Remarks by Ambassador Rosemary A. DiCarlo, Acting U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, At the Security Council Stakeout on U.N. Resolution 1701, July 9, 2013

Rosemary A. DiCarlo
Charge d'Affaires United States Mission to the UN 
New York, NY
July 9, 2013

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AS DELIVERED

Ambassador DiCarlo: Good afternoon. Thank you. The Council just finished consultations on the Secretary-General's report on implementation of Resolution 1701. You're going to hear from our briefers – Special Coordinator Derek Plumbly and Under-Secretary Ladsous – in a bit more detail about their briefings. I just wanted to give you a sense of Council deliberations.

During the session, Council members reiterated their strong support for UNIFIL and expressed their appreciation for UNIFIL's troop contributing countries. They welcome the calm along the Blue Line. Council members also expressed concern at the marked increase of cross-border fire from Syria into Lebanon, as well as incursions, abductions, arms trafficking along the Lebanese-Syrian border. They also condemned today's bombing in Beirut and agreed on the need for the Council to speak with one voice in protecting Lebanon's sovereignty and stability. Finally, Council members expressed their gratitude for the generosity of the people and government of Lebanon in welcoming more than now 590,000 refugees who have fled the violence in Syria. They expressed the need for international support to the Government of Lebanon to deal with this crisis.

Now, I'd like to just make a couple of comments in my national capacity. First, I'd like to stress that the United States is deeply concerned about the increasing cross-border attacks from parties to the Syrian conflict. In particular, Hizballah's acknowledged participation in the Syrian conflict is an affront to the Government of Lebanon and the Baabda Declaration that established the disassociation policy. The United States is committed to supporting President Sleiman and the Lebanese Armed Forces as they seek to preserve stability in Lebanon, and we reiterate the need for progress on government formation, which must be a Lebanese process that reflects the aspirations of the Lebanese people and is conducted in a way that strengthens Lebanon's stability, sovereignty, and independence.

I'm happy to take a few questions.

Reporter: Ambassador, can you identify whether there will be two products from the Security Council – a press statement and a PRST expected tomorrow or after tomorrow? Make it clear for us please.

Ambassador DiCarlo: Absolutely. First of all, there is a press statement that is under review right now by the Council on the bombing that took place today, and we anticipate that that will be issued this evening. The Council members are reviewing a presidential statement now on the broader issue—the crisis in Lebanon because of the Syrian crisis—or the impact of the Syrian crisis on Lebanon. We anticipate that that statement will be adopted this week—at some point this week.