Yemen

Allow me at the outset to take this opportunity to express to Mr. Imre Hollai my warm congratulations, personally and on behalf of the Yemen Arab Republic, on his election as President of the thirty seventh session of the General Assembly. We confirm to him that we are overjoyed to see him in that important post and we wish him full success in his tasks, which involve onerous responsibilities. We are sure that the work of this session will be crowned with success thanks to his expertise and acknowledged statesmanship. For our part, we shall spare no effort in cooperating with him in carrying out his great responsibilities in ensuring that the session does the work required of it at this crucial phase through which our world is now passing. We wish, through you, Sir, to put on record our well deserved appreciation and admiration for Mr. Ismat Kittani, who conducted the proceedings of the thirty sixty session in a brilliant and exemplary manner, which was characterized by objectivity and effectiveness. We wish him success in his future tasks. My delegation wishes also to pay a tribute to the Secretary General for the constructive efforts he has made and the commendable he has done in the short period since his assumption of the post and for the way he has fulfilled the responsibilities which the nature of his sensitive task involves. I wish also to convey the greetings of the Yemeni people to all the peace loving people of the world represented at this annual and respected gathering. We all know that the United Nations came into being as a result of the strong desire and determination of the peoples of the world to avert the tragedies of further world wars. This resolve reflects the sincere and profound conviction that it is necessary that peace and security prevail throughout the world and that we end, once and for all, all violence, aggression, military threats, hegemony, intervention and colonialism in any form. Therefore, in the minds of all, the United Nations is linked with noble concepts and superior values, because it is the crucible of all sincere efforts to achieve peace and the supremacy of justice in all dimensions, and the starting point for efforts that will lead to understanding and solidarity among nations, instead of division and wars. For this reason, my country has reaffirmed more than once its commitment and adherence to the principles of the Charter and its noble purposes in all fields, for this is the proper way to establish normal and peaceful relations among all nations and solid guarantees of the achievement of international peace and security. Therefore all Member States should support the Organization in its constructive role and should abide by its resolutions more loyally than ever before. We should combine our efforts to ensure that the basic principles of the sovereignty, equality and independence of all nations, regardless of size, position, military strength, or social, economic or political system, will prevail. We in the Yemen Arab Republic, too, support the right to self determination and full and effective independence of all peoples that suffer under the yoke of imperialism and racial domination and that struggle to achieve the noble goal to which we aspire. At the same time we affirm our unshakable belief in the need to ensure the unity and territorial integrity of all nations and non intervention in their internal affairs. We also affirm the right of all nations to self determination, and, above all, the right of the Palestinian people to self determination, to return to its homeland and to establish an independent State on its own soil. We view with a sense of gratification the efforts exerted by the United Nations to preserve international solidarity, support liberation causes and to ensure well being and economic and social development everywhere. However, we look forward to further achievements, because the Organization can achieve more than it has already. It can redouble its efforts towards international peace and security, the assurance of justice for all the peoples that long for it in Palestine, in Lebanon, and in Namibia, and the greatest good of the whole world by providing norms and safeguards that guarantee respect for and compliance with the resolutions of the Organization. Proceeding from this premise, we support every detail of the report of the Secretary General on the work of the Organization and on increasing its efficiency and overcoming the difficulties that stand in its way. These difficulties represent a real challenge that should be faced by all Member States if we want the Organization to be a real instrument for the consolidation of peace, which we all so deeply desire, and of justice, to which we all aspire. The Yemen Arab Republic reaffirms its belief in fundamental human rights, the dignity of the individual and the promotion of international peace and security, and calls for continuous dialogue and permanent understanding among nations and peoples. It calls for resistance to dominating influences, no matter by whom, and seeks to widen the scope of cooperation among brother and friendly countries. It deplores more deeply than ever before the fact that these principles in which the international community came to believe after painstaking and agonizing experiences are not being effectively implemented in international relations, which causes us to look to the future with deep pessimism and concern. We do not have to look very far to confirm this prognosis. It is sufficient to consider the development of the international situation since the last regular session of the General Assembly. Many of the international conflicts have worsened and become more complex and serious. Many of the problems raised during the thirty sixth session and even before that, at previous sessions, remain unresolved; they have become more complicated and it will be more difficult to solve them in the near future. What shall we say to the deprived, the persecuted, those that yearn for justice for freedom and for the support of the international community? What shall we tell the displaced, the wounded, the maimed and murdered Lebanese and Palestinians who have appealed to the Organization and the conscience of the world, because their rights have been usurped and they have been the victims of aggressors in their own home and in the refugee camps? Shall we tell them that the Security Council, the organ responsible for the maintenance of international peace and security, has been convened more than once in order to consider the abominable aggression by Israel against Lebanon and that each time the representative of a super Power, the United States of America, used its right of veto in order to obstruct the cessation of the massacres in Lebanon whose victims were men, women and children, and to obstruct the imposition of sanctions upon Israel in accordance with the Charter? What is the responsibility of the United States concerning the issues of international peace and security in the world after all that? For some time past Lebanon has been persistently complaining of the violation by Israel of the cease fire agreement through repeated Israeli aggression against southern Lebanon and through the violation of the independence and national sovereignty of the country and the support extended to the rebels against Lebanese authority. Today we face a new situation after the barbaric invasion of Lebanon by land, by sea and from the air. Towns and villages were destroyed, including the capital, Beirut. Houses were pulled down over their occupants and the most sophisticated internationally prohibited means of destruction were used. Despite all that Israel is still there, engaged in occupying, usurping, murdering and destroying with impunity, ' assured of the military, political and economic support of the United States without which it could not have continued its aggression. It is really surprising and at the same time revolting that the United States and some other Western countries did not use their influence early and still have not done so to compel Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and to stop the bloodshed and the daily massacres that Israel has committed on Lebanese territory, it is terrible that the United States should claim to preserve international peace when it supports Israel, which currently represents the greatest and the gravest threat to international peace and security. This claim, which clearly involves a contradiction, has practically disclosed the role of the United States in supporting the Israeli aggression against Lebanon and in focusing American diplomacy on the ousting of the Palestine Liberation Organization from Lebanon, without linking it to the recognition of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self determination and to establish their own independent State on their soil. We wonder how the United States can reconcile its international responsibilities concerning international peace and security and its strategic cooperation with the State of Israel which today represents the most dangerous regional military Power seeking expansion and hegemony over the Middle East region. We consider this cooperation and this alliance to be the factor that encourages Israel to persist in its aggression against Lebanon and that it has an adverse effect on all efforts aimed at reaching a just solution to the conflict in the Middle East. The Yemen Arab Republic has heard more than enough words of condemnation and denunciation they will not return rights to those who have been deprived of them and will not restore life to an innocent child killed by the American war machine and Zionist hands. Words of denunciation have become unacceptable from those who could have influenced events, especially those who knew in advance what was to happen in Lebanon and could have prevented it. We firmly believe that the new Zionist arrogance and Israeli terrorism, immune to international resolutions, its arrogance with regard to all norms and legal instruments, and the constant acts of aggression, have proved more than ever before that Israel is not a peace loving State and that it should not have a voice in the Organization, which is made up of all the peace loving nations. All the Members of the Organization should adopt practical measures against Israel and punish it for the crimes it has perpetrated and for its breach of international peace and security and should compel it to implement Security Council and General Assembly resolutions concerning the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people to self determination and to the establishment of their State on their soil and concerning an immediate withdrawal from Lebanon and from every bit of occupied Arab territory. It should be compelled to pay compensation for all the material losses it has caused and the leaders of the new Fascist Zionist terrorism should be prosecuted for their inhuman unprecedented massacres, devoid of all human feelings. Israel has become the true and indisputable representative of neo Nazism at its worst. Israel thinks that if it destroys Lebanon it could put an end to the Palestinian presence and to the Lebanese national movement and get rid of the PLO, thus achieving the security and stability it seeks, through force and through starting wars from time to time and devising ways to increase its aggression, expansion and colonial settlement. This sick concept led Israel to wage wars against the Arab countries, beginning in 1948, then again in 1956, in 1967, in 1973 and finally in Lebanon in 1982. In each war Israel emerged with a piece of land taken from a neighboring Arab country after having usurped all Palestinian soil bit by bit. But it has not achieved security and stability in accordance with its military concept in spite of all that and will not achieve them; rather the contrary holds true Israel has been a continuous source of tension and jeopardy to international peace and security since its inception. It is time now that Israel and its friends and allies, particularly in the United States, should realize that security and peace in the area can only be achieved through the recognition of the inalienable national rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self determination and to the establishment of their own independent State on their soil, under the leadership of their sole, legitimate representative, the PLO. Without that peace and security will not be achieved, for Israeli concepts are based on an illusion founded on expansion and aggression. It is now imperative for the United States to consider its unjust biased attitude in favor of Israel if it wants to make any positive and constructive contributions to the solution of the Palestinian question and the Middle East crisis. It should cooperate with the international community to compel Israel to implement General Assembly and Security Council resolutions in the interest of international peace and security, which have become jeopardized and are about to collapse as a result of the wanton acts and constant defiance of the Organization, including the flouting of its resolutions, whether those concerning the return of Arab territories occupied after the 1967 aggression or those concerning the right of the Palestinian people to return home and to establish their independent State on their soil, Palestine. Those who advocate right, justice and peace are those who support the rights of the Palestinian people, which are inalienable and historical rights. Those who support Israel are aligning themselves, through such support, with the new Israeli fascism. It would be more appropriate to speak of peace in the Middle East if the efforts of all those who love peace were directed towards the adoption of practical measures to ensure the halting of Israeli arrogance and its continual flouting of international resolutions, and to compel Israel finally to withdraw from all the Arab countries it occupied after the aggression of 1967, as well as to halt the judaization measures being taken in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, to recognize the PLO as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, who have been displaced, and to involve the PLO in all the efforts that are being made to maintain peace in this sensitive area of the world by peaceful means, since it is a main party to a conflict that has lasted too long. That conflict has resulted in many tragedies and many victims, so many that it is now no longer a military and political conflict alone but a problem that is a daily torment to the living conscience of mankind, which is agonizing over the massacres perpetrated by Israel against the Arab people of Palestine and Lebanon. The international community is today called on to impose deterrent sanctions against the war criminals and neo Nazis who now head the Israeli State, and who have no hesitation, in using the most heinous methods of destruction, and weapons which are prohibited internationally, against the peoples of the area. We are facing a new situation, which we must consider in order to draw the proper conclusion from it. Terrorism now has a State that protects it and exercises it, for the first time in contemporary history. Yet this State is a Member of the United Nations, while at the same time it rejects United Nations resolutions, and carries out acts of aggression, murder and repression whenever and wherever it wishes. It is easy to understand the effect this must have on the future of peace and security in the area, and even in the world at large. Even more incomprehensible than all this is the insistence of the United States of America on giving military and political encouragement to that terrorism, continuing to support it in international forums, and standing by it politically in its aggressive stances by the abuse of the veto in the Security Council every time that the international community tries to impose practical sanctions against Israeli arrogance and evil practices that defy the reason and the imagination, particularly those hideous massacres of Palestinian women, children and old people in Beirut. Those who could have prevented the aggression and could have compelled Israel to refrain from entering Beirut or the Palestinianrefugee camps will stand before mankind as responsible for the inhuman and criminal massacres in the camps of Sabra and Shatila. The United States of America cannot escape its responsibility for those genocidal crimes, committed in violation of the ethics and honor of mankind, because it undertook responsibility for the process of negotiation and for the supervision of the evacuation of the Palestinian fighters from Beirut, providing all necessary political guarantees to protect those who remained behind. But it appears that the credibility of United States policy and ethics completely collapses whenever Israel is concerned. That fact should be noted by everyone. We deeply deplore this situation, and we doubt the integrity of the role played by the United States of America in the area, after the last farce of American diplomacy in Beirut. We call on the Organization to stand firmly against Israeli Nazism, which has today become the major challenge to all peace loving nations. We also believe that the international prosecution of all the criminals and murderers responsible for the Beirut massacres is an essential requirement for mankind, after the commission of such crimes amid the shocked silence of the international community, to ensure that no such hideous massacres are repeated by those in Israel who thirst for more blood and would not hesitate to commit such murders again in the near future. Those who were responsible yesterday for the massacres of Deir Yassin and Qafr Qasim are responsible today for the massacres and hideous murders in west Beirut. Unless the international community hastens to shoulder its full responsibilities, inexorable tragedy will be inflicted on the Palestinian and Lebanese people, and on the peoples of the whole area. My country has more than once expressed its profound concern over the terrorism and piracy in the area, and the acts of oppression, repression and torture that Israel is committing against the Arab population in the occupied territories, a population living under and unjust rule and inhuman laws while their territories are occupied and settlements are being built on areas taken from the neighboring Arab countries by coercion and aggression. My delegation calls on all nations and peoples firmly to denounce and condemn such Israeli acts based on aggression, oppression and expansionism, and it calls for the imposition of all possible stringent political and economic sanctions against Israel, to compel it to act in compliance with the will of the international community, withdraw from the occupied territories and restore to the Palestinian people their legitimate rights. We attach great importance to the work of the current session. We call on it to meet its responsibilities of working for peace, rekindling the hopes that have become dimmed and restoring confidence to all those who have become so disillusioned through seeing the repeated acts of aggression carried out by the racist Pretoria regime, which is committing crimes of murder, torture and oppression against the majority of the people of South Africa, as well as committing with impunity repeated acts of aggression against the people of Namibia and the peace loving front line States. The present collaboration between the two racist entities in Tel Aviv and Pretoria has resulted in acts of murder, oppression, torture and Apartheid surpassing anything known previously. In recent years those two entities have begun to exchange information on nuclear research and the production of nuclear weapons with a view to the imposition of terrorism and imperialism in the area. My country firmly and unconditionally believes in and supports the liberation movements in the world, foremost among which are the PLO and the South West Africa People's Organization, and reaffirms that the Namibian problem will never be solved and the occupation of Namibia can never be ended unless the Organization continues its efforts, upon which the people of Namibia pin all their hopes of freedom and independence. We believe that the implementation of United Nations resolutions, particularly Security Council resolution 435 (1978), represents the practical basis for solving that problem, which has been complicated and burdened with further ramifications as a result of the defiance of South Africa and at its rejection of the United Nations resolutions designed to end its illegitimate occupation of Namibia. The United Nations indeed the whole world has condemned South Africa for its shameful racist policy which is exercised by force against the black majority and for its inhuman torture, persecution and exile of the black people in South Africa. The Pretoria regime even boasts of committing these crimes and is competing with its permanent ally, the Zionist regime, in finding new means of repression and humiliation and establishing settlements. The Namibian issue must emerge from its situation of stagnation, especially since the United Nations devoted a special session of the General Assembly to discussing the Namibian question in all its aspects. It must not remain a source of tension and trouble in Africa and continue to threaten world peace and security. The world M living today in a state of economic imbalance. The rich of this world are becoming increasingly rich and the poor increasingly poor. As a result of this grave division, which rests on inequality, the gap is increasing day by day and a sense of responsibility and enthusiasm in regard to setting of the new economic system based on justice and equality and building new world economic and monetary structures is today more urgent than ever before. But enthusiasm alone is not sufficient: it is necessary to crystallize the strong political will that can redress the frightening imbalance and redistribute wealth instead of confining it to certain Powers. We must constantly bear in mind the interest of all parties. The emergence of negative phenomena in world economic life, such as the increasing protectionist trend in the markets of the industrialized countries, the fluctuations of the exchange rate and the skyrocketing of interest rates on food commodities, consumer goods and capital goods have led to the deterioration of world trade conditions and the enormous deficits in the balance of payments of developing countries. The increasing indebtedness of these countries year after year, added to the deterioration of the economic and social growth rate therein, results in these developing countries alone paying the price and sacrificing their development in the interest of the rich, industrialized countries. Hence, the General Assembly is called on to give this subject increased attention and study in order to correct the imbalance in international economic relations and to take action to achieve more progress in the negotiations concerning this question, having regard to its importance to the international community in general and to the interests of developing countries in particular. The peoples of the third world cannot remain forever a source and exporter of raw materials and a market place for manufactured goods. It is not in the interest of the international community these States remain in a condition of economic impotence, unable to cope with their financial obligations towards others. Consequently, it is necessary to achieve constant development and progress in these countries. But the modernization and development process is linked in its tum to science and technology and the method of the transfer of such science and technology to developing countries, with the help of those who are more advanced in those areas, in order to promote their scientific capability and their administrative and technological know how. That must be done if we really want to avoid more crises and deterioration in the world economy, We can all achieve prosperity and happiness for mankind at large if we work with a common approach and if the developed countries pledge themselves to a courageous monetary reform, to revise their present economic policies and increase their development investments in the developing countries in order to alleviatethe suffering and deprivation of the people of those countries and restore some balance and harmony to the troubled world economy. There is no doubt but that the promotion of the specialized world financial institutions in the United Nations system in the field of economic and social development constitutes a direct contribution to the achievement of the well being of mankind. Mutual respect, non interference in the internal affairs of States and the settlement of disputes by peaceful means, the freedom of each State to decide on its own its economic and social structures in accordance with its national and political options constitute a sure guarantee of cooperation and peaceful and constructive coexistence and represent the appropriate process for promoting the policy of international detente. The Arab Republic of Yemen, which has founded its policy on respect for nation sovereignty and the exchange of interests and economic benefits with others in accordance with the principle of equality, rejects totally the policy of hegemony and military force in international relations, as it rejects also, absolutely, the principle of setting up military pacts, bases and facilities. It is greatly concerned over the emergence of signs of tension and cold war between the Western and Eastern World and the pursuit of aggressive practices by some States and the negative impact that this has on international relations, in addition to endangering the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the States of the world to danger. Signs of deterioration in international relations have become more tangible today than ever before as a result of the use of military force in solving international disputes and of interference in the internal affairs of States and the persistence of the frightful arms race, especially in the nuclear field. This constitutes a threat to mankind that could have the gravest results. Consequently, all States must take the necessary measures to improve international relations, promote the policy of detente and peaceful coexistence, affirm international legitimacy and define means of making the concept of disarmament a tangible fact ensuring security to the human community and happiness to mankind. The super Powers, the United States and the Soviet Union, must renew their Talks for limiting nuclear weapons and to eliminate all obstacles that are impeding the pursuit of these negotiations. Complete disarmament and the cessation of the nuclear arms race have become two vital prerequisites for all the peoples of the world that are looking forward to the day when this feverish race towards destructive arms will come to an end so that mankind may feel secure about its existence and future so that the efforts and money wasted on the manufacture, purchase, and stockpiling of weapons can be diverted to solving the crushing economic crisis from which many peoples of the world are suffering, and to meeting the material and spiritual needs of men. The second special session devoted to disarmament was a golden opportunity to hear all the opinions and concepts on which future negotiations should be based. For us, peace is an essential and noble objective. We must exert maximum efforts to promote peace everywhere in the world, for there is nothing more precious and more important to all the peoples than peace. But we feel disappointed and suffer when we see that hatred and war have replaced love and understanding among States and peoples. Peace has been shattered today in some parts of the world, such as the Arab Gulf, the Horn of Africa and the Falkland Islands. Arbitration, mediation and peaceful and diplomatic solutions are much better than recourse to force, which in most cases leads to a dead end, perpetuates grudges between peoples and obstructs the process of cooperation and peaceful coexistence among nations. The war between Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran has continued for more than two years despite the ties of a common creed and proximity and despite the mediation efforts exerted by the non aligned countries and the Organization of the Islamic Conference, as well as by the United Nations. Now Iraq has responded to those mediation efforts and withdrawn its forces to its borders. It would thus have put an end to hostilities but for the pretexts invoked by Iran to continue the war and to postpone the settlement if the conflict by negotiations and peaceful means between the two Moslem neighbor countries. We call on Iran to seize this opportunity and respond to the peace proposals; to cease its aggression against the territory of Iraq and not to abandon hope of a reconciliation with that neighboring Moslem country. We appeal to the Organization to redouble its efforts to bring those destructive hostilities to an end and we call on the two conciliation committees, of the non aligned movement and the Islamic Conference, to continue to use their good offices to bring about an end to the war and the restoration of rights, in order that peace may once again prevail in the lands of Iraq and Iran. My country, which firmly believes in regional cooperation between neighboring countries, is also interested in the maintenance of security and stability in the region. Therefore it views with profound concern the continuing state of tension in the Horn of Africa and calls for the solution of the border problems and of the historical and political problems between the nations of the area through negotiations and peaceful means, for the sake of the peoples of those countries and to prevent any foreign intervention in their internal affairs under the pretext of providing aid and support to one party or the other. My country rejects any military presence or bases in the Indian Ocean or the Arab Gulf. It reaffirms that the security of the Gulf and the Arab peninsula is the responsibility of the countries of the region and their peoples. It calls for support for the need to consider the Indian Ocean, the Arab Sea and the Red Sea areas that should be free from any fleets or military bases. We support the efforts made in the Committee on the Indian Ocean and the necessity of convening the Conference on the Indian Ocean during 1983, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 36/90. We look forward to the day when signs of tension will disappear one e and for all from, that sensitive part of the world. It is extremely dangerous to let the hotbeds of tension and conflict increase every day. As regards Afghanistan, we reaffirm the right of the Afghan people to self determination, free from foreign intervention of any form and from any source. We believe that it is high time to find a peaceful solution to that conflict, in accordance with the resolutions of the United Nations. On Korea, we affirm the necessity of putting an end to the dispute between the two parts of the peninsula and of reaching a peaceful solution of the problem, on a democratic basis, acceptable to both parties. An encouraging environment should be provided for Korean unity through the withdrawal of foreign forces from the area and the seas around it. As regards the Cypriot conflict, it is the firm position of my country that there should be an agreed solution between the Greek Cypriots and the Turkish Cypriots aimed at the reunification of the island on a democratic basis which will ensure freedom of religion and expression and civil rights for all Cypriots. The Organization would be fulfilling its responsibility for the preservation of peace and ending the anomalous situation in which the island finds itself now by applying all the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly and the Security Council and considering them a basis for settling the Cypriot conflict. One of the positive achievements of which we are proud in the Yemen Arab Republic is our success in keeping our country free from international polarization and the rivalry between the super Powers. My country adheres firmly to the policy of non alignment and positive neutrality. We are proud of belonging to the Organization of the Islamic Conference and to the League of Arab States and we believe that the continuing cooperation between the United Nations and those organizations will undoubtedly be a crucial factor in the implementation of many social and economic plans and will contribute to the solution of many international political problems. We also feel that all our endeavors should be aimed at developing our country and raising the standard of living of our people so that we may keep pace with other countries of the world. This is the concern of our political leadership, under President Ali Abdulla Saleh, who considers the issue of reunifying the two parts of Yemen to be of extreme importance in its endeavors to achieve progress and dignity. There have been many achievements socially, economically and politically as regards reunifying the two parts of Yemen on a democratic basis. We have reached the stage of periodic meetings between the Presidents of the two parts of Yemen to consider programmes of integration and reunification at all levels. My country has devoted all its efforts since the revolution to serious and pressing efforts to promote the welfare of Yemeni citizens and provide a proper climate for the establishment of democracy, justice and political freedom, and on this basis to initiate a process of setting constructive goals at a high level. My country is anxious to ensure the success of all plans beneficial to it. It has so far been able to fulfil the essential needs of all citizens and to set up the major infrastructures, which we consider to be the cornerstone of production, despite the fact that the revolution took place only a short time ago. We have the patience and faith to continue our march and to work for reconstruction, development and fruitful cooperation with all countries of the world on a basis of equality, good neighborliness, mutual respect and non intervention in the internal affairs of others, settling ail our conflicts peacefully, so that everyone can enjoy peace and security and we can help each other in an atmosphere of sincerity conducive to the happiness of mankind as a whole. Finally, I wish to thank the President and express my appreciation and commendation of all his sincere efforts in the interest of achieving international peace, justice and freedom.