Photo: Luiz Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire
United Nations, New York, USA, August 25 2017 – Nikki Haley United States Ambassador to the UN, addresses the press on Her visit to the IAEA today at the UN Headquarters in New York.
Photo: Luiz Rampelotto/EuropaNewswire
United Nations, August 25 2017 – United States ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley said the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was “not doing its job effectively” describing its commander’s position on Hizbollah’s arms in the south as “an embarrassing lack of understanding on what is going on around him.”
Speaking to reporters in New York today, Haley said UNIFIL is supposed to work with the Lebanese armed forces to stop and report on violations to Resolution 1701, but her delegation has not seen a single instance to support that the mission was doing so. She said General Michael Baery “seems to be the only person in South Lebanon who is blind to what Hizbollah is doing.”
She added that one did not need to look at intelligence reports to know that Hizbollah is building up arms as the party openly parades its weapons in front of cameras. He said UNIFIL’s denial that there is proof to the arms buildup shows that there must be changes to the mission.
Haley stressed that her Government was not looking to change the mission’s mandate, rather it was “looking to include language that clearly directs UNIFIL to do what it should have been doing for years.” She noted that members of the Council who object to this “need to explain why they are prepared to give terrorists a free hand to arm themselves and destabilize the region.” Haley said it is “time the Security Council puts teeth in the UNIFIL operation.” She said despite the absence of war in South Lebanon since 2006, the “massive flow of illegal weapons to Hizbollah” is not a prevention of war, it is “preparation of war.”
Speaking on her recent meetings with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Yukiya Amano, Haley said he and his team are total professionals and experts in their field. She said the IAEA has very strong verification method regarding the Iran but the Agency “can only be as good as what they are permitted to see.” She said she has “have good confidence in the IAEA, but they are dealing with a country that has a clear history of lying and pursuing covert nuclear programmes.”
Asked about the executive order signed today in Washington on Venezuelan sanctions, Haley said the order is a “strong message” for the people of Venezuela and President Maduro. She said the US is “not going to tolerate the dictatorship he is trying to create, and we’re not going to respect the sham Assembly.” She said as the US was seeing “more of the power grab that Maduro is trying to do”, the sanctions were “another option to send him a message.”
Source: UNTV. Photo: EuropaNewswire.