U.N.: Interpreter "error" led to incorrect Syria nuclear report
Unbelievable! Another translation "error"! The interpreter added the word "nuclear" by mistake??
Mainstream media is so complicit in war mongering. When Israel struck Syria, we were not told in the Middle East about any 'nuclear facility' until the US and Israel made up this story. The 'nuclear facility' story was very clearly launched in the West for Western consumption. Here in the Middle East we even saw coverage of the so-called facility that was bombed by Israel. Al Manar channel went all the way to the location in question (which Israel had shown on its television) and showed it to the viewer in detail interviewing even its staff. We never believed that ridiculous story about Syria's ongoing nuclear facility anyway! Both the United Nations and mainstream media are complicit liars and they know it. God knows what else is being mistranslated but not exposed... Shame on the United Nations!
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations blamed an interpreter's error for an erroneous report
The United Nations blamed an interpreter's error for an erroneous reportthat Syria claimed an Israeli airstrike hit a Syrian nuclear facility, a mistake that made headlines in the Middle East and heightened concerns over Damascus' nuclear ambitions.
Syria denied on Wednesday that one of its representatives told the U.N. General Assembly's committee that deals with disarmament on Tuesday that Israel had attacked a Syrian nuclear facility and added that "such facilities do not exist in Syria."
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, quoting an unnamed Foreign Ministry source, said its representative was misquoted — and after more than seven hours of investigation the United Nations said that was indeed the case.
"There was an interpretation error made yesterday when the First Committee was in session," U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said. "There was no use of the word nuclear."
"Although in English the interpreter had suggested that the Syrian delegate had referred to an attack on a nuclear facility, what he said was 'like what happened on the 6th of September against my country,"' Haq said.
The incident started Tuesday night with a U.N. press summary of the First Committee that paraphrased an unnamed Syrian representative as saying that "Israel was the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction and a violator of other nations' airspace, and it had taken action against nuclear facilities, including the 6 July attack in Syria."
Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike in northeastern Syria near the border with Turkey on Sept. 6, not July 6.
The target remains unknown but widespread reports say it may have been a nascent nuclear facility, a claim Syria has denied.
At U.N. headquarters in New York, the spokesman's office said Wednesday morning the Syrian representative spoke in Arabic.
After several hours, Haq said the exact words of the English interpreter were: "An entity that is the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction in the world, an entity that violates other countries' airspace, and that takes action against nuclear facilities, including the attack on 6 July this year on a nuclear facility in my country — that entity has no right to lie, which it has done consistently."
It took until late afternoon for the U.N. to issue the correct translation from the original Arabic words spoken by the Syrian representative.
According to the corrected text, the Syrian delegate said: "...the (entity) that is ranking number four among the exporters of lethal weapons in the world; that which violates the airspace of sovereign states and carries out military aggression against them, like what happened on Sept. 6 against my country, such entity with all those characteristics and even more, has no right for its representative to go on lying without shame..."
The Syrian representative was replying to a speech to the committee on Monday by Israeli Ambassador Miriam Ziv, deputy director general for strategic affairs in the Foreign Ministry, who accused Syria of continuing to transfer weapons to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
According to the U.N., the Syrian delegate accused Israel of planting "millions of cluster bombs in Lebanon" and refusing to hand over the relevant maps, of burying "nuclear wastes" in the occupied Palestinian territories, of building illegal settlements, and of trying "to change the identity of the Syrian territories" in the Golan Heights which Israel captured in the 1967 war.
On Wednesday, before the U.N. announced the error, the Syrian representative demanded at the disarmament committee that the U.N. investigate how the mistake was made, suggesting that it was deliberate, and correct the record.
Israeli radio stations, citing unidentified Israeli diplomats, on Wednesday quoted the Syrians as telling the U.N. meeting that a nuclear target had been struck. However, the Israeli radio reports did not say whether the Israeli diplomats had attended the session or merely had read the U.N. press release on the meeting.
President Bashar Assad said earlier this month that the target was an "unused military building."
Asked about the Sept. 6 incident on Tuesday, before the erroneous report surfaced, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said "we have not received any concrete evidence and concrete information. We need to get more clear information."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h44iqu-AVtbml4EBgaBy7kkKduGQD8SB84UO2
UN Says Syrian Didn't Mention Nuke Site
By EDITH M. LEDERER – 4 days ago
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations on Wednesday backtracked on a report that had quoted a Syrian official as saying an Israeli airstrike hit a nuclear facility in Syria, blaming an interpreter's error for the purported comment that made headlines across the Middle East.
Syria's government had reacted angrily to the U.N. document released Tuesday night. It denied one of its diplomats told a General Assembly committee that Israel had attacked a Syrian nuclear facility last month, adding that "such facilities do not exist in Syria."
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, quoted an unidentified Foreign Ministry official as saying the representative was misquoted.
After more than seven hours of investigation Wednesday, U.N. officials agreed that was the case.
"There was an interpretation error made yesterday when the First Committee was in session," U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said. "There was no use of the word nuclear."
The original report, which brought widespread media attention in the Middle East and heightened concerns over Syria's nuclear ambitions, came in a U.N. press summary of the disarmament committee's meeting Tuesday.
The paper paraphrased an unidentified Syrian diplomat as saying that "Israel was the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction and a violator of other nations' airspace, and it had taken action against nuclear facilities, including the 6 July attack in Syria."
Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike in northeastern Syria near the border with Turkey on Sept. 6, not July 6.
Israel's government has not commented on the target, but there have been reports from unidentified sources saying the attack was aimed at nuclear facility in northern Syria. Syrian leaders deny they have any such site.
At U.N. headquarters, the spokesman's office said the Syrian representative spoke to the disarmament committee in Arabic.
Haq said the exact words of the English interpreter were: "An entity that is the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction in the world, an entity that violates other countries' airspace, and that takes action against nuclear facilities, including the attack on 6 July this year on a nuclear facility in my country — that entity has no right to lie, which it has done consistently."
After studying the Arabic comments, U.N. officials released a corrected English translation late Wednesday afternoon.
According to the new text, the Syrian delegate said: "... the (entity) that is ranking number four among the exporters of lethal weapons in the world; that which violates the airspace of sovereign states and carries out military aggression against them, like what happened on Sept. 6 against my country, such entity with all those characteristics and even more, has no right for its representative to go on lying without shame."
Syrian President Bashar Assad said earlier this month that the airstrike's target was an "unused military building."
Asked about the Sept. 6 incident Tuesday before the committee report surfaced, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had said: "We have not received any concrete evidence and concrete information. We need to get more clear information."
Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.
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The United Nations blamed an interpreter's error for an erroneous reportthat Syria claimed an Israeli airstrike hit a Syrian nuclear facility, a mistake that made headlines in the Middle East and heightened concerns over Damascus' nuclear ambitions.
Syria denied on Wednesday that one of its representatives told the U.N. General Assembly's committee that deals with disarmament on Tuesday that Israel had attacked a Syrian nuclear facility and added that "such facilities do not exist in Syria."
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, quoting an unnamed Foreign Ministry source, said its representative was misquoted — and after more than seven hours of investigation the United Nations said that was indeed the case.
"There was an interpretation error made yesterday when the First Committee was in session," U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said. "There was no use of the word nuclear."
"Although in English the interpreter had suggested that the Syrian delegate had referred to an attack on a nuclear facility, what he said was 'like what happened on the 6th of September against my country,"' Haq said.
The incident started Tuesday night with a U.N. press summary of the First Committee that paraphrased an unnamed Syrian representative as saying that "Israel was the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction and a violator of other nations' airspace, and it had taken action against nuclear facilities, including the 6 July attack in Syria."
Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike in northeastern Syria near the border with Turkey on Sept. 6, not July 6.
The target remains unknown but widespread reports say it may have been a nascent nuclear facility, a claim Syria has denied.
At U.N. headquarters in New York, the spokesman's office said Wednesday morning the Syrian representative spoke in Arabic.
After several hours, Haq said the exact words of the English interpreter were: "An entity that is the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction in the world, an entity that violates other countries' airspace, and that takes action against nuclear facilities, including the attack on 6 July this year on a nuclear facility in my country — that entity has no right to lie, which it has done consistently."
It took until late afternoon for the U.N. to issue the correct translation from the original Arabic words spoken by the Syrian representative.
According to the corrected text, the Syrian delegate said: "...the (entity) that is ranking number four among the exporters of lethal weapons in the world; that which violates the airspace of sovereign states and carries out military aggression against them, like what happened on Sept. 6 against my country, such entity with all those characteristics and even more, has no right for its representative to go on lying without shame..."
The Syrian representative was replying to a speech to the committee on Monday by Israeli Ambassador Miriam Ziv, deputy director general for strategic affairs in the Foreign Ministry, who accused Syria of continuing to transfer weapons to Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
According to the U.N., the Syrian delegate accused Israel of planting "millions of cluster bombs in Lebanon" and refusing to hand over the relevant maps, of burying "nuclear wastes" in the occupied Palestinian territories, of building illegal settlements, and of trying "to change the identity of the Syrian territories" in the Golan Heights which Israel captured in the 1967 war.
On Wednesday, before the U.N. announced the error, the Syrian representative demanded at the disarmament committee that the U.N. investigate how the mistake was made, suggesting that it was deliberate, and correct the record.
Israeli radio stations, citing unidentified Israeli diplomats, on Wednesday quoted the Syrians as telling the U.N. meeting that a nuclear target had been struck. However, the Israeli radio reports did not say whether the Israeli diplomats had attended the session or merely had read the U.N. press release on the meeting.
President Bashar Assad said earlier this month that the target was an "unused military building."
Asked about the Sept. 6 incident on Tuesday, before the erroneous report surfaced, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said "we have not received any concrete evidence and concrete information. We need to get more clear information."
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5h44iqu-AVtbml4EBgaBy7kkKduGQD8SB84UO2
UN Says Syrian Didn't Mention Nuke Site
By EDITH M. LEDERER – 4 days ago
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The United Nations on Wednesday backtracked on a report that had quoted a Syrian official as saying an Israeli airstrike hit a nuclear facility in Syria, blaming an interpreter's error for the purported comment that made headlines across the Middle East.
Syria's government had reacted angrily to the U.N. document released Tuesday night. It denied one of its diplomats told a General Assembly committee that Israel had attacked a Syrian nuclear facility last month, adding that "such facilities do not exist in Syria."
The state-run Syrian Arab News Agency, SANA, quoted an unidentified Foreign Ministry official as saying the representative was misquoted.
After more than seven hours of investigation Wednesday, U.N. officials agreed that was the case.
"There was an interpretation error made yesterday when the First Committee was in session," U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq said. "There was no use of the word nuclear."
The original report, which brought widespread media attention in the Middle East and heightened concerns over Syria's nuclear ambitions, came in a U.N. press summary of the disarmament committee's meeting Tuesday.
The paper paraphrased an unidentified Syrian diplomat as saying that "Israel was the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction and a violator of other nations' airspace, and it had taken action against nuclear facilities, including the 6 July attack in Syria."
Israeli warplanes carried out an airstrike in northeastern Syria near the border with Turkey on Sept. 6, not July 6.
Israel's government has not commented on the target, but there have been reports from unidentified sources saying the attack was aimed at nuclear facility in northern Syria. Syrian leaders deny they have any such site.
At U.N. headquarters, the spokesman's office said the Syrian representative spoke to the disarmament committee in Arabic.
Haq said the exact words of the English interpreter were: "An entity that is the fourth largest exporter of weapons of mass destruction in the world, an entity that violates other countries' airspace, and that takes action against nuclear facilities, including the attack on 6 July this year on a nuclear facility in my country — that entity has no right to lie, which it has done consistently."
After studying the Arabic comments, U.N. officials released a corrected English translation late Wednesday afternoon.
According to the new text, the Syrian delegate said: "... the (entity) that is ranking number four among the exporters of lethal weapons in the world; that which violates the airspace of sovereign states and carries out military aggression against them, like what happened on Sept. 6 against my country, such entity with all those characteristics and even more, has no right for its representative to go on lying without shame."
Syrian President Bashar Assad said earlier this month that the airstrike's target was an "unused military building."
Asked about the Sept. 6 incident Tuesday before the committee report surfaced, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had said: "We have not received any concrete evidence and concrete information. We need to get more clear information."
Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, contributed to this report.
Only zionite lies, deliberate and to the point.
Liars like this should be made to squeal on their paymasters.