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GV United Nations Security Council in session
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SV Singapore permanent representative TTB Koh speaking as Soviet representative listens (SOT) (2 shots)
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SV Fiji permanent representative Filipe Radrodro speaking (SOT) (3 shots)
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GV Security Council
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SV Egyptian permanent representative Ahmed Tawfik Khalil speaking (SOT)
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TRANSCRIPTS:



KOH (SEQ. 2): "The conduct of the Soviet Union during the past week reminds one of a person who has done something wrong but who cannot summon the courage to admit his wrongdoing and to accept responsibility for his action. Instead of promptly admitting that he had shot down the Korean civil aircraft, apologising for its action, and offering to pay compensation, the Soviet Union has resorted to one excuse after another in order to exonerate itself from blame."



RADRODRO (SEQ. 3): "The maximum retaliatory option which was adopted by the Soviet Union has shocked many. It is in our view a completely unwarranted action. The complete disregard for loss of lives and the attitude of indifference underlined by the incident has quite rightly evoked a really strong sense of revulsion. The whole incident is appalling and unjustifiable. My delegation therefore supports the call for a full account of what happened by the Soviet Union. This, at the very least, is what it owes to the international community. Mr. President we support totally a call for united international action, be it here or in any other appropriate United Nations forum, which has the objective of preventing any further recurrence of such tragic event. At the same time my delegation calls for support of a full and comprehensive investigation of the incident."



TAWFIK KHALIL: (SEQ. 5): "In the midst of this debate, we were somewhat reassured by the fact that no delegation questioned the validity of the international procedures, however strongly sovereign rights may have been invoked. In fact, one cannot fail to detect a certain uneasiness that we would like to believe stems form the acceptance of the imperative necessity for all to respect meticulously those procedures. The loss of life of innocent and defenceless people anywhere, and for whatever reason or pretext, should always evoke profound shock and sincere sorrow."





Initials ASG/BB





Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The United States and its allies, at a meeting of the United Nations Security Council on September 7, decided to proceed with the drafting of a resolution deploring the Soviet Union's recent destruction of a South Korean airliner. The decision, taken despite the risk of a Soviet veto, received the support of Singapore's representative T.T.B. Koh. Mr. Koh condemned the Soviet Union for failing to acknowledge full responsibility for the death of the airliner's 269 passengers and crew. Fiji's representative Filipe Radrodro, backing the proposed draft, called for a full United Nations investigations of the incident. Egyptian representative Ahmed Tawfik Khalil said the Soviet Union had no right to justify its action by using the territorial sovereignty argument when human lives were at stake. The text of the resolution, which was still being debated in the Council's afternoon session, was not expected to be ready for formal presentation until later.