- Title: UNITED STATES: BRITISH DEFENCE MINISTER URGES THE WEU NOT TO FORGET UNPROFOR
- Date: 21st June 1995
- Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (JUNE 21, 1995) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. SV BRITISH DEFENCE SECRETARY MALCOLM RIFKIND ADDRESSING WEU CONFERENCE 0.10 2. SV AUDIENCE 0.17 3. SCU RIFKIND SPEAKING ABOUT UNPROFOR WITHDRAWAL FROM BOSNIA, SAYING IT WOULD BE THE END OF A PHASE (ENGLISH) 0.43 4. SV AUDIENCE 0.46 5. SCU RIFKIND SPEAKING (ENGLISH) 1.41 6. SV AUDIENCE 1.45 7. SCU RIFKIND SPEAKING ABOUT VISITS TO BOSNIA, (ENGLISH) 2.48 SEQUENCE 3 transcript: RIFKIND :"IF UNPROFOR WITHDRAWS FROM BOSNIA, WHICH IT WILL HAVE TO, ONE DAY, BUT WHICH WE HOPE IT DOESN'T. IF IT WITHDRAWS THAT IS NOT THE END OF THE STORY, THAT IS THE END OF THE PHASE AND WHAT WE WILL ALL HAVE TO LIVE WITH, ALL OF US INCLUDING THOSE WHO CALL FOR SUCH AN OUTCOME, WOULD BE THE NUMBER OF DEAD AND MAIMED AND WOUNDED GOING RIGHT BACK UP TO 130,000 AND PERHAPS FURTHER, A YEAR, IN BOSNIA AS A RESULT OF SUCH A POLICY" SEQUENCE 5 transcript :RIFKIND :"I APPRECIATE IT IS IMPORTANT FOR CONGRESS TO GET A CLEAR FEEL FOR WHAT THIS IS ABOUT, BUT SPEAKING ABOUT HOW BRITISH, FRENCH AND DUTCH GOVERNMENTS HAVE HAD TO DECIDE TO SEND THIS FORCE AND PROVE TO OUR PARLIAMENT AND OUR PUBLIC NOT WHETHER ITS JUST WORTH SUPPORTING FINANCIALLY BUT WHETHER ITS WORTH SENDING YOUNG MEN TO BOSNIA WHO MAY BE KILLED AND INJURED" SEQUENCE 7 transcript: RIFKIND :"THERE IS A PEACE BEING KEPT IN LARGE PARTS OF BOSNIA, AND ITS BEING KEPT BY THE UNSUNG HEROES OF THE UNPROFOR FORCE, WHO ARE NOT IN THE HEADLINES BECAUSE THEY ARE NOT BEING TAKEN HOSTAGE, THEY ARE NOT BEING THREATENED, THEY ARE NOT BEING HARRASSED THEY ARE ACTUALLY CARRYING OUT THE MANDATE" Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 6th July 1995 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
- City:
- Country: USA
- Reuters ID: LVA4U01XYT6VQPFG1MIER9M39U68
- Story Text: British Defence Secretary Malcolm Rifkind on Wednesday (June 21) urged senior defence officials from the United States, Netherlands, Italy and Portugal not to forget the unsung heroes of the United Nations (U.N.) Protection Forces.
At an annual gathering of the Western European Union (WEU) in Washington, Rifkind said if UNPROFOR withdrew from Bosnia- Herzegovina it would not be "the end of the story but just the end of the phase." He said this was not something "we want to do," adding that if that happened "we would have to live with...the number of dead and maimed and wounded...(more than) 130,000." Saying he understood that U.S. congress had to get a "clear feel" for the situation in Bosnia before pledging any money, he said that British, French and Dutch governments had had to think about the lives of "young men" that they send to Bosnia to face Bosnian Serbs "eyeball to eyeball."
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