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CNN Live Sunday
Syria Calls For Special U.N. Council Meeting After Israel's Bombing
Aired October 05, 2003 - 15:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Michael Okwu joins us now live from the United Nations. So Michael, what do we expect to hear during this session?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a very unclear at this point. We do know that they will be going behind closed doors, at least to start, and that the Syrians are very angry and would like to see this resolved as soon as possible.
In fact, as you mentioned, Israel has not staged any kind of attack on Syrian soil since 1973, which is why the Syrians took the unusual step of going through the security council to ask for this special session.
Now, what we understand from a Syrian diplomat who I spoke to earlier is they'd like to move this to some sort of an open session so that at the very least other council members can publicly express their views. The same diplomat telling me that they had been discussing with other Arab nations at the United Nations the possibility of some kind of Syrian resolution.
Now, the U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte happens to be the president of the security council this month. Diplomatic sources say that it may be very difficult to get the United States to agree to such an open session given their sensitivity to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which of course begins at sundown today.
Here you see the Syrian ambassador in the center of that screen talking to other members of his delegation and to other Arab nations. There is a coterie of reporters just rimmed outside that perimeter. They will be going behind closed doors momentarily, we understand, to discuss the possibility perhaps of a resolution.
Of course, the other possibilities here, Andrea, are simply that they would discuss this at length behind closed doors and then come back at some point in the future to deal with this issue substantively, whether that's tomorrow or sometime early in the week of course remains to be seen.
Of course, there's also the possibility, as the Syrians would like to see, this closed session moving to an open public session again, where all members of the council can say their piece -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: So Michael, it isn't, then, a given that there will in fact be a U.N. Security Council that's introduced this evening? OKWU: It is not a given that there will be a resolution that is introduced this evening. Of course, that is in Syria's hand at this point. But they could introduce a resolution without going to an open session.
That is really the big question at this point, whether or not other members on the council will be agreeing to a Syrian request to have this open public session.
And now, again, the speculation is that the United States may not want to see such an open session and no doubt the U.S. may be talking about the fact that there wasn't a special session when Israel was attacked just a couple days ago -- Andrea.
KOPPEl: Okay, Michael. And we'll be coming back to you and that special session of the United Nations as this hour continues. Michael Okwu in New York. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Israel's Bombing>
Aired October 5, 2003 - 15:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDREA KOPPEL, CNN ANCHOR: CNN's Michael Okwu joins us now live from the United Nations. So Michael, what do we expect to hear during this session?
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that's a very unclear at this point. We do know that they will be going behind closed doors, at least to start, and that the Syrians are very angry and would like to see this resolved as soon as possible.
In fact, as you mentioned, Israel has not staged any kind of attack on Syrian soil since 1973, which is why the Syrians took the unusual step of going through the security council to ask for this special session.
Now, what we understand from a Syrian diplomat who I spoke to earlier is they'd like to move this to some sort of an open session so that at the very least other council members can publicly express their views. The same diplomat telling me that they had been discussing with other Arab nations at the United Nations the possibility of some kind of Syrian resolution.
Now, the U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte happens to be the president of the security council this month. Diplomatic sources say that it may be very difficult to get the United States to agree to such an open session given their sensitivity to the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur, which of course begins at sundown today.
Here you see the Syrian ambassador in the center of that screen talking to other members of his delegation and to other Arab nations. There is a coterie of reporters just rimmed outside that perimeter. They will be going behind closed doors momentarily, we understand, to discuss the possibility perhaps of a resolution.
Of course, the other possibilities here, Andrea, are simply that they would discuss this at length behind closed doors and then come back at some point in the future to deal with this issue substantively, whether that's tomorrow or sometime early in the week of course remains to be seen.
Of course, there's also the possibility, as the Syrians would like to see, this closed session moving to an open public session again, where all members of the council can say their piece -- Andrea.
KOPPEL: So Michael, it isn't, then, a given that there will in fact be a U.N. Security Council that's introduced this evening? OKWU: It is not a given that there will be a resolution that is introduced this evening. Of course, that is in Syria's hand at this point. But they could introduce a resolution without going to an open session.
That is really the big question at this point, whether or not other members on the council will be agreeing to a Syrian request to have this open public session.
And now, again, the speculation is that the United States may not want to see such an open session and no doubt the U.S. may be talking about the fact that there wasn't a special session when Israel was attacked just a couple days ago -- Andrea.
KOPPEl: Okay, Michael. And we'll be coming back to you and that special session of the United Nations as this hour continues. Michael Okwu in New York. Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Israel's Bombing>
