A year has gone by since the entire world mourned the victims of the World Trade Center tragedy and condemned the barbaric acts most formally. Today, from this rostrum, on behalf of the Union of the 26 Comoros and the Comorian people, I wish to evoke the memory of all those who in the United States and elsewhere have suffered injustice at the hands of those who have acted outside faith or law. We condemn terrorism in all its forms. Allow me to congratulate President Kavan warmly on behalf of the delegation of the Union of the Comoros, which I have the honour to head. I also wish to convey the trust and confidence that we have in him to lead the work of this session, based on his experience, personal qualities and diplomatic expertise. Permit me also to convey to His Excellency Mr. Han Seung-soo our great pleasure and admiration by recognizing the outstanding work he did as President of the previous session. I wish to convey a strong tribute to His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, our Secretary- General, for his constant devotion in the service of our Organization. The Union of the Comoros heartily welcomes Switzerland and Timor-Leste as new Members of our Organization. The United Nations is an organization whose duty it is to assure humankind the conditions of living in peace, dignity and prosperity. This is an enormous and large-scale task that surely poses certain daunting difficulties that we will need to overcome. This must be so, because in no way must we or should we shrink away from obstacles and challenges. This institution must be the true guarantor of the hopes of present and future generations. This requires a true awareness of its universality, which calls for reforming its main organs. These organs must be in a position to reflect and adapt to the reality of the present world. Furthermore, and in a different context, this new political framework must go hand in hand with development, a development that takes into account the inequalities, but also the specificities of each place. There are many evils gnawing at our planet, but they affect us in different degrees. The advances of the technological world of the North contrast with the fierce struggle of the South, even now in the twenty- first century, to achieve the most basic living conditions. The extreme poverty of the South, AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria are all offensive to human dignity. The South's struggle for survival is meaningful only if it finds some response in the North. This presupposes recognition of the equality of rights and of inequality of means to guarantee these rights. In Africa, initiatives such as the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) have been devised to address and remedy a socio-economic situation that has led to the most atrocious effects. But we must recognize that NEPAD's viability also depends on the North's good will to contribute to finding an appropriate solution to the main problems of the African continent. Our countries, on the other hand, place their hopes in the recommendations of the World Summit on Sustainable Development recently held in Johannesburg. This world forum took into account the human being and all the dimensions of life and survival. In other words, we hope that, by the year 2015, we will actually see a reduction in poverty by half, so that we may address priorities other than hunger, disease and war, among others. The time has come for our countries to save our peoples from the many agonies of war and from traumatic effects on our children and to put an end to the unprecedented losses suffered by our economies due to the exorbitant cost of weapons that harm our lives and those of our children. It is time to become aware of our heavy responsibility to ensure that future generations are not sacrificed to history. From another standpoint, war seeks only to prove one's force to another, and prove one's capacity to destroy. From that perspective, it can only be nefarious. This has led Comorians to banish any attempt to do anything that would lead us to confrontation. We reinforce our internal forces, which, together with our wisdom and the culture of the Comoros, lead us to forgive. We base this on our religion, Islam, which advocates tolerance, peace and love of neighbour. Guided by these sacred principles, the people of Comoros, after four years of upheaval in its socio- political sphere, finally found itself, found reconciliation and decided to heal its old wounds. Thus, on the initiative of President Azali, the various parties of the Comoros came to an agreement of national reconciliation, with the support of the Organization of African Unity and the International Organization of la Francophonie. Following this agreement and after establishing a Transitional Government of national unity, pluralistic, transparent and democratic presidential elections for 27 the Union of the Comoros and for the islands took place. The contest was run in a legitimate way and the winner was the outgoing President, Colonel Azali Assoumani. Following the elections, every island was given its own president, with full responsibility for self-management. Toward the end of this year, we will hold legislative elections intended to establish national institutions and to provide the country with a parliament. This next stage is also of crucial importance. In fact, with the establishment of the parliaments, we will be able to address and settle many outstanding issues not settled by the constitutions of the islands and the Constitution of the Union. These constitutions have often referred to organic laws, which must be enacted by the parliaments. We must recognize that this silence, this absence of legislation, may have led to misunderstanding, but this has not interfered with the regular functioning of the administration. Furthermore, commissions have been established to review modalities that are to enable the progressive transfer of powers to the authorities of the autonomous islands subject to the provisions of the various constitutions. It is obvious that beginnings are often difficult. In these circumstances, this transfer, as well as the procedures for the distribution of State property, have sometimes met with disagreement from one quarter or another. This is understandable in a country that had formerly been managed under a different system. This situation can be explained, in our view, by the absence of organic laws that would determine details of essential aspects currently subject to protest by various parties. We trust that with the establishment of the Parliament, these misunderstandings will be allayed and will yield to the harmony needed to manage the political life of the autonomous islands and of the Union. I wish to convey the deep appreciation of the people and the Government of the Comoros to all the brotherly and friendly countries and all the regional and international institutions which have to date supported us in every respect. Their cooperation has been indispensable, and, together with the wisdom of the people of the Comoros, has enabled us to avoid the worst in a small country where we are all one family. We pay enthusiastic tribute to their actions. Equally, it is our wish that crises in other parts of the world will have a satisfactory conclusion. We appeal to all partners of the Comoros to continue supporting our country as it pursues its socio-economic development. Without minimizing the question of the Comorian island of Mayotte, I wish to refer to that subject last of all. This is a matter of great concern to the people and the Government of my country. In fact, this is a matter of sovereignty, and thus of dignity and patriotic conscience, which we cannot abandon, because by doing so we would be abandoning our identity, our culture, our civilization, our history and our geography. In our quest for a solution to this problem, a single principle guides us and a single will moves us to resolve this painful dispute with respect for international law and in accordance with the relevant resolutions of the United Nations, while at the same time preserving the benefits we enjoy within the framework of our relations with France. In that respect, speaking on behalf of the Government of the Union of the Comoros, I fervently appeal to France to ensure that a dialogue begins. The strategy we advocate has the advantage of insuring that the Comorian Island of Mayotte will not remain in isolation, that it will be incorporated into a regional framework which will bring it closer to its sister islands as well as to its neighbours in the subregion. We therefore hope the same considerations will prevail on the French side so that together we can reach an agreement which will guarantee greater calm and better understanding within our long-standing relationship. Whenever I address this question I recall the great Tunisian poet Abu al-Qasim al-Shabbi, who invites us not to despair and to rely on reason. If people ever want life Then time must respond, Night must dissipate and shackles Must be shattered.'