1.
GV EXT UN building (MUTE) (3 shots)
0.16

2.
SV Chaim Herzog (Israeli representative) speaking
1.38

3.
SV Juma Oris Abdalla (acting Ugandan Foreign Minister) speaking
2.30


HERZOG: "We now have the ominous news that the government of Uganda is applying the threat of blackmail to foreign nationals in Uganda in connection with the current proceedings in the Security Council. In other words, for the first time in history, a direct attempt has been made by threats of blackmail of the most ominous character to influence the proceedings in this Council. How can this Council pass over this in silence? How can it ignore a blatant attempt to influence this body? How can the members of this Council ignore this flagrant attempt to interfere with their national sovereignty? This whole sordid affair condemns not only the government of Uganda but all the countries which have spoken out against the Israeli rescue mission, on this issue, at this table. They have ignored the basic cause of this issue, namely the hijacking of the plane. And have not even had the good grace, for reasons of political expediency, to say one word about the fate of an old lady of 75, dragged out of the hospital, in all probability to the horrible fate meted out to tens of thousands of Ugandans -- a fate, the nature of which has been described by the distinguished Foreign Minister of Kenya in his letter addressed to you today sir."



ORIS: "On behalf of the Ugandan delegation I therefore totally reject all the allegations levelled against my country by the representative of Zionist Israel. Most of what he said consisted of nothing but pack of lies. Mr. President. This debate is dragging us to nowhere but er, pack of lies and confusion. And Mr. President, it is your responsibility to guide this Council so we can come with concrete er, er, condemnation of Israel."



Nine votes are needed for the passage of a Security Council resolution in the absence of a veto. Panama has announced that it will abstain during voting on the resolutions which are before the Council. Therefore, a draft resolution by the United States and Britain condemning hijacking and another, proposed by Benin, Libya and Tanzania and condemning Israel, are both unlikely to fail through lack of support. The vote was due to be made on Wednesday (14 July)




Initials BB/1950


PART TELERECORDING

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: There were heated exchanges at the United Nations on Tuesday (13 July) during a Security Council debate on the Israeli commando raid on Entebbe Airport in Uganda. But a resolution condemning Israel and another condemning hijacking seemed likely to be defeated through lack of sufficient support.

SYNOPSIS: One of the strongest speeches came from Uganda's acting Foreign Minister, Juma Oris Abdalla, who condemned the Israeli actions in his country. But earlier, Israel's permanent representative, Chaim Herzog, was equally forceful.