It gives me
pleasure to congratulate Mr. John Ashe and his friendly
country, Antigua and Barbuda, upon his assumption
of the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-
eighth session. I take this opportunity to express my
sincere appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Vuk
Jeremi. of Serbia, for his efforts during the previous
session.
I reiterate our support to the Secretary-General as
he strives to realize the purposes and principles of the
Charter. I also welcome the choice of “The post-2015
development agenda: setting the stage” as the main
theme of this session, considering the high priority that
the United Nations and the peoples of the world accord
to the achievement of development in all its dimensions.
Allow me to deviate from customary practice for
a debate in the General Assembly by conveying to
the Assembly a message that comes not only from the
President of Egypt, Mr. Adly Mansour, but from the
people of my country — the Egyptians who laid the
foundations of human civilization and have recently
inspired peoples around the world.
Egypt holds a unique position in the history of
humankind, past and present. Its status, role and influence
derive essentially from its culture and civilization. It
would have been a historical inconsistency had the will
of the Egyptians remained shackled at the dawn of a
new century, and had our youth remained deprived of
the right to design their own destiny and future. It was
therefore natural for our people to take to the streets on
25 January 2011 to declare their determination to build
a democratic and modern State in which their children
could enjoy freedom, dignity and social justice.
This is the Egypt that millions of my countrymen
and women chose then — the same Egypt they yearned
for on 30 June 2013. In doing so, they showed the world
that the will of the people cannot be broken and that it
can grant authority, just as it can remove it from the
hands of those who abuse it.
The Egyptians have an ambitious vision for the
future that can be achieved by working systematically
in a reasonable time frame. Its success is based on a
society that is open to all peaceful political currents,
that pluralistically embraces the diversity of all its
members, and that inclusively ensures the equal rights
and duties of all citizens through the rule of law and
equality before justice. The principles and practices of
this vision are consistent with the fundamental rules
that govern democratic practices throughout the world,
in particular respect for peaceful dialogue, the rejection
of violence, the rule of law and respect for human rights.
Our conviction that Egyptians have the right to
fulfil such a vision underpins the road map that Egypt
has been implementing since 3 July. That road map
includes a national agenda to build the institutions of a
democratic State in a specific time frame. All Egyptians
are invited to participate in all phases of the political
process, as long as they are committed to renouncing
violence and terrorism or incitement thereto.
Work is under way, in line with the road map, on
several tracks. To date, it has succeeded in establishing
the principles of justice, freedom and democracy as
bases for governance. Work is under way on the new
constitution, to be followed by parliamentary elections
and presidential elections, bringing the transitional
phase to an end by next spring. We are determined to
fully implement the road map. This requires us to give
the utmost priority to preserving security, enforcing
the law and countering any attempts to intimidate
or humiliate us or hinder our efforts. Some parts of
Egypt were recently hit by desperate terrorist attacks.
Among their victims were Egyptians from all walks of
life — men and women, young and old, Muslims and
non-Muslims. Those hideous acts of terrorism sought
to undermine the democratic process and to destroy
our economy. I would like to emphasize and reiterate
in the strongest terms our full confidence that the brave
Egyptian people, who succeeded in imposing their
will, can eradicate terrorism within the framework of
the rule of law. I trust that the international community
will stand firmly with the Egyptian people in the fight
against those who commit or advocate for violence, and
will accept no attempt to justify or tolerate it.
I take this opportunity to convey my deep
condolences to the Government and the people of
Kenya and Pakistan on the loss of innocent lives as a
result of the latest terrorist attack.
The message I am carrying from Egyptians,
particularly our youth, who are joining me here today
and representing their ancient country, would not be
complete without mentioning Egypt’s aspirations to
enjoy more democratic international relations and
stronger ties of cooperation between our people and
the rest of the world. Those relations should be based
on the principles of independence, mutual respect
and non-interference in the internal affairs of other
countries and on a foreign policy founded on equality
and a constructive, civilized vision for the future.
Egypt’s foreign policy is now a reflection of the will
of our people, and it is formulated in line with our
national interests and security with no regard to any
other consideration.
We fully recognize that Egypt’s national security
is linked to the security and concerns of our Arab
nation. Given its geographical location, history and
identity, Egypt is committed to continuing to defend
the interests of its African continent, to address the
issues of importance to the Islamic world, to spread
the Islamic values of moderation and tolerance, and to
promote dialogue among divine religions. Egypt also
remains committed to tackling the challenges facing
the South at a time when the world is witnessing an
imbalance of power.
I would now like to briefly highlight Egypt’s
position on several issues of high priority in our foreign
policy.
In Syria, the tragedy has now extended to the resort
to chemical weapons. We strongly condemn their use
and support the agreement reached between the Russian
Federation and the United States, as well as Security
Council resolution 2118 (2013). While the humanitarian
crisis resulting from the fighting continues to intensify,
the Syrian State itself is on the verge of disintegration.
It is imperative to reach a political solution as soon
as possible that would establish the freedom, dignity
and democracy to which the people of Syria aspire
and preserve the unity of the State. We hope that can
be achieved through the holding of the “Geneva II”
conference, so that a transitional authority can be put in
place to end the civil war and the foreign interventions
that we have long warned against.
The Palestinian question remains the main source
of tension in our region. Palestine is still suffering
the effects of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Arab
territories and the intensification of settlement activities.
The hope for achieving a two-State solution was until
recently on the verge of fading away irrevocably.
Given that bleak scenario, we welcome and appreciate
the recent efforts of the United States to advance the
resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The
commitment of both sides to engaging in a process of
time-bound negotiations is a significant development.
We should all support the ongoing negotiations so that
they may lead to the final settlement of the Palestinian
question, which has continued since the past century.
Egypt will continue to support the right of the
Palestinian people to self-determination and the
establishment of an independent and sovereign State,
with East Jerusalem as its capital, on all the territories
of the West Bank and Gaza and in accordance with the
Arab Peace Initiative and the relevant terms of reference.
I reiterate that the needs of the Gaza population must
be met. The failure to do so has become politically
and morally unacceptable. We therefore call on Israel
and the international community to shoulder their
responsibilities and ensure that the Palestinians in Gaza
have access to basic supplies. We are ready to cooperate
with the Palestinian authority and all concerned parties
to agree on appropriate arrangements that guarantee
the delivery of provisions in legal and transparent ways.
The Assembly will agree that a new Middle East
will not emerge until the right to equal security is
ensured and the threats posed by the existence in our
region of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass
destruction are eliminated. The situation threatens
the credibility of the non-proliferation regime and the
United Nations. For that reason, and to preserve that
credibility, I would like to introduce to the Assembly
today an initiative consisting of the following steps.
First, we must invite all countries of the Middle
East and the five permanent members of the Security
Council to deposit official letters with the Secretary-
General stating their support for declaring the Middle
East a region free from nuclear, chemical and biological
weapons of mass destruction.
Secondly, the countries of the region that have not
signed or ratified any of the international conventions
on weapons of mass destruction should commit, before
the end of 2013, to simultaneously signing and ratifying
the relevant conventions. They should also deposit
documentation of their accession to those conventions
with the Security Council. I invite the Secretary-
General to coordinate such steps so that they are carried
out simultaneously to ensure their success.
Those actions translate into the following. Israel
must accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear State, ratify the
Chemical Weapons Convention, and sign and ratify the
Biological Weapons Convention. Syria must ratify the
Biological Weapons Convention and take the remaining
steps it has pledged to take in relation to the Chemical
Weapons Convention. Egypt must ratify the Biological
Weapons Convention and sign and ratify the Chemical
Weapons Convention, provided that all countries of
the Middle East complete measures of accession to the
international conventions prohibiting weapons of mass
destruction and related arrangements and treaties.
Thirdly, we must pursue international efforts to
ensure that the delayed 2012 conference to establish a
Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction
is convened as soon as possible, preferably before the
end of 2013 and by the spring of 2014 at the latest.
Egypt’s roots go deep in Africa. We are proud of
the many positive changes that Africa has witnessed
and of the strides the continent has taken towards
democracy and development. Yet Africa remains in
need of concerted national, regional and international
efforts to enable the continent to resolve its conflicts
and challenges. Accordingly, Egypt will soon establish
an Egyptian agency for development partnership. Most
of its future resources will be directed to African
countries so that they can benefit from Egyptian
technical expertise and assets.
We cannot talk about democracy in current
international relations and the rule of law at the
international level unless comprehensive and
substantial reform of the United Nations takes place,
so that the Organization is better able to respond to
challenges and to meet the aspirations of peoples
worldwide. The only logical and sound way to achieve
that desired outcome is the reform and expansion of the
Security Council. Egypt therefore renews its call for
an end to the monopoly of permanent members over
the decision-making process in the Council and for
the rectification of the historical injustice inflicted on
Africa. The continent does not have a permanent seat
on the Council and is poorly represented in the category
of non-permanent members. Africa will not renounce
its demands to obtain the permanent membership it
deserves, as specified in the Ezulwini Consensus and
the Sirte Declaration.
In conclusion, I would like to highlight our
priority issues within the United Nations system. They
include strengthening the international human rights
framework, addressing the absence of democracy in
international relations, accelerating the achievement of
the Millennium Development Goals, realizing nuclear
disarmament and fighting corruption, including
recovering the assets stolen by key members of the
regimes recently brought down by our peoples. We
reiterate that we are determined to continue empowering
women nationally and internationally, to protecting
human rights, and to allowing our youth to contribute
effectively to the elaboration of Egypt’s vision for the
world and for its future.
I take this opportunity to welcome the appointment
a few months ago by the Secretary-General of a Special
Envoy on Youth who comes from the Arab world. We
must also exert concerted efforts at the international
level to combat terrorism and strengthen the capacity
of the United Nations to coordinate those efforts and
address the root causes of terrorism.
In conclusion, I truly hope that the message I have
delivered on behalf of the people and the President of
Egypt has been received by the Assembly today. I also
hope that the aspirations it identified will be realized so
that we may achieve progress, peace and development
and that next year we may reap the fruits of our labour.