FRANCE: French foreign Minister Alain Juppe says a U.N. observer mission in Syria would need between 300 to 400 people.

Record ID: 280723

  • Title: FRANCE: French foreign Minister Alain Juppe says a U.N. observer mission in Syria would need between 300 to 400 people.
  • Date: 20th April 2012
  • Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (APRIL 19, 2012) (REUTERS) ( ** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **) FRENCH FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER ALAIN JUPPE ARRIVING FOR MEDIA BRIEFING CAMERAMEN AT THE NEWS CONFERENCE JUPPE AT NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALIST TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER ALAIN JUPPE SAYING: "Tonight we will meet with this pilot group which had already met
  • Embargoed: 5th May 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: France, France
  • Country: France
  • Topics: Conflict,International Relations,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA2Y5NJ7E0NUVM9DFMJUCH8GS5W
  • Story Text: A United Nations observer mission in Syria would require between 300 and 400 people to oversee the country properly, more than the 250 observers the Syrian government says is reasonable, French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said on Thursday (April 19).
    "Tonight we will meet with this pilot group which had already met in Istanbul to address two questions, firstly, can we contribute to the deployment of a true force of observers on the field which can be efficient - meaning that they need to be many of them, we need 300 to 400 observers to cover the country, they need to be well equipped, it needs to be a strong mission with the means to move around on the territory - that's out first objective. Secondly, if that's not possible soon, what other measures do we need to take, which other initiatives to we need to take to stop the massacre?," Juppe told a media briefing .
    Juppe, speaking shortly before a meeting in Paris of foreign ministers from the international "Friends of Syria" coalition, said the group would discuss contingency plans for a potential unravelling of a UN-backed peace plan.
    "The regime in Damascus isn't sticking to its commitments. It had agreed on Kofi Annan's six points plan, it is not respecting this six points plan, the government forces have not pulled out of the towns, they have not gone back to their barracks and the ceasefire isn't being respected, I know the argument which consists in saying that the regime is responding to terrorist attacks, it's not true, the regime is continuing to use heavy artillery to bomb civil populations and towns," Juppe said ahead of the talks with delegations from 14 countries including the United States, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
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