At the outset, it gives me great
pleasure to congratulate you warmly, Mr. President,
and, through you, your friendly country Uganda upon
your election as President of the General Assembly at
its sixty-ninth session. I take this opportunity to wish
you luck and success in the noble mission entrusted to
you, and I affirm the Kingdom of Bahrain’s support
for your judicious proposal regarding the formulation
and adoption of a post-2015 development agenda that
will build on past achievements in the context of the
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) for the well-
being of all people.
It would be remiss of me not to commend your
predecessor, Ambassador John Ashe, for his excellent
conduct of the work of the Assembly during its sixty-
eighth session and his outstanding and successful
efforts.
We also greatly appreciate the efforts of Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon to revitalize and strengthen the
Organization’s role and to realize its objectives in all
fields. I commend the report he introduced earlier in the
current session on the work of the Organization (A/69/1).
It demonstrates the daunting responsibility assumed by
our Organization in creating an environment conducive
to seeking appropriate solutions to the problems and
challenges that we all face.
The inaugural statement by the Secretary-General
at the opening of the general debate (see A/69/PV.6) shed
light on a number of the challenges facing us, including
climate change, the spread of diseases, particularly the
Ebola epidemic in West Africa, the aggravated refugee
problem, the propagation of extremism, policies
of exclusion, violence, violations of human rights,
particularly those affecting women, and issues related
to health, education and food security.
My country supports the Secretary-General’s
urgent call to conclude a global climate agreement at the
forthcoming Lima and Paris conferences and stresses
the importance of the Green Climate Fund, designed to
mitigate the effects of climate change.
It is a matter of particular pride for me to mention
the vigorous efforts undertaken by the Kingdom of
Bahrain and the resulting successes in countering
the numerous challenges and instability currently
facing the region. As classified by the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) 2014 Human
Development Report — which is based on objective
statistical criteria regarding, first and foremost, health
care, education, per capita income and the equality of
women — the Kingdom of Bahrain is ranked among the
countries with “very high human development”. That is
a status achieved through persistent hard work, and we
will endeavour to maintain it.
Those goals, however, have never been an end in
themselves. The principal objective is to achieve the
well-being of Bahraini citizens and to protect all those
who live within the borders of the Kingdom, an oasis of
security and calm enjoyed equally by all.
I am pleased to recall in that context the award
bestowed on His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al-Khalifa
by the Foundation for Coexistence among Religions in
recognition of His Majesty’s outstanding contributions
in the field of dialogue among civilizations and
cultures. I also note that the fourteenth Conference on
All Civilizations in the Service of Humanity was held in
Manama in early May under the high-level patronage of
His Majesty the King and with the participation of the
United Nations and a distinguished group of thinkers,
scholars and opinion-makers. The Conference adopted
the Bahrain Declaration, which has been circulated and
deposited as an official document of the United Nations
(A/68/959, annex).
Additionally, I would like to mention His Majesty’s
initiative to establish an Arab human rights tribunal.
The initiative has been approved by all States members
of the League of Arab States, and the statute has been
adopted. I would also like to mention the launch in
Bahrain in November 2013 of the UNDP report Water
Governance in the Arab Region, which calls for the
adoption of a joint Arab water-management strategy.
The Kingdom of Bahrain has continued to play an
energetic role in the United Nations system, where it
seeks to further progress through gradual and steady
reform and modernization along the lines envisaged by
His Majesty the King. Such reform would be based on a
strategy of common denominators, continuous and open
dialogue and a national exchange of views — the same
strategy as led to the early achievement of the Millennium
Development Goals. Accordingly, the strategies and
preparations for the post-2015 development agenda are
also based on tireless work, determination, persistence,
good faith and comprehensive planning and are aimed
at promoting continual and enhanced progress and
serving the interests of the Kingdom’s citizens and
residents alike.
Our region is going through a phase of extreme
difficulty — probably the most difficult in its modern
history — in which a climate of instability, chaos,
tension and savage, bloody and unprecedented terrorism
prevails. Of the many contributing factors, the most
salient are the following.
First, the accelerated emergence of terrorist groups
of various global dimensions and affiliations. They
thrive in our region, exhibiting the greatest savagery
and callousness. Not only do they target innocent
people in general, they also engage in such inhumane
practices as mass murder, public beheadings and the
persecution of ethnic and religious minorities, which
they displace, destroying their cultural heritage,
depriving them of religious freedom and causing them
to flee their homes. They attack entire cities and declare
war on sovereign countries in regional and international
settings, in complete disregard of all religious doctrines
and the intrinsic human values — tolerance, equality,
moderation and respect for cultural diversity — that
have enabled human civilizations, including our Arab
and Islamic civilization, to coexist. These terrorist
groups — they include Al-Qaida, the Islamic State in
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Hizbullah, and their
extensions and counterparts — recruit their fighters
from both East and West and perpetrate horrific terrorist
acts. The young and the old alike are killed, women are
taken as war bounty, families are displaced and privacy
is violated, the objective being to undermine security,
propagate anarchy and topple regimes.
Therefore, combating terrorist groups requires
us to work together in three main areas. The first of
these is the security and military area, owing to the
worsening threat posed by these terrorist groups as they
acquire heavy weapons, enabling them to occupy cities
for use as safe havens and bases from which to launch
the terrorist operations that disrupt the stability and
security of our region.
We share a common responsibility with friendly
countries and our allies is to eradicate the terrorist group
of ISIL. To that end, our air force, in collaboration with
these countries, has targeted a number of ISIL positions.
We welcome Security Council resolution 2178 (2014),
adopted on 24 September, which focuses on stopping
the recruitment of foreign terrorist fighters. Also, we
continue to closely monitor borders and exit and entry
points so as to stop citizens of the Kingdom from
contacting or joining terrorist groups and to arrest and
prosecute all those who have allegedly been affiliated
to them as soon as they return to the country.
Secondly, we must combat all ideology that runs
counter to human nature and betrays true Islam by
distorting its precepts. Muslim clerics and scholars can
play an important part in counteracting such distortion.
We therefore call on all Muslim scholars to expose and
disown ideas that are not related to Islam in any way,
and we appreciate their playing a leading role in that
respect. It is imperative to stand together in the face of
the ideas propagated by the terrorist groups.
Thirdly, we must deal with financing, as it
constitutes the lifeline of the terrorist groups, enabling
them to perpetrate their barbaric acts, purchase
weapons and influence some young people. In that
connection, the Kingdom of Bahrain will convene
a high-level international conference during the
first week of November to consider the financing of
terrorism, how best to combat such financing and how
to deprive terrorism of its sources of finance. We firmly
believe that preventing the financing of terrorism will
significantly contribute to overcoming terrorism and to
eradicating it.
The second challenge to the security and stability of
our region is that of political expansionism and attempts
to impose hegemony, in disregard of the sovereignty
of States, and to interfere in their internal affairs. All
the countries of the region, without exception, have
suffered from such issues as a result of attempts to
export seditious revolutions and to train terrorists
in violation of international law and the principles
of the United Nations. Such attempts represent an
ideology that is archaic in its political dimension and
in its defiance of the values and principles enshrined in
numerous international instruments.
One form of such interference is the exploitation of
the media, in particular satellite television channels and
social media, which are misused in order to distort facts
and to cause instability in the region. We condemn such
illegal and illegitimate practices, which contravene
international values and principles.
I would like to point out what the Republic of
Yemen endures. With each step that it takes forward,
terrorist groups rush to pursue their criminal objectives
by undermining its stability and security. The Kingdom
of Bahrain reaffirms its support for President Abdrabuh
Mansour Hadi Mansour and his tireless efforts to
strengthen the national consensus achieved through a
comprehensive national dialogue on the basis of the
Gulf Cooperation Council initiative and the relevant
Security Council resolutions.
Turning to Iraq, which has suffered from flagrant
interference, insecurity, hegemony and anarchy, we see
some hope in the positive developments in the country.
We are pleased to welcome the election of President Fuad
Masum and the establishment of the new Government
under Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi. We hope
that such a development will enhance the political
and development processes, thereby contributing to
the consolidation of Iraq’s security and stability, the
preservation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity
and the strengthening of its links with its fellow Arabs
in the region where it naturally belongs.
The conflict in Syria becomes more complex and
more acute every year. Innocent civilians are paying
the ultimate price and losing their lives, property and
dignity. The humanitarian situation deteriorates daily
in the absence of a comprehensive political solution to
safeguard the lives of the Syrian people and to extricate
that beloved country from its protracted suffering
through a comprehensive political process aimed at
achieving reform and political plurality. With regard to
the humanitarian aspect, we reiterate that it is necessary
to overcome all impediments to the delivery of
humanitarian assistance to those in need, in accordance
with the relevant Security Council resolutions.
In that respect, I wish to express my country’s
great appreciation for the humanity shown by the
sisterly Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan in hosting
and delivering assistance to Syrian refugees. We also
appreciate the humanitarian role played by Turkey and
Lebanon, as well as by the Office of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees.
With regard to the Arab Republic of Egypt,
the Kingdom of Bahrain welcomes the democratic
development that has taken place in that country
and the implementation of the road map through the
establishment of a Constitution that reflects the will of
the Egyptian people. We also welcome the presidential
elections and the ongoing preparations for the holding
of legislative elections so as to complete the State
institutions under the Constitution.
The Kingdom of Bahrain reiterates its complete
condemnation of any interference in the internal affairs
of Egypt. We support the efforts of President Abdel
Fattah Al Sisi and the steps that he has taken to combat
terrorism, to preserve the security and stability of
Egypt and to pursue its strategic and active role at the
Arab, regional and international levels. In that regard,
I would like to commend the initiative taken by the
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah
Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, King of the Kingdom of Saudi
Arabia, in announcing the convening of an Egyptian
economic summit in support of Egypt and its economic
development.
We reiterate the historical, principled and constant
position of the Kingdom of Bahrain in solidarity with
the Kingdom of Morocco and our full support for its
initiatives with regard to self-government for the
Moroccan Sahara within Moroccan sovereignty and
territorial integrity, in accordance with international
legitimacy.
With regard to Libya, the Kingdom of Bahrain
wishes to express its grave concern about the
deteriorating security situation as a result of the
violent acts perpetrated by terrorist groups and
the repercussions of such acts on the stability of
neighbouring countries. The Kingdom of Bahrain
supports the legitimate constitutional institutions
represented by the elected House of Representatives
and welcomes the establishment of the new Government
under Mr. Abdallah Al-Thani. We hope that such a
development will help to establish security and stability
and to preserve the unity and territorial integrity of that
sisterly country.
In view of our keen interest in striving to achieve
our principal goal, namely, to protect humankind
from the scourge of war, conflict and disaster and to
condemn attempts at hegemony and destabilization, we
reiterate our call to make the Middle East, including
the Arab Gulf region, a zone free of weapons of mass
destruction, in particular nuclear weapons. On the basis
of that principle, we support the efforts of the P5+1
to promptly find a solution to the issue of the Iranian
nuclear programme, in accordance with the provisions
of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons and the Convention on Nuclear Safety, without
prejudice to the use of nuclear technology for peaceful
purposes. Such use is a natural right of all States under
the international safeguards system.
The third and last challenge is the illegal occupation
of the territory of other States in breach of the principles
of international law and the Charter of the United
Nations, as demonstrated by Israel’s violation of all
international laws, agreements and decisions and its
targeting of the Palestinian people by confiscating their
land, by building or expanding settlements thereon and
by imposing blockades on them. Such violations found
their ugliest expression in the most recent criminal
aggression against the Gaza Strip, which resulted in
tremendous damage and caused the death of more than
2,000 martyrs, the displacement of a great number of
Palestinians and the destruction of infrastructure.
I would like to recall the words of
President Mahmoud Abbas in his statement before
the General Assembly, his request that international
protection be provided to the Palestinian people and
their territories under occupation and his demand that
Israel abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949
(see A/69/PV.12). It is imperative to have a specific
time frame for an end to the Israeli occupation and to
achieve the aspirations of the Palestinian people for the
establishment of an independent Palestinian State on
all its territory within the boundaries of 4 June 1967,
with East Jerusalem as its capital, as stipulated under
the Arab Peace Initiative and the two-State solution,
in accordance with international legitimacy and the
relevant United Nations resolutions.
In that context, we commend the pivotal role
played by the Arab Republic of Egypt in order to
reach a ceasefire in Gaza. We greatly appreciate its
hosting, in cooperation with the Kingdom of Norway,
an international conference in support of Palestine and
the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip next month. We
also commend the important role of the United Nations
Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the
Near East.
With regard to the occupation by the Islamic
Republic of Iran of the three islands Greater Tunb,
Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa, which belong to the United
Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain reiterates its
consistent position condemning that occupation. We
call on Iran to heed the efforts of the United Arab
Emirates to resolve the issue through direct negotiations
or through the arbitration of the International Court of
Justice.
Those are the key challenges facing our region.
If we overcome them, it will be relatively easy for us,
within our common responsibilities, to address the
international challenges that the Secretary-General
described in his statement, to which I referred at the
beginning of my statement. If we focus on those very
serious issues, we will be on the right path towards true
sustainable development and the necessary reform to
meet the aspirations of all peoples.
Notwithstanding the challenges that we all face, the
Kingdom of Bahrain will always remain committed to
moving forward on the path of development, reform and
positive interaction with the international community
in order to achieve our aspirations and objectives. In
that respect, the Kingdom of Bahrain, in line with its
firm approach towards reform under the leadership
of His Majesty the King, will continue to work for
the upholding of the rule of law, pluralism and active
political participation. We look forward to the elections
to be held on 22 November, so as to consolidate all our
achievements.
In conclusion, I would like to underscore the
fact that in the Kingdom of Bahrain our choices are
clear. Our vision is comprehensive and our strategy
complementary to and in line with our Gulf, Arab and
international contexts. The Kingdom always seeks to
promote stability, peace, security, development and the
protection of human rights. It rejects and condemns
terrorism, violence and hatred and works for a society
in which harmony and consensus prevail for the benefit
of all and for the establishment of a promising future
full of opportunity and achievement for all future
generations.