Oman

May I begin by congratulating the President on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-third session. His election to this distinguished post is a testament to the international community’s appreciation of the effective contribution to international affairs made by his country, Uruguay, with which the Sultanate of Oman enjoys good relations of friendship and cooperation. We are confident that under his leadership and considerable diplomatic experience our deliberations here will be crowned with success. My delegation stands ready to cooperate with him fully in order to achieve all the aims envisaged by this session. May I also take this opportunity to express sincere thanks to Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko of friendly Ukraine for the exemplary and constructive manner with which he steered the work of the previous session. I would also like to confirm my country’s unwavering support for the sustained and dedicated work done by the Secretary- General, Mr. Kofi Annan, to enhance and reinvigorate the role of the United Nations and to restructure its principal bodies. 9 It has now been over half a century since the establishment of the United Nations, during which time it has handled a significant number of international issues. However, the United Nations often remains unable to resolve many regional crises which have erupted since the end of the cold war. In spite of the attention paid to these issues by the international community, the majority of those included in our agenda have remained without effective solutions. It is our view that this is due to the failure and lack of resolve on the part of Member States to utilize the mechanisms of the United Nations which were established on the basis of the Charter. If this is the case today, how will the future be, when we shall be expected to face more conflicts which may be different in nature and size as compared to old conflicts? We cannot address them in the conventional way. We shall have to examine their root causes and address their manifestations and give full support to the Organization in order to find the means to develop adequate bases for addressing them so as to protect the international community against their recurrence. The high-level working group of the General Assembly made progress in the area of restructuring and streamlining some of the main organs of the United Nations, in particular with regard to the question of reform and increase in the membership of the Security Council. The setback which the Open-ended Working Group on this question faced during the previous General Assembly session should not stand in the way of achieving further progress. We should not accept retreat from what has already been accomplished. We have to encourage the Working Group to redouble its efforts to complete the scope of the needed reforms of the United Nations in a manner that will meet the aspirations of the international community on the basis of comprehensiveness and equality among all States, which in turn will contribute balance and transparency to the methods of work of the Security Council. This will be a contribution to the decision-making process and to the clarity of vision with regard to the emerging developments in our contemporary world in which justice, security and peace should prevail. In this way, all Member States, large and small, would be enabled to participate in the resolution of international problems, especially those which have a direct impact on their own interests, in an appropriate and just manner. The greatest danger facing the Members of the United Nations in the post-cold-war era is represented by some of the unhealthy situations which lead to nearly worldwide economic stagnation and the spread of terrorism and ethnic wars, as I have just indicated. This would jeopardize all the achievements made by humankind in the scientific and technological fields, as well as with regard to the standards of social and economic development, and would lead to an historic era with negative consequences for the future. The disturbing economic situation in East Asia since the beginning of the financial crisis in the middle of 1997 has generated instability and created political and social upheavals in the region. In spite of the reform measures for economic stability by the concerned States in Asia, with the help of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, the success in restoring stability to the world economy was limited. In fact, we have begun to witness the repercussions of those measures on other economies which were previously immune from them. This is due to the fact that the efforts made were not coherent and did not address the urgent need to take a comprehensive view of the whole crisis, within an equitable international context. The events that I have outlined emphasize the need for collaborative efforts with a view to the establishment of a fair and equitable global economic system that would cover all goods, technologies and services. We believe that this should be linked to a new system of international financial markets which would be more transparent and efficient and thus responsive and adaptable to the changing financial conditions in the world markets. While I am not in a position to give concrete proposals here, we do feel that this session provides an appropriate opportunity for scrutinizing the global economic situation and for examining all problems and complications worldwide, thereby avoiding more problematic impacts from which the international community should be saved. This imposes on us the need to work harder, and work together, to face the challenges before us in order to restore confidence and return stability and normal growth to the global economy. We strongly condemn the terrorist bombing attacks on the United States embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es- Salaam, as well as the bombing incident in Cape Town, South Africa. We also deplore the assassination of the Iranian diplomats in Afghanistan. This wave of international terrorism and its rapid growth in an ugly and destructive form puts us all in a position of responsibility where we must work together to secure peace, tranquillity and stability, and employ all the measures that are necessary to the success of our endeavours in combating 10 terrorism. We believe that the measures which are now necessary to ensure that the perpetrators of those crimes and those who advocate their commission are brought to justice under the auspices of the United Nations. In this regard, we support the proposal made by the Arab Republic of Egypt and endorsed by the twelfth Summit of the Non- Aligned Movement held at Durban, South Africa, at the beginning of this month, to convene an international conference under the auspices of the United Nations in order to work out common arrangements that would express the reaction of the international community to the phenomenon of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We feel deep regret at the growing situation of famine among nations, which points out the inability of those countries to grow their natural resources owing to the failure of the developed countries to understand the real need for helping these people evolve the frameworks needed to operate and activate their national instrumentalities and to benefit from every assistance given to them. Since a number of United Nations agencies, such as United Nations Development Programme, have become unable to continue offering their expertise due to the shortage of financial resources, several developing countries were affected to the point that the implementation of important economic programmes in those countries has been seriously impeded. In other regions, ethnic conflicts have threatened to return the human family to the rule of the jungle and the legitimation of minority rule as based on injustice, oppression and a one-man rule, instead of the resort to international law, which is based on justice and equality of rights and common interests. If we look at the root causes, we find that most of the wealth is controlled by a few Governments. This factor is behind the ethnic, political and social conflicts which give rise to all forms of violence and terrorism. Only 14 months separate us from the next millennium. We had hoped that humankind would celebrate this historic occasion in an atmosphere of political and economic stability, free from violence, terrorism, poverty and “ethnic cleansing”. Thus, we should intensify our efforts to fight terrorism and violence in a framework of coordinated international efforts aimed at eradicating these unsettling phenomena, and to ensure that the perpetrators and advocates of such crimes are brought before the courts of justice. In this context, the Middle East continues to face a very serious political crisis as a result of the stalemate in the peaceful negotiations between the Arab countries and the Israelis under the sponsorship of the United States of America. The political stagnation caused by the Israeli Government and its non-compliance with the agreements that followed the 1991 Madrid Peace Conference under world sponsorship which led to the historic Oslo accord, and other agreements between the Government of Israel and the Palestinian National Authority have, in our view, thwarted world and regional efforts aimed at the restructuring of the Middle East region on the basis of a just and comprehensive peace leading to confidence- building and to hope for peaceful coexistence between the Arabs and the people of Israel. We cannot but wonder where we stand in relation to this goal. The Israeli Government’s plans aim at controlling the Arab lands occupied since 1967. These Israeli policies have hindered the concerted and intensified efforts exerted by the United States as a co- sponsor of the peace process. In addition, this has caused an atmosphere of suspicion to prevail among the Arab States as regards the genuine desire of the Israeli Government for peaceful coexistence and cooperation with the Arabs. The United Nations has been continuously discussing this issue since 1948 and has adopted many General Assembly and Security Council resolutions. Israel has not respected or implemented any of these resolutions, even once. These resolutions include Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), which were adopted following the wars of 1967 and 1973. Israel has refused to implement these resolutions through the United Nations, insisting on unilateral negotiations outside the United Nations. The Arab countries responded positively and seriously to the calls for peace from various States by participating in the Madrid Peace Conference. The Arab countries have responded fully and positively to building a society based on peace in the Middle East. Despite all of this, the Israeli Government now refuses this proposal and continues to occupy and confiscate land in the West Bank. Is it justice that the world daily witnesses the expulsion of Palestinian citizens from their homes, the demolishing of their homes and the confiscation of their land? Is it justifiable for us to sit and witness the repeated violation by the Israeli authorities of the rights and 11 integrity of the Palestinians through the occupation and the siege of their towns and villages? Where is the just peace that we are talking about when the Israeli Government continues to build new and illegal settlements on Palestinian lands, while the Palestinians themselves are being prevented from building or even repairing their own homes? These measures are nothing but grave injustice. Can the United Nations condone such practices? Can the peace sponsors accept that? Where is the respect for human rights in the face of this denial of Palestinian rights when we are celebrating this year the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? It is incumbent on all peace-loving nations which call for the implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to stand by the Palestinian cause and to reject the policies of the Israeli Government, which persists in trampling over the dignity of the Palestinian people. The establishment of peace in the Middle East requires the use of every convincing measure in order to make Israel accept and implement its legal and international obligations towards the Palestinian Authority, including withdrawal from the West Bank in accordance with the Oslo, Washington and Cairo accords. Israel also must resume negotiations with the Syrian Government from the point where they ended, with the ultimate goal of signing a peace treaty that will secure the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the occupied Syrian territories to the line of 4 June 1967, as well as the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa, in accordance with resolutions 425 (1978) and 427 (1978). We believe that these are the necessary conditions for peace to prevail in the Middle East. They will also provide the legitimate necessary guarantees for Israel and foster an atmosphere of confidence among the Arab and the Israeli peoples. The Arab countries cannot accept the continued Israeli policy aimed at the Judaization of Arab Jerusalem, and they consider any change in the demographic composition of the Arab city of Jerusalem and the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied Arab territories null and void. In spite of Israel’s intransigence and continued refusal to cooperate with the co-sponsors of the peace process in the Middle East to finalize this process and bring it to a conclusion, my country, believing in the significance and inevitability of peace in this region, declares in this forum its full support of the endeavours made by the co-sponsors, in particular those of the United States. In this regard, I would like to highlight the commendable role of the European Union and its continued economic support for the Palestinian National Authority. I call on the international community to extend every possible assistance to the Palestinian National Authority and its various educational, health and social institutions that will safeguard what is achieved in the context of this peace process. The decision by the Arab countries to follow the course of peace is a strategic option, and they have genuinely worked towards achieving this purpose based on their belief that for all the peoples of the region, including Israel, peace is required for prosperity and stability. Based on this, the Sultanate of Oman once again affirms its solidarity with the Palestinian people and supports the position of the Palestinian National Authority regarding the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the lands occupied since 1967, thus allowing the Palestinian National Authority to extend its control to all its lands, including the Holy City of Jerusalem. We stress the necessity for Iraq to fully implement all relevant Security Council resolutions to eliminate its arsenal of all weapons of mass destruction. Fully cognizant of the fact that the United Nations Special Commission has not been able to finalize its inspection, we call for persistent efforts to end the hardship borne by the fraternal Iraqi people. By the same token, we call upon the Secretary-General to intensify his efforts to find common ground for cooperation and to build confidence between the Special Commission and the Iraqi Government. We also call upon Iraq to cooperate fully with the ad hoc Tripartite Commission mandated to follow up on the issue of the prisoners of war and missing persons, either Kuwaitis or other nationalities, and to facilitate their release in order to end this tragedy for their families. In the Gulf region we are witnessing a new era of positive cooperation between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the Islamic Republic of Iran. We welcome this significant development, which will encourage us to work in a genuine manner to create a propitious climate for enabling the United Arab Emirates to exercise its sovereign rights on the islands of Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu Musa. Moreover, we should be able to take the relations between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the GCC to a new level of cooperation on the basis of the principle of mutual benefit international law. 12 The efforts exerted in the field of disarmament aim to ensure international security and stability. My country has always expressed its unqualified support for these efforts. We also emphasize the need for taking practical measures to make the Middle East and the Gulf area zones free of weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons. The Sultanate of Oman signed the Chemical Weapons Convention in 1992 and acceded to the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 1997. I announce here that my country has decided to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). We look forward to seeing Israel take part in the efforts to make the Middle East a region free of nuclear weapons and to seeing it place all its nuclear facilities under the strict control and full safeguards of the International Atomic Energy Agency. With regard to the situation in Somalia, my country would like to commend the efforts by Egypt, as well as by Ethiopia and the neighbouring countries, to reconcile the Somalis and to convene a national reconciliation conference. We believe such a conference will help the Somalis rebuild their State in the national interest of the brotherly Somali people. We call upon the United Nations to extend tangible support to these efforts. As the world celebrates in 1998 the fiftieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, the Sultanate of Oman actively participated in the Diplomatic Conference to establish the International Criminal Court, which was held in Rome during June and July. We emphasize the need for this newly established Court to work in harmony and complementarity with national jurisdictions of Member States. We express our deep concern regarding the ongoing civil war in Afghanistan, which has resulted in the total destruction of that country and has intensified the suffering of its people. It has also had a serious negative impact on the unity, sovereignty and territorial integrity of this Muslim nation. We call upon all warring factions in Afghanistan to reconcile in a manner that will bring peace and stability to the people. In this regard, we would like to express our support of and appreciation for the initiatives of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the United Nations Special Mission to Afghanistan, headed by the Special Envoy of the Secretary-General, Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi. The successive crises in the African continent have demonstrated the complexity of the political, economic and social situation therein. Rescuing Africa requires concerted international efforts to overcome its difficulties. In particular, African countries need international assistance to continue the process of reform and economic development. We believe that unified international action is necessary more than ever to support the United Nations coordination of efforts of the international donor organizations and the efforts on the regional level by the Organization of African Unity and the neighbouring countries in the areas of conflict with a view to promoting development and progress in the African continent. The current situation in Kosovo and the persecution and killings of the Albanian Muslims and others in this region have been deplored and denounced by the international community. We condemn the use of terrorism and violence in international relations as a mean to resolve political differences. We call for the containment and just settlement of this crisis. While realizing the national reasons why India and Pakistan each carried out its latest nuclear tests, we continue to call upon the two neighbouring countries to promptly sign the NPT and CTBT in order to prevent the escalation of the arms race in other regions of the world. We hope that the circumstances will allow them to do so. As the United Nations plays its role to eliminate all lethal weapons from this globe, my country would like to commend the international efforts that have led to the adoption in December 1997 of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and Transfer of Anti-personnel Mines and on Their Destruction. This achievement should alleviate the sufferings and spare the lives of thousands of innocent civilians who might fall victim to this kind of weapon. In the context of preserving the environment, the Sultanate of Oman has submitted a proposal to the regional organization for the protection of marine life in the Gulf to establish bunkering ports for oil tankers in order to protect the territorial waters and preserve the marine life in the region from pollution. On the economic front, the current situation has had a negative impact on economic growth in Oman, just as it has elsewhere in the world. But Oman is determined to proceed with its plans for economic diversification and harmonization with the regional and international economic environment. 13 On the national level, Oman has carried out the policies, legislation and other measures conducive to foreign investment, based on the principles of a market economy. At the regional level, my country participates actively in regional economic gatherings. Within the GCC, and thanks to the spirit of partnership among member States and the economic integration legislation, the rates of growth in the non-oil sectors have substantially increased. In the Indian Ocean Rim Association for regional cooperation, my country is an active participant in efforts to promote and invigorate economic trade cooperation. In this context, I would like to draw your attention to the investment by the Sultanate of Oman in infrastructure projects such as the port of Raysut in the southern region of Oman, Dhofar. This port will offer services to container ships and will enhance international maritime trade and transport in our region. At the international level, my country is working towards membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO), and we are fully committed to taking the necessary steps to assure our full participation and responsibilities within that organization. The Sultanate of Oman thus works in a diligent and cooperative manner to promote the development of economic relations with other nations and with regional and international groupings for mutual benefit and the promotion of international trade and investment. The Sultanate of Oman stands ready to extend the hand of friendship to all peace-loving nations.