Egypt

I would like to begin by extending our sincere congratulations to you, Sir, both personally and as a representative of the Czech Republic, on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty- seventh session. I am confident that, at this important juncture of developing collective global action, you will steer the work of this session with your recognized ability and wisdom, stemming from your country's long experience in confronting aggression and the horrors it brings. I would also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to your predecessor, our friend Han Seung-soo, and to his country, the Republic of Korea, whose positive and effective role led to results that we aspire to consolidate. I cannot fail to express our deep appreciation to Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who for the past six years has contributed his experience, wisdom and perseverance to reasserting the standing of the Organization and the effectiveness of its role, and to strengthening the principles upon which the Charter was founded. He did all of that despite the inherent obstacles that were placed before him, either deliberately or unwittingly, by those ignorant of the key role of the United Nations in providing victors and vanquished alike an opportunity to benefit from the developments of the age and to achieve the hopes and aspiration of their peoples to a world that is safer and more just for all. I wish to pay further tribute to the Secretary-General for the very courageous statement he made yesterday before the Assembly, a statement in which he set out his very clear vision in addressing and resolving the world's problems. On behalf of Egypt, I would also like to welcome Switzerland as the most recent member of the United Nations family. We look forward to its active participation in the work of the Organization, along with that of Timor-Leste, which will soon accede to membership. The current session has been convened one year after the horrific tragedy that befell the United Sates on 11 September 2001. We reiterate our condolences to the United States. We also emphasize the sense of loss we share with the families of the victims, and we wish the injured a speedy recovery. We hope that this strong nation will overcome its ordeal and look towards a future of cooperation with the rest of the world, a future forged by all of us for the benefit of all the inhabitants of the planet, regardless of their race or religion, without discrimination, intolerance or bias. Egypt has stood by the United States throughout this difficult ordeal, whose target was not only a friendly country but also the values and principles to which we all adhere and which relate to respect for humankind and its right to life and to choosing to build rather than to destroy as the basis for joint action. In that regard, I would like to briefly make the following points. First, notwithstanding the gravity of the tragic events that took place on that sad day, the world neither began nor ended on 11 September. Many peoples have known terrorism before. They have suffered from it and have resisted it sometimes alone in the face of hardship and even unjustified criticism. What is new is that the heinous crime of 11 September has generated an unprecedented wave of constructive international solidarity. It has confirmed what we have been stating all along: that terrorism is a global phenomenon and that it is not associated with any particular country, continent, race or religion. It is an expression of a propensity for evil that remains dormant until the opportunity presents itself, either from within or due to prevailing circumstances, for it to awaken and wreak havoc. Thus, it is important to repeat the call that President Mubarak has been making for a number of years; for the convening of an international conference in which participating nations would shoulder their responsibility to confront terrorism. That would lend authority to the overwhelming wave of solidarity extended to the United States in its hour of grief and agony. Secondly, the fight against terrorism should not be the lens through which the world views every issue and every problem. Terrorism is one of the evil phenomena of the world, but it should not cause us to forget the evils of poverty, disease, occupation, the denial of individual and national rights or the humiliation of human beings and the destruction of their livelihood by means of bombs or any other 6 similarly harmful means. Terrorism has roots and causes, but not justifications. I believe that, in most cases, a viable remedy for terrorism can be found only if we drain the tributaries of hopelessness, anger and frustration that feed the river of evil; otherwise their confluence can become explosive. Thirdly, it is both necessary and fair that we not confuse those who are unjust with those who are unjustly treated. The international community should not confuse terrorism which we reject, condemn and fight with the legitimate right of self-defence in conformity with norms compatible with our values: the right to defend oneself against aggression, occupation, the usurpation of rights or attempts to erase cultural identity. That right was exercised by the resistance that liberated the United States more than two centuries ago and by that which liberated Europe from the Nazi tyranny that initiated the Holocaust but ended by perishing in its fire. Humanity and right were thus victorious. I would like here to reiterate what everybody knows: no religion Islam, Christianity, Judaism or Buddhism preaches terrorism. Those are all religions that proclaim lofty values and ideals. It is inappropriate to blame them for the sins of a few of their followers who have gone astray. Our fight against terrorism should proceed from our collective solidarity in cherishing life, and not from hatred, which is neither a solution nor a refuge. The world is at an extremely delicate juncture in its history. We are at a crossroads in international relations. The enhancement of the Organization's capacity to respond to the hopes and aspirations that arose after the end of the cold war and its divisions coincided with a trend towards neglecting that very capacity, a deepening of new divisions and a resort to unilateral decisions. Such a trend can lead only to deadlock and prevent us from addressing issues that may determine the fate of humanity and its ability to reconcile itself with nature and with advanced technology and to take the opportunities that they provide for the achievement of a better life free from poverty, want, disease, oppression and fear a life in which justice and solidarity prevail. We must therefore break this deadlock, which is of benefit to no party or cause, by renewing our commitment to the Charter and reaffirming our determination to work together to strengthen the United Nations, enhance its effectiveness, promote its principles and champion its purposes in confronting both the old and the new dangers that face our world. One of these dangers is the persistence of hotbeds of conflict and violence in the world, including the conflict from which we in the Middle East are suffering. I would like to read out the statement made yesterday by the President of Egypt, Mr. Hosni Mubarak. He said: I listened attentively to the statement made by President Bush to the General Assembly, and I would like to welcome the positive elements in that statement. First, I welcome the affirmation by the President of the United States that the United States is committed to the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, side by side with Israel, and that all the parties must assume their responsibilities in order to achieve that goal. We hope that the peace process will receive a strong impetus through effective participation by the United States, leading to a return of stability to the area and to a just and comprehensive peace as early as possible. Secondly, with regard to Iraq, I welcome the fact that the United States has opened the door to the pivotal role that must be played by the United Nations, in particular the Security Council, on the question of Iraq. Such a course of action will break the deadlock and prevent any negative effects resulting from the escalation of the situation, thus maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Iraq. In view of this, I am calling on the Iraqi leadership to make use of this opportunity to implement all the relevant Security Council resolutions and accept the return of the inspectors immediately so that we can prevent an escalation of the situation and the dangerous consequences that would have a very negative impact on the security and safety of the brotherly Iraqi people and of the Middle East as a whole.' The Palestinian people continue to suffer under an oppressive occupation that rejects the judgement of history, embodied by the Charter, that the age of colonialism has long gone. It is an occupation that clings to policies reminiscent of those of the era of darkness and chaos and may even bring us back to that 7 era. The Arabs have extended their hand to Israel with a unanimously adopted initiative that reflects their genuine belief in a peace that guarantees without exceptions or double standards the rights of all. If Israel genuinely desires peace, it must abandon its greed and illusions, put a stop to its practices and aggressive acts against the Palestinian people and their legitimate leadership and agree to withdraw from all Arab territories occupied in 1967 in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. An independent Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, can then be established and can join all the Arab States that have demonstrated their readiness to establish normal relations with Israel and live with it in peace and security. Justice, right, mutual respect and the restoration to people of their rights were the building blocks on which peace between Egypt and Israel was established, securing safe borders and normal relations during the past 25 years. The other model, however, which Israel has espoused with respect to our brethren in Palestine, has achieved neither peace nor security; rather, it has resulted in victims on both sides, who fall each day, paying the price for an attempt to obstruct the natural course of events. The international community must assume its responsibility in this regard without prejudice, striving only for what is right; unswerving, moving only towards justice; and without ambition, except for a peace that will allow the peoples of the region to forge a better future. It must reaffirm the necessity of abiding by the Charter, United Nations resolutions and the agreements that have been signed, and must reject any attempt to abandon them. The debate on security and stability in the Middle East relates also to the situation in Iraq a situation that must be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Charter and relevant resolutions, which all parties must respect, steering away from a course of military action. Egypt reaffirms its rejection of military strikes against Iraq, whose unity and territorial integrity must be respected and which, for its part, must respect the legitimate international will. We must do everything in our power to put an end to the extreme suffering of the people of Iraq. We must end the embargo, which has inflicted great harm upon Iraq, negatively affecting and the livelihood of its citizens and damaging future generations. Any discussion of the United Nations, its achievements and its future would be incomplete without recalling the tangible contributions of the Organization to focusing attention on the major issues of our times and forging an international consensus on some of them. This contribution has been realized through a series of conferences convened during the last decade of the twentieth century and the first years of this century on the environment, human rights, population, social development, women, financing for development and sustainable development. It has been achieved also through the recommendations of the Millennium Summit of the General Assembly, which attempted to shape a conceptual framework for the Organization's work, based on peace and security for nations and individuals, economic and social development in its comprehensive sense, equality among States and respect for the cultural diversity of nations and societies. In this regard, I would like to reaffirm the importance of the faithful implementation, in both letter and spirit, of the outcomes of those conferences. It is also important that no attempt is made to evade or circumvent those mutual obligations. Ultimately, the judgement of history will be based not on the intentions or objectives contained in political declarations and final documents, but rather on the extent of our success in implementing them. their implementation. Any just consideration of the international economic situation must conclude that it is unacceptable to continue the present disparities in the distribution of wealth among the peoples of the Earth, the lack of democracy in international economic decision-making and the persistence of arbitrary trade practices and monetary policies against the interests of developing countries, which have often led to successive financial crises and resulted in the economic collapse of many developing countries and the destruction, in a matter of days, of the development gains made over decades of arduous national effort. Our African continent and its issues occupy a special place in the international community's efforts aimed at achieving economic and social development and maintaining international peace and security in accordance with the collective responsibilities we all assume under the Charter. These efforts proceed from a firm conviction that the United Nations, the Security Council in particular, has primary responsibility for the 8 maintenance of peace and security in that continent. They also proceed from our conviction that we, as African States, are indispensable partners that bear a special responsibility to resolve the conflicts that fragment our continent and to formulate the programmes that would extricate our peoples from the anguish of poverty to join the course of progress and prosperity. Our continent has demonstrated its seriousness by launching the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD), which was endorsed by African heads of State at the Lusaka Summit of the Organization of African Unity in 2001, and the African Union, which was inaugurated at the Summit held in Durban in July 2002. If by embracing these two initiatives African States have adopted an approach to building their future on the basis of the highest ideals reflecting the noblest human thinking, then the international community for its part should support that approach in order to provide a better life for Africa's peoples, open markets for its products, inject foreign investment into its economies and assist it to solve its problems. The persistence of volatile conflicts and the danger of the possession by States, organizations or individuals of weapons of mass destruction make it incumbent upon us to be more diligent on disarmament issues. At the regional level, Egypt has repeatedly called for serious engagement to rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction, first and foremost nuclear weapons, and to place all nuclear facilities in the region, without exception, under international supervision. Peace and security cannot be established in the Middle East while a grave disparity persists in the rights and obligations of the States of the region, which upsets its balance of power. Regional stability will be achieved only when Israel accedes to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), because it is the only State in the region that has not yet done so. Such stability will also be attained through progress towards the implementation of President Mubarak's initiative to rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. In addition, the world confronts other ills that represent both a challenge and an opportunity for us to demonstrate our ability to work together for the good of all. Efforts to combat endemic diseases have fallen short. Countries around the world suffer from the spread of HIV/AIDS, which threatens their stability; owing to their lack of capacity and resources they are unable to contain the pandemic, thus necessitating assistance for those countries in dealing with the crisis. The world also confronts numerous environmental challenges such as those related to biodiversity, climate change, drought and desertification, all of which require the redoubling of international efforts to address them in order to safeguard the right of future generations to a secure life. Scarcity of water threatens the eruption of conflicts in several regions of the world. The international community must therefore maximize the benefit from, and the proper management of, available water resources while respecting and protecting the acquired rights of States and the international agreements that govern the rights to utilize those resources. The sheer size, complexity and scope of all these problems may lead some to yield to pessimism and frustration, but we are confident that the forces of good in the world, armed with the noble principles of the Charter to which we come here every year to reiterate our commitment will remain resolute in their determination to fashion a better tomorrow. We are confident that humankind will overcome the propensity for evil so that together we can forge ahead towards frontiers made possible by unprecedented technological progress at the outset of the twenty-first century, progress which God has commanded us to dedicate to our collective well-being so that the world can live in peace, security, prosperity and harmony. This will allow the young to flourish, potential to emerge, hope to overcome fear and pain, light to prevail over darkness and humankind to triumph over all that hinders its happiness, freedom and advancement.