Sudan

Allow me at the outset to congratulate Mr. Opertti on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at this session. We are confident that his vast experience and capabilities will lead this session to success. I would like to assure him of the full cooperation of my delegation. Allow me also to express our gratitude to his predecessor, the former Foreign Minister of Ukraine, for his commendable efforts and to express similar congratulations to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, and his able assistants for their efforts to ensure an improved performance by the Organization, to bolster its status and to achieve its lofty objectives. There are many questions in my country, in our Arab and African region, and in the rest of the world. There is a war raging between our neighbours on the eastern and southern borders. All of these questions need to be debated. The considerable improvement in the economic situation in the Sudan is reflected in the latest International Monetary Fund (IMF) reports, which indicate an increase in the growth rate and a reduction in the inflation rate. We expect the Sudan to become an oil- 30 exporting State in the next few months. This is an issue which we are very happy to brief you on. There is also the constitutional evolution and political openness in the Sudan, culminating in the approval by the Sudanese people in a referendum of a new constitution earlier this year. This will enhance the institutions of civil governance and the peaceful transfer of power based on a system of political pluralism. These developments are important to political stability in Africa?s largest country, the Sudan, a land of vast untapped resources. I also wish to talk about the humanitarian situation in the Sudan and the improvements in that situation. Sudan appreciates the efforts of the international community and expresses its full commitment to cooperate in the facilitation of these efforts. This is a matter which deserves further elaboration. There are also the peace efforts in southern Sudan and the positive response of the Sudanese Government to the calls for a ceasefire by the international community, including the Security Council, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the European Union. This ceasefire was rejected by the rebel movement, resulting in the continuation of war and more suffering for the citizens. This also is a matter which requires further elaboration. All these questions require more details, but I will leave that to other committees and forums, as I shall concentrate today on one single issue: the American aggression committed against my country on 20 August 1998. This American act, if not properly addressed, could undermine all the achievements made by our people through years of struggle and suffering. It would be appropriate to recall the events which began on 7 August. On that day the explosions took place in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam. That same evening the Sudan condemned those heinous terrorist acts. We conveyed our condolences to the Presidents and the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the United States, Kenya and the United Republic of Tanzania. I also made telephone calls to my Kenyan and Tanzanian colleagues expressing Sudan?s fullest readiness to cooperate to the maximum possible extent in the efforts to search for, apprehend and punish the culprits. The American Administration requested fly-over permission for their military aircraft in order to evacuate the wounded and the dead from Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, and their request was granted. That was followed by another request for open fly-over permission for their military aircraft, to which we responded promptly and in good faith, as it was, in our view, a humanitarian request which deserved a response. Subsequently, contacts in this regard between the Sudanese and American security authorities were begun. We welcomed these contacts and gave assurances of our full cooperation. But, all of a sudden, within minutes and without warning, the Sudanese people were shocked on the evening of Thursday, 20 August, by a grave act of terrorism, as heinous and cowardly as those of Dar-es- Salaam and Nairobi. The “Al-Shifa” pharmaceutical plant, which only a few hours before that event was producing life-saving medicines for children, women and the elderly in the Sudan and which was a model of the economic development of my country, was completely destroyed. Some of the innocent Sudanese citizens, employees of the factory, lost their lives under the rubble, while others lost their sight, or some of their limbs, or were left swimming in blood. Families of the victims and the rest of the employees were suddenly bereft of the sources of their livelihood. A few minutes later, we watched the message of the American President on television, where he stated that the United States armed forces had launched air strikes against the Sudan and Afghanistan. He said that they had destroyed a plant in the Sudan linked to Osama Bin Laden which produced chemical weapons. This is the American perspective, which I have conveyed to you clearly. What then is the Sudanese perspective? I would like to state clearly and confidently that the factory produced medicine — and nothing but medicine. The plant belonged to the private sector. It was owned by a Sudanese businessman, and it had no link whatsoever with Osama Bin Laden. The factory was financed by the PTA Bank of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA). It was one of the largest of its kind in the Middle East and Africa. In his speech at the inaugural meeting of this session of the Assembly, President Clinton spoke about the tolerance and greatness of Islam. We appreciate what he said and would like to add that Islam calls for mutual respect between civilizations, cultures and religions. Islam calls for dialogue — indeed, all the revealed religions call 31 for dialogue — and all of these religions abhor and renounce violence and injustice, because injustice begets hatred. All faiths call for justice. The principal rule of law stipulates that the accused is innocent until proven guilty. However, here we are faced with a situation in which the Sudan was accused by the United States, the Sudan was condemned by the United States and the Sudan was punished by the United States. Thus, the United States has acted as the adversary, the jury and the judge — the opponent and the arbiter. The whole world rejected the American aggression and its justification. Allow me to mention here some of those who supported our position in the Sudan: the Arab League, the Organization of African Unity (OAU), the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), the Group of 77 and China, and large sectors of the American community, including former President Jimmy Carter, former Attorney-General Ramsey Clark, a number of Congressmen and the American mass media. Our position was also supported by high-ranking officials of Western countries, including presidents and foreign ministers, as well as by the British, Jordanian and American engineers who took part in the construction and operation of the factory and who continued their technical association with it until it was destroyed. A number of legal experts and lawyers from Western countries, as well as international trade unions and non-governmental organizations also voiced their support. In spite of this, the United States continues to oppose the dispatch of a fact-finding mission by the Security Council. The American officials claim that they analysed a sample of the soil near the factory and found that it contained chemical precursors used in the production of VX — a nerve gas. If they are so sure of what they found, we wonder why they object to the dispatch of a fact-finding mission by the Security Council so that the Council can be the judge. The factory has been destroyed, true; but the soil is still there and the remnants and the rubble of the factory are there. The fact-finding mission can easily collect soil samples and examine the machines, look into the documents and establish the facts about the output and ownership of the factory. This is the sole demand of the Sudan now. Last week the Group of Arab States presented a draft resolution to the Security Council. The draft does not seek to condemn the United States for its violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a Member State. It only requests the dispatch of a fact-finding mission to verify the allegations that were the basis of the decision by the United States to launch a strike against a medicine factory in the Sudan. It is the responsibility, indeed the obligation of the Security Council to do so. This is only a procedural measure to ascertain the facts — a procedure which the Council has always followed in similar situations. Therefore the Sudan and the entire international community call on the Security Council to send an urgent fact-finding mission to the Sudan so that the international community can verify the allegations upon which the United States based its decision to strike the medicine factory. The Sudan recognizes that sending a fact-finding mission is a legitimate request by a developing country that holds dear the principles of international legitimacy and believes strongly that the fight against terrorism, which we condemn in all its forms, whether committed by individuals, groups or States, must be based on the principles and channels of international legitimacy and cooperation and the renunciation of force as a means for hegemony and domination. We in the Sudan recognize that the United States is a super-Power, and we do not seek to involve ourselves in a confrontation or altercation with that super-Power. On the contrary, we are keen on establishing correct relations with the United States on the basis of mutual respect, common interest and constructive criticism. We are ready to engage in a dialogue with the United States and to cooperate with it on all issues of common concern. The people of the Sudan respect the American people and are eager to maintain good relations with them. It is incumbent upon the two Governments to work on reflecting this desire and to strengthen these historic relations. We have paid tribute to the countries that provided humanitarian assistance to those affected by the war in southern Sudan, including the United States. However, we are perplexed by the provocative statement recently made by the spokesman of the American Administration when he announced the donation of $25,000 to the victims of floods in the Sudan. The statement claimed that despite its differences with the Government of the Sudan, the American Administration is concerned about the welfare of the Sudanese people. 32 The American Administration launched 17 cruise missiles to destroy the pharmaceutical factory. Each of those missiles costs $1 million, for a total of $17 million to destroy our factory. Now the United States announces its contribution of $25,000 to the Sudanese victims of the floods, while the damage caused by the floods is estimated to exceed $40 million. Had the American Administration genuinely been concerned with the welfare and well-being of the Sudanese people, it would not have attacked and destroyed one of our main economic entities, which produced over 50 per cent of the essential and life-saving medicines which the Sudan requires. Therefore, on behalf of the Sudanese people, we say to the American Administration, that we want our factory back, the factory we built with our toil and sweat and which cost us millions of dollars. We need the medicine of which our people were deprived as a result of the destruction of the factory, particularly in this time of the flooding crisis which caused rampant diseases and epidemics, according to United Nations reports. Allow me now to briefly reflect on some of the conflicts that are taking place in our area, in view of their direct impact on peace and security in the region. I start with our eastern borders, where the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea will undoubtedly lead to a deterioration of the situation in the region. The Sudan, which still hosts hundreds of thousands of refugees from the two neighbouring countries, is strongly affected by this conflict. Hence, from this rostrum we urge the two neighbouring countries to exercise self-restraint and to resort to peaceful means to settle their differences. We also hope that the efforts of the OAU will succeed in reaching a peaceful settlement to this dispute. On the other hand, we are following with great concern the developments in our southern neighbour, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which is suffering from external interference in its internal affairs. We hope that the efforts of the African countries will be successful in assisting the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in maintaining peace and stability on its territory. As regards the peace process in the Middle East, hopes for a final settlement have evaporated as a result of the Israeli intransigence, which placed hurdles on the road to peace. The Sudan welcomes the General Assembly resolution upgrading the Palestinian participation and supports the steps taken by the Palestinian leadership to declare the state of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital. The Sudan also denounces the Israeli attempts to Judaize Jerusalem and change its demographic composition and legal status. Furthermore, the Sudan supports the rights of Syria and Lebanon to regain their occupied territories in the Golan and in southern Lebanon, and it calls upon the international community and the Security Council to exert pressure on Israel to implement the relevant Security Council resolutions and to heed the call for a just peace in order for the region to enjoy peace and security. The embargo imposed on Iraq has lasted for too long, and the suffering of the Iraqi people has deepened. Thousands of women, children and elderly people have lost their lives because of the lack of food and medicine, and the world is wondering when the blockade will come to an end. The latest impasse between the United Nations Special Commission and Iraq could result in catastrophic consequences in the area. This should prompt the Security Council to intervene by carrying out a comprehensive review of Iraqi compliance with Security Council resolutions with a view to lifting the embargo. The Sudan commends the efforts of the Secretary-General and expresses the hope that these efforts will lead to a breakthrough in the current impasse. The Sudan also wishes to stress the importance of resolving the issue of the detainees and the missing Kuwaitis as a humanitarian question, and it calls for redoubling regional and international efforts to settle this problem so that the women and children who have waited so long can be reunited with their husbands and parents. This would also eliminate the causes of tension and restore solidarity and reconciliation between Arab nations and States. As regards the issue of Lockerbie, we are very much concerned with the embargo imposed on the sisterly Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, our neighbour. The damaging consequences of this embargo have spilled over from Libya to the neighbouring countries, including the Sudan, which has hundreds of thousands of citizens living in the Jamahiriya. It is a cause for sadness that scores of those citizens have lost their lives while trying to cross the vast desert between the two countries as a result of the air blockade imposed on the Jamahiriya. While welcoming the recent positive developments in this issue, we stress the need to provide the guarantees requested by the Jamahiriya, as referred to by the President of Burkina Faso, the current Chairman of the OAU, in his statement before the Security Council last week. 33 Conflicts in Africa have caused numerous difficulties, including the problems of refugees and displaced persons. As a result, Africa has become host to the largest number of refugees in the world. Their number is estimated at more than 8 million, and they live in the harshest conditions. In its efforts to put an end to the suffering of refugees and to find durable solutions to this problem, the OAU decided to convene the first ministerial meeting of the Committee on Refugees and Disappeared Persons in Khartoum in December 1998 at the level of foreign minister. We in the Sudan look forward to the international community?s effective participation in and support for this conference in order to ensure its success. The countries of the continent are hopeful that the conference will produce results which would assist in dealing with this long-standing problem. I should like to conclude with a verse from the Holy Koran: “God commands justice, the doing of good, and liberality to kith and kin. He forbids all shameful deeds, and injustice and rebellion. He instructs you that ye may receive admonition.” (The Holy Koran, XVI:90)