Morocco

First of all, I would like to congratulate you, Sir, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty- third session, convinced as I am that under your leadership and with your vast experience and profound knowledge of international affairs the work of the session will be successful. I would also like to take this opportunity to salute your friendly country of Uruguay. I would also like to express thanks to Mr. Hennadiy Udovenko for his successful conduct of the work of our previous session. I would like to extend, as well, our deep thanks to Mr. Kofi Annan, the Secretary-General of our Organization, for the earnest determination and great competence he has brought to bear on the matters entrusted to him. This fifty-third session of the General Assembly is being held as we bid farewell to the current century and prepare to usher in a new millennium. A large portion of humanity is still facing international conditions that do not come close to enabling them to achieve their ambition and their hope to live in a world where peace, international justice, economic development and life in dignity prevail. Despite some signs of economic development in certain third world countries, the general trend points to an increasing gap between the advanced world and the developing world. The developing world is facing major changes over which it has no control, including a heavy debt burden, dwindling prices for raw materials, difficulty in gaining access to markets, financial speculation and low foreign investments. This situation demands that our Organization not merely confine itself to preserving international peace and security in the classical sense, but go beyond that and seek to reduce the economic and social burden of developing countries. This would contribute to the emergence of a new world order based on consensus, consultation and partnership among all countries. Since its independence, Morocco has firmly believed in the need to base its economic policy on the principle of free enterprise and external openness as a means of achieving the country?s economic progress and social development. Thus Morocco made an effective contribution to the multilateral trade negotiations that resulted in the founding of the World Trade Organization in Marrakech. Morocco will also participate, with the same degree of resolution, in the forthcoming negotiations with other Member States to ensure that the international community achieves equitable distribution of the dividends of the international trade system, without overlooking the need for proper coordination of monetary, financial and trade policies, lest the financial crisis currently affecting certain international markets have adverse effects on the economies of other countries. One of the world?s primary political trouble spots, indeed one of the most complex problems threatening world peace and security, is the problem of the Middle East. The many resolutions of the United Nations aimed at finding a solution to this problem have failed to enable the Palestinian people to enjoy their inalienable and legitimate rights or to compel Israel to withdraw from the Palestinian territories, including Jerusalem — Al-Quds — and the other occupied territories in the Golan Heights and southern Lebanon. Those resolutions met only with Israeli rejection and defiance. In this respect, the reneging by the current Israeli Government on the implementation of the agreements signed as part of the peace process following the Madrid conference and the Oslo meetings dashed the hopes that had been pinned on those agreements and again plunged the region into a spiral of despair and instability. Israel?s reneging is quite obvious in its current procrastination tactics as well as its attempts to impose a policy of fait accompli through the building of further settlements in the occupied territories, in violation of all international norms and laws. Recently, Israel further compounded the situation by implementing, in a provocative way, a policy for the Judaization of Jerusalem — Al-Quds — by changing its cultural and demographic characteristics and surrounding it with settlement colonies. The latest such measure was the announcement by the Israeli Government last June of the expansion of the municipal boundaries of Al-Quds, as part of what is known as “Greater Jerusalem”. 32 The entire Islamic world, as it denounces and condemns these practices, which affect the status of Al-Quds as an integral part of the Palestinian territories occupied in 1967, considers all these Israeli practices as null and void. This was indeed confirmed by the meeting of the Al-Quds Committee of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, under the chairmanship of His Majesty King Hassan II, in Casablanca at the end of July. Morocco believes that this problem can be solved only through respect for the letter and spirit of the agreements signed and through the implementation of the resolutions of international legitimacy, especially the relevant Security Council resolutions, in a way that will guarantee the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to the establishment of their independent state, with Al-Quds as its capital, and the return of the occupied Arab territories to their legitimate owners. Despite the tremendous potential and enormous resources available in Africa, and despite the fact that most African countries carry out appropriate economic policies, the African continent is still suffering from serious political, economic and social crises which have led to the marginalization of our continent and the shrinkage of its role in the international arena. Some of these crises are clearly reflected in worsening unemployment, increased debt burden, falling prices for commodities exported by African countries, inadequate foreign investment and declining foreign assistance, which stands at barely 0.22 per cent of the gross national product of developed countries, despite the fact that the amount agreed upon is 0.7 per cent. It is indeed regrettable that the deterioration of the economic situation has contributed to a resurgence of political instability and military confrontations in certain African regions, as is the case at present in the Great Lakes region, the Horn of Africa and Western Africa. While expressing concern about this situation, Morocco supports efforts aimed at containing these crises and at guaranteeing the countries of those regions, especially the Democratic Republic of the Congo, their territorial integrity, stability and security. In this respect, Morocco commends the efforts made by the States members of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to find a solution to the crises in Liberia and Sierra Leone. We hope that the efforts being made to overcome the crisis in Guinea-Bissau will soon be successful. In order to find a solution to African economic problems and their political repercussions, we would like to reaffirm the proposal made by His Majesty King Hassan II during the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) meeting in Marrakesh for adopting an international plan similar to the Marshall Plan, with a view to ensuring African economic revival. We would like to thank the Secretary-General of our Organization for the important report he prepared on Africa at the request of the Security Council. We hope that the international community will seek to give concrete substance to its recommendations through the settlement of conflicts and the strengthening of security and stability in our continent so as to contribute to the necessary conditions for its economic and social development. Morocco has consistently affirmed that its membership in the Arab Maghreb Union is a free and strategic option which is irreversible, dictated by its historic and civilizational roots, as well as by its current and future interests. Given the existence of this membership, Morocco cannot but express its deep concern over the continuing suffering of the brotherly Libyan people as a result of the air embargo imposed on them, which caused them a great deal of hardship. We welcome the approval by the United States and the United Kingdom of the Libyan proposal, which was supported by the League of Arab States, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement, to try the two Libyan suspects in a neutral country. On the other hand, we deeply regret the suffering of another Arab people — the Iraqi people — as a result of the pernicious effects of the economic embargo imposed on that country. We hope that the agreement reached between the Iraqi Government and the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, will lead to a resumption of cooperation between Iraq and the United Nations so that the embargo can be lifted and the hardships of this brotherly people can be ended. We also hope that the Secretary-General will succeed in finding a definitive solution to this protracted crisis. As a Mediterranean State geographically located near European States, Morocco has been taking a special interest, as always, in efforts to consolidate Euro- Mediterranean cooperation. However, Morocco cannot but be concerned about the continuing status of the Moroccan 33 cities of Ceuta and Melilla and the neighbouring islands, which are still under Spanish occupation, at a time when the page of colonialism in most parts of the world has been turned. His Majesty King Hassan II proposed some time ago the setting up of a Moroccan-Spanish panel to consider and find a solution to this abnormal situation, in a way that would guarantee Morocco?s sovereignty over its territory while taking into account the economic interests of Spain. Although the Spanish authorities have not yet reacted to this fair proposal, Morocco remains convinced that the depth of its historical and economic ties with neighbouring Spain, coupled with the aspirations of the two peoples to achieve greater rapprochement, cooperation and participation in many fields, will be sufficient to enable the two countries to reach a formula for a definitive solution to this problem. With regard to developments in the referendum process in our southern provinces — the area known as Western Sahara — we can only point out that it is still experiencing some difficulties. The identification process was stalled from the outset because the other party, without justification, refused to take part in the identification of a large number of candidates. Yet these candidates fulfilled the agreed criteria and had been registered by the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara. Once again we are now faced with the refusal of the other party to participate in the identification of these candidates, who this time presented themselves in accordance with the Houston agreements that the other party had, indeed, also accepted. Those agreements confirmed the right of candidates to be identified and reasserted the validity of oral testimony. Indeed, in accordance with those agreements, the two parties had agreed to begin, as soon as possible, the identification of any individual who may present himself or herself for that purpose. We can only express deep concern over these developments, which will delay the referendum operation which has been long awaited by Morocco and the Saharan refugee brothers who have been yearning for more than 20 years to return to their homeland, Morocco, in order to participate in their region?s ongoing development. This will probably also have repercussions on the building of the greater Maghreb to which the peoples of the region aspire. The relentless determination to exclude a number of Saharans from participation in the referendum casts still more doubts on the will of the other party to ensure the necessary conditions for the organization of a fair and transparent referendum. We hope that the tremendous progress the world is currently witnessing will be a factor leading to the emergence of solidarity among all peoples, solidarity that will contribute to ensuring greater advancement towards development, security, peace and the spread of tranquillity and prosperity among all peoples of the world.