At the outset, I congratulate you, Sir,
on your assumption of the presidency of the Assembly
at its sixty-fifth session. We are confident that your
expertise in international affairs will enable you to wisely
and capably guide the work of the General Assembly, and
we wish you every success in your endeavours.
I would also like to thank your predecessor, Mr. Ali
Treki, for his successful leadership of the General
Assembly at its sixty-fourth session, and to thank Mr. Ban
Ki-moon, the Secretary-General, for his great efforts to
re-energize the role of this international Organization in
promoting world peace and security and development.
The international community continues to face
daunting challenges that demand strengthened
collective action, increased joint international efforts in
the United Nations framework and a serious move
towards reform of its organs in a responsible and
balanced manner, in order to enable the United Nations
effectively to play its primary role in addressing the
major challenges facing the international community.
My Government wishes to reiterate in this forum
its deep regret at the continued Iranian occupation of
our three islands: Greater Tunb, Lesser Tunb and Abu
Musa. It demands the return of the islands, including
their regional waters, airspace, continental shelf and
exclusive economic zone, to its full sovereignty as
integral parts of the United Arab Emirates. All
procedures and measures taken by the Iranian
authorities since their occupation of the islands are null
and void and have no legal effect, no matter how long
the occupation may last.
We look forward to seeing the Iraqi parties form a
national Government that continues to build its
security, political and economic institutions, extend its
authority over the entire territory of Iraq and achieve a
comprehensive national reconciliation, which is the
real guarantee for stabilizing the political process in
Iraq and embracing all factions of Iraqi society, with no
exception or discrimination.
While we note with satisfaction the withdrawal of
foreign troops from Iraq, we express our firm
condemnation of all acts of violence and bombings that
have targeted the Iraqi people. In this context, we
reiterate the need to respect Iraq’s territorial integrity,
sovereignty and independence, and to refrain from
interfering in its internal affairs, in order to safeguard
its Arab and Islamic identity.
The United Arab Emirates believes that peace in
the Middle East and resolution of the Arab-Israeli
conflict cannot be achieved without ending the Israeli
occupation of the occupied Palestinian and other Arab
territories. Israel’s withdrawal to the line of 4 June 1967,
including East Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan Heights and
the remaining occupied territories in southern Lebanon,
is also required in order to achieve a just and
comprehensive peace in accordance with the resolutions
of international legitimacy, and based on the principle
of land for peace and the Arab Peace Initiative.
The United Arab Emirates stands by the
Palestinian National Authority, and supports the
Palestinian people in their quest to achieve their
national goals and restore their inalienable legitimate
rights. We commend President Mahmoud Abbas for his
persistent efforts to realize the interests of the
Palestinian people and restore their rights.
We affirm our support for the position adopted by
the Palestinian National Authority in the direct
negotiations with the Israeli. We hope that the
independent Palestinian State, with its capital Al-Quds
Al-Sharif, will see the light of day next year.
We welcome the statement of Mr. Barack Obama,
President of the United States, to the General Assembly,
and his strong commitment to the achievement of peace
in the Middle East. We also welcome his emphasis on the
importance of leading direct negotiations into final
results within a year, and seeing Palestine take its seat
13 10-55276
in the General Assembly at the sixty-sixth session. In
this context, we rely on an effective American role, and
active regional and international support for the peace
process in the Middle East.
Our commitment to the achievement of peace as a
strategic choice means that we must condemn the
Israeli practices against the Palestinian people,
including the collective punishment policy and the
inhumane blockade imposed on the Palestinian people
in Gaza. We also condemn other flagrant Israeli
violations of international law and of the principles and
purposes of the Charter.
In that connection, we emphasize that the
continuation of the Israeli settlement activities,
confiscation and Judaization of the occupied
Palestinian and other Arab territories run counter to the
pursuit of peace. We say to Israel: Either choose to pursue
peace or insist on pressing ahead with settlements.
Combining the two is incompatible with peace.
The United Arab Emirates will continue to pursue
its international policy guided by the purposes of the
United Nations and the principles of its Charter,
especially with regard to the promotion of international
peace and security, the peaceful resolution of
international disputes, non-interference in the internal
affairs of States and compliance with the principles of
international law.
We shall continue to make our distinct
contributions to regional and international partnerships
aimed at building a more peaceful, stable and just
world, free of all forms of terrorism, violence,
extremism, crime, discrimination, human rights
violations, human trafficking, and any sort of
humiliation or degradation of human dignity. We look
forward to a world that promotes the principles of
dialogue, interaction, mutual understanding,
cooperation and interactive civilized coexistence
among all religions and cultures, without any form of
discrimination, the use of stereotypical images, hatred
or denigration of religions: a world characterized by
human peace, prosperity and development.
On that basis, we condemn terrorism in all its
forms and manifestations, wherever it exists, and stress
the need to intensify regional and international efforts
to combat and eliminate terrorism.
My country is an active member of regional and
international partnerships and efforts designed to
combat terrorism, including the Global Initiative to
Combat Nuclear Terrorism. We will continue our
efforts to strengthen cooperation in the areas of
intelligence exchange, capacity-building, combating
and drying up sources of terrorism. We expect all other
States to shoulder their responsibilities in order to get
rid of this growing scourge.
In the meantime, we welcome the positive results
of the West Point conference on combating terrorism,
and look forward to the success of the next conference,
to be held in the Republic of Korea.
As part of our efforts to strengthen international
cooperation in addressing the challenges of climate
change, and in order to assist States most at risk from
the adverse effects of that phenomenon, we have
initiated a partnership programme with the Pacific
small island developing States, and we call upon the
international community to support and expand the
partnership at the global level. It is our hope that States
parties to the Framework Convention on Climate
Change will achieve concrete results before the
forthcoming Conference in Mexico.
We are pleased to see that the accord establishing
the International Renewable Energy Agency has
entered into force after ratification by the required
number of States. In its capacity as host country, the
United Arab Emirates continues to carry out its
commitments to the Agency in order to enable it to
perform its duties effectively.
My Government is moving forward with its
peaceful nuclear energy programme. At the same time,
it wishes to emphasize its commitment to all the
requirements of nuclear non-proliferation and its
compliance with the highest standards of transparency
and nuclear safety. The United Arab Emirates has
ratified the Additional Protocol to the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In this context,
we wish to express our satisfaction at the positive
outcome of the recent Review Conference of the States
Parties to the Treaty. We look forward to the
implementation of the responsible and valid
recommendations agreed in the Final Document of the
Conference.
The United Arab Emirates is working on
protecting the various aspects of human rights, and
welcomes the establishment of a new international
entity on women in the United Nations, UN Women,
and the appointment of the Under-Secretary-General
10-55276 14
for Women’s Affairs. We are implementing various
national programmes to empower women, enhance
their participation in the decision-making process, and
developing their status.
We attach great importance to the issue of human
trafficking. We have therefore enacted legislation and
developed national mechanisms compatible with our
obligations under relevant international conventions
and resolutions. We call upon the international
community to develop an integrated global strategy to
eliminate this scourge.
We support the activities of the Alliance of
Civilizations Forum, and welcome the fact that its
fourth session is to be held in the brotherly State of
Qatar next year. We also commend the endeavours of
Qatar to make the interfaith dialogue conference a
permanent institution. We welcome the decision of the
Emir of Qatar to establish a centre for interfaith
dialogue in Doha.
We hope that our deliberations during this session
will lead to positive results.