanctions by the United States, European Union and others for years as a result of Assad’s harsh response to what began as peaceful anti-government protests in 2011 and later spiraled into a civil war.
The war has killed nearly half a million people and displaced half the country’s pre-war population of of 23 million.
Rebuilding has been stymied to a large degree by sanctions that aimed to prevent rebuilding of damaged infrastructure and property in government-held areas in the absence of a political solution.
Pedersen came to Damascus to meet with officials with the new interim government set up by the former opposition forces who toppled Assad, led by the Islamic militant group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS.
HTS is designated a terrorist group by the U.S., which could also complicate reconstruction efforts, but officials in Washington have indicated that the Biden administration is considering removing the designation.
The interim government is set to govern until March, but the new administration has not yet made clear the process under which a new permanent government would replace it.
Pedersen called for “justice and accountability for crimes” committed during the war and for the international community to step up humanitarian aid.
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