At the outset, it gives me pleasure to extend to the President
and his friendly country, the former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, my country’s warmest congratulations
on Mr. Kerim’s assumption of the presidency of the
General Assembly at its sixty-second session. We are
confident that his vast diplomatic experience will help
us to achieve desired objectives and will steer the
Assembly to a successful conclusion. Let me also pay
tribute to his predecessor, Sheikha Haya Al-Khalifa,
from the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain, for the optimal
manner in which she so ably and wisely conducted the
work of the General Assembly at its sixty-first session.
I would also like to take this opportunity to
congratulate Mr. Ban Ki-moon on his appointment as
Secretary-General of the United Nations. We are
confident that he will render valuable services to this
Organization, with his vast experience in both political
and diplomatic fields. I assure him of my delegation’s
readiness to offer all the necessary assistance to help
him discharge his responsibilities. We wish him every
success. I would like also to commend Mr. Kofi Annan
for all the efforts he made to promote the work of this
Organization during his tenure as Secretary-General.
The annual session of the General Assembly
provides us with the opportunity to address various
regional and international issues and to express our
concerns and interests. I would like to point out here
that the efforts exerted by the United Nations have
helped us to understand the process of addressing many
international problems, including the important
question of the Middle East.
Despite the fact that efforts made to address the
situations in Palestine, Iraq, Darfur, Somalia and other
areas have so far failed to provide conclusive solutions,
they are nevertheless positive indications demonstrating
the willingness and determination of the international
community to shoulder its responsibilities in order to end
the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of establishing a
Palestinian State living in peace side by side with the
State of Israel.
The withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian
territories occupied since 1967, the establishment of
the State of Palestine and the withdrawal of Israel from
the Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanese Shaba’a farms
will promote security and stability in the Middle East
region. This will encourage the development of
cooperation among the countries and peoples of the
region. We sense that there are positive trends and new
convictions among Israeli political leaders, and in
Israeli society at large, on the need to reach a peaceful
solution based on the relevant resolutions of the United
Nations, in order to put an end to decades of conflict in
the Middle East region.
It is necessary to point out here that Arab States
have on many occasions stressed their conviction that
the achievement of a just and equitable peace with
Israel depends on the withdrawal of Israel to the
borders of 1967. Establishing such a peace is the Arab
States’ strategic choice.
We call upon the international community,
especially the major Powers, to promote this positive
conviction within Israel and the Arab States in the
interest of achieving peace.
Iraqi blood continues to be spilled. We believe
that the extension of the new responsibilities of the
United Nations in Iraq, in accordance with Security
Council resolution 1770 (2007), is a positive step that
commands our full support. In this respect, we urge our
brothers in Iraq, especially the Iraqi Government, to
move from a stage of discord to a stage of problem-
solving in the national interest of Iraq.
We are optimistic about the sincere efforts
exerted by the Sudanese Government and the African
Union to reach a political settlement among the various
Sudanese parties in Darfur. We support the tripartite
agreement signed by that Government, the United
Nations and the African Union, on providing support to
African forces and on deploying more troops in Darfur
to restore security and achieve success in the
negotiations between the Sudanese Government and
the opposition groups in Darfur.
Somalia is still suffering the consequences of a
civil war that has claimed the lives of thousands of
people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. We
believe that accord among the different Somali factions
is the only way out. We also believe that the
international community has a major responsibility to
help Somalia restore its unity and security. To
guarantee the effectiveness of the assistance given by
the international community, we urge all tribes and
factions in Somalia to be decisive and to help those
who are trying to help them.
We have always welcomed the continued
cooperation between the friendly Islamic Republic of
Iran and the International Atomic and Energy Agency
(IAEA). There are hopes and opportunities that augur
well for a peaceful solution guaranteeing the right of
Iran to benefit from peaceful nuclear technology and
assuages the concerns of the international community.
We as human beings are all partners on this
planet and we have to work together to build it and
develop and preserve its resources. Therefore, it is
important for the international community to observe
the extraordinary weather conditions such as
hurricanes, floods and the erosion and loss of arable
land that are taking place in different continents. These
phenomena have inflicted human and economic losses,
displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their
homes and have damaged the necessary sources of
health and livelihood, in addition to other essential
services.
In this context, we commend the vital role played
by the United Nations and recognize its efforts in
organizing the High-level Event on Climate Change
that was held on 24 September. We also urge the
international community to develop specific measures
and identify steps and solutions to face these
challenges.
More than ever before, the international
community is called upon to commission
environmental and scientific studies to face the dangers
posed by such phenomena, in order to maintain
ecological balance and diversity, which both are
necessary if life is to continue on this planet. Hence,
we must harness the new technological and electronic
developments in order to combat pollution and
preserve the environment and biological diversity. In
that regard, we welcome and are pleased to be among
the many States that have endorsed the special
initiative on the Millennium Development Goals with
regard to the call for action that was adopted recently.
We also welcome the convening of the high-level
dialogue on cooperation between religions and
cultures, scheduled to be held during this session in
October. We hope that the meeting will succeed in
adopting a futuristic view that focuses on the positive
aspects, based on understanding between religions and
cultures. Such understanding must be based on mutual
respect for all religious beliefs and cultures.
In closing, we wish this session every success and
we hope that we may be able to leave it with a vision
that defines the road for the future in the service of
mankind with renewed commitments among Member
States to United Nations resolutions and to respect for
the provisions of the Charter.