Syria

I have the pleasure of congratulating you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the fifty-third session of the General Assembly. We are confident that your wide-ranging expertise in international affairs will facilitate your task and lead the deliberations of this session to a successful conclusion. I should like also to thank your predecessor, Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko, for his wise leadership and invaluable contributions during the preceding session of the Assembly. Nor can I fail to express our thanks and appreciation to the Secretary- General of our Organization, Mr. Kofi Annan, for the efforts he is exerting to enhance the role of the United Nations in international affairs. Following the end of the cold war a decade ago, many, especially in the countries of the North, believed that this planet, which is home to approximately 6 billion people, was going to become a more stable, secure and prosperous world. That conviction proceeded from the notion that the bi-polar system was unable to achieve international security except in the framework of a balance of terror. Nor was the old system able to resolve regional conflicts due to competition for areas of influence. The question now before the international community is the following: were these convictions justified? Or did wishful thinking leapfrog reality, ignoring the following salient facts? First, nuclear weapons, which are unparalleled in their destructive capability, have proliferated since the end of the cold war and have now reached India and Pakistan. This proliferation has also gained a sort of legitimacy based on the fact that Israel?s possession of nuclear weapons was not spoken of during the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. My country, Syria, Arab countries and most countries in the Non- Aligned Movement appealed to the five nuclear-weapon States during the review and extension conferences for this Treaty not to exempt any country from adhering to this Treaty, so that the world will not face a new nuclear arms race. Unfortunately that urgent call fell on deaf ears. Those who now assume that nuclear-arms proliferation will be limited to a few countries are mistaken. Syria and 10 all Arab countries call for turning the Middle East into a nuclear-weapon-free zone, as a serious contribution to halting the nuclear-arms race. Secondly, in the post-cold-war era regional conflicts have multiplied, becoming more fierce, and with varying forms and motives. This has happened to such an extent that the United States, which is now the only super-Power in a unipolar world, and the Security Council, the body responsible for maintaining international peace and security, are no longer able to contain these conflicts, let alone find just solutions to them. Anyone who reads the statement issued by the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the five permanent members of the Security Council, issued at the beginning of this session of the General Assembly, will have a headache and will be severely frustrated at seeing this world face so many regional conflicts and so many complicated crises without any light at the end of the tunnel. Thirdly, we have the recent economic and financial crises in the world, particularly following the collapse of financial markets in South-East Asia and the accompanying sharp decline in the prices of raw materials, especially oil. All of this has proven that economic globalization is a two- edged sword and has repercussions which cannot be confined to those countries tantalized by rapid prosperity generated by an inflow of capital and foreign investments. Rather, such effects go beyond those countries to the countries exporting capital and investments, which were also tempted by quick profits without paying much heed to the consequences. What is going on in the world now under the banner of globalization is a cause for concern, because it gives priority to profit over other development factors: economic, social, cultural and environmental. It also strives to confine the role of the State to providing guarantees and protection to major market forces, ignoring the responsibility for the achievement of social justice for the peoples. Furthermore, the continuing marginalization of developing countries in international economic decision-making and the continuing severe restrictions on access by such countries to international markets and financial and technological resources render these countries unable to benefit from the promised opportunities of globalization. Strengthening development indicators and increasing levels of productivity are the more durable means of limiting the effects of economic crises and reducing the effects of financial upheavals, especially in developing countries. At any rate, we believe that such crises and shake-ups may happen from time to time and may touch every country, no matter how immune it may seem, so long as the most powerful and prevalent monetary unit in the world — the United States dollar — is not stable. However, the imminent issuance of a European monetary unit may contribute to establishing a more stable international financial and economic system. In any case, we believe there is no alternative to opening a serious dialogue within the framework of the United Nations between developing and developed countries and international monetary institutions in order to lay a solid foundation for international cooperation which might save the world from economic surprises and social upheavals and also contribute positively to the interests of all countries in the world, in the South as well as the North. Since its beginning, the Arab-Israeli conflict has been given high priority on the agenda of the international community. International efforts to contain this conflict have been unrelenting every time it has exploded, because the Middle East, with its singular strategic position, its tremendous material and spiritual wealth and its renowned cultural heritage can be considered the most sensitive parameter for measuring the state of world peace and security. The peace process that was launched in Madrid was seen as a new beginning to settle this conflict with the end of the cold war. The Madrid terms of reference, the American assurances and the results reached constituted a firm basis which cannot be ignored under any circumstance. The insistence of the Israeli Prime Minister on pursuing a policy hostile to peace and his rejection of the rights of the Arabs to regain the occupied territories under the pretext of security for Israel alone — at a time when Israel?s military arsenal is considered one of the mightiest and most modern in the world — constitute a challenge not only to the Arabs, but also to the will of the international community as a whole. It seems clear that Israel does not limit its conception of security to the Arab territories it occupies; rather it is working to establish a military alliance in the region which will undermine the peace process and put the region on a path fraught with dangers, tension and the potential for explosion. 11 What the region and its peoples need is not the establishment of alliances and axes but the establishment of a just and comprehensive peace, based on the full withdrawal of Israel from the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967 and from the south of Lebanon and its western Bekaa, in implementation of the relevant Security Council resolutions and the land-for-peace principle. In addition, the legitimate national rights of the Palestinian people must be safeguarded, including their right to self- determination and the establishment of their independent State on their national territory. The peace process faces a real crisis. It has been in a stalemate on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks for over two years. It faces erosion on the Palestinian track, as well, due to Israeli intransigence. The entire peace process is on the wane and will be so long as the Israeli Government rejects the principle of land for peace and attempts to impose on the Arabs a peace based on occupation and settlerism. However, Syria has been and continues to be committed to peace; we consider it a strategic option that requires the resumption of negotiations from the point at which they stopped on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks and that continues to build on the commitments and undertakings reached until a just and comprehensive peace is established in the region. Syria stresses its concern for the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq and calls for alleviating the suffering of our brotherly Iraqi people and lifting the sanctions imposed on them according to a specific timetable. In the meantime, Iraq is called upon to implement the remaining Security Council resolutions in a way that guarantees a just resolution to the issue of Kuwaiti prisoners of war. Syria also calls for an end to the sanctions imposed on Libya, for it is our belief that it is possible to address this crisis in an appropriate legal framework, separate from any political motivation. We fully support the Libyan demand for a solution to this problem on a just basis. Syria stands against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations; we condemn it on all fronts. We differentiate between terrorism and the legitimate struggle of peoples against foreign occupation and for self- determination and national liberation, which cannot be considered terrorism. We also condemn killing innocent civilians everywhere, just as we condemn the State terrorism exercised by Israel against the Arabs. We believe that resorting to force and violence in international relations, in contravention of the United Nations Charter and the principles of international law, does not promote international legitimacy but leaves the door wide open to the law of the jungle. In this regard, Syria finds the United States attack on the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical facility in Sudan to be unjustified. We believe that this attack constitutes a violation of the principles of international law and the Charter of the United Nations. From this perspective, Syria supports the request of the Sudanese Government to the Security Council to send a fact-finding mission to investigate the American allegations relating to that installation. Syria follows with great concern the sharp conflicts sweeping some African countries. While expressing its solidarity and support to the peoples of Africa, Syria calls on the international community to make the necessary efforts in close cooperation with the Organization of African Unity to find solutions to these conflicts in a manner that consolidates peace, stability and security on the African continent. The international community is also called upon to give all types of support to enable African States to eliminate the scourge of poverty and free themselves of the burden of debt in order to achieve sustainable development. We are also following with great concern the situation in the Republic of Somalia. We urge all the Somali parties to respect their undertakings and implement the agreements reached among them. We call on them to put the national interests of Somalia above all other considerations and to cooperate with Arab, African and international efforts towards the realization of national reconciliation so as to guarantee the return of security and stability for the Somali people. Syria supports the measures taken to ensure the achievement of peace and security in the Korean peninsula, and we also support the Korean people?s aspirations to achieve unity. Syria stresses anew the urgent need to take all necessary steps, as promptly as possible, to end the economic, commercial and financial sanctions imposed by the United States against Cuba for more than three decades now. We second Cuba?s call for the resolution of differences between the two countries through dialogue, on the basis of equality, mutual respect and good- neighbourly relations. 12 Syria is extremely concerned about the general situation in Afghanistan and the continuing bloodshed. Syria strongly condemns the killing of the Iranian diplomats in Mazar-i-Sharif. This was a violation of the principles of international law and of the tolerant values of Islam. We call upon all parties to exercise self-restraint and to work towards reaching a peaceful solution and national reconciliation. Syria supports the stand of the Non-Aligned Movement which considers the reform of the Security Council, its democratization and the expansion of its membership as part and parcel of a package deal that is not subject to a specific timetable. We emphasize the principles of equal sovereignty among States and equitable geographical representation according to the provisions of the Charter. Syria also believes that the exercise of the right of veto should be reduced and that its scope should be limited. We support the position of the Non-Aligned Movement concerning the concept of general agreement, specifically that such agreement should, in conformity with the provisions of Article 108 of the Charter, require a majority of two thirds of Member States. The Secretary-General?s proposed plan for reform was a positive step to improve the Organization?s efficiency and enable it to cope with the changes required in the next stage. The Syrian delegation participated in the discussions relevant to reforming the United Nations in the spirit of collective responsibility of Member States to enhance the role of this international Organization. We believe that Member States do have a major role to play in consultations concerning the reforms and in the resulting resolutions. The fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is an important occasion for re- emphasizing the fact that all human rights are universal and interrelated and that the international community should address human rights in a just and comprehensive manner, free of double standards and manipulations for political purposes or to interfere in the internal affairs of States, and taking into account the national characteristics and the historical, cultural and religious elements of each people and nation. Humankind continues to aspire to a world free of wars, poverty, ignorance and injustice, a world in which justice, security, stability and sustainable development prevail. Peoples of the world have pinned their hopes on the United Nations Charter, which specifies among its purposes the importance of maintaining world peace and security, developing relations among nations based on respect for equality and self-determination of peoples, achieving international cooperation in the economic, social and cultural fields and enhancing basic freedoms for mankind everywhere. Let us work together seriously and confidently on the basis of these principles and objectives. Let us not disappoint future generations. This is not an easy task, but it is certainly a noble one, which deserves our efforts, sacrifice, patience and wisdom.