58. Permit me, Mr. President, to join all my colleagues who have preceded me in conveying to you our heartiest congratulations on your election to the Presidency of the General Assembly. I am certain that your great personal qualifications and your wide experience in world affairs will ensure the success of our deliberations in this session.
59. May I also pay tribute to the Foreign Minister of Ghana, Mr. Alex Quaison-Sackey, who presided over the nineteenth session amid unparalleled difficulties. His dedication and wisdom helped the Organization overcome the most serious crisis it had encountered in the two decades of its life. Thanks to his efforts and those of the Secretary-General, the General Assembly is able to meet for this twentieth session in an atmosphere of hope that contrasts sharply with the feeling of despair and gloom that prevailed last year.
60. My country is now entering a new phase in the process of evolution which began with our national revolution in 1958, for the establishment in Iraq of a progressive society dedicated to the promotion of fundamental rights, freedom and social justice. Despite the heavy responsibilities which the present stage of our development imposes on us, I felt that it would be necessary for me to come before this Assembly to give our views on some of the major problems besetting the world. The profoundly inspiring appeal of His Holiness Pope Paul VI for peace and renunciation of war has helped to focus our attention on the central problem of our time. Unfortunately, however, as we survey the international scene we find many areas of conflict and tension.
61. The differences which have arisen in connexion with the financing of peace-keeping operations have not yet been resolved and the future of the Organization as an effective instrument Of peace is still uncertain. The issues involved are not merely concerned with the practical questions of establishing, organizing, directing and financing peace-keeping operations, nor are they confined to the constitutional problem of interpreting the Charter and defining the respective areas of responsibility of the Security Council and the General Assembly. They touch on the whole concept and philosophy of the United Nations. Peacekeeping operations, as experience has shown over the last ten years, are essentially actions designed to forestall and prevent armed confrontations before they endanger world peace and security. Although such forestalling actions have not been specifically provided for in the Charter, it is likely that the United Nations will be called upon to undertake more such operations in the future. For this reason it is necessary to devise, without delay, rules governing the conduct of such operations. The Committee of Thirty-three, which has been established to study the whole question of peace-keeping operations, will embark upon a thorough examination of the whole problem. In discharging its important tasks, the Committee of Thirty-three should be allowed maximum freedom and flexibility. We do not deny that a discussion of these issues during this session will be useful; but, in our view, the Assembly should avoid taking any final decisions, in order to give the Committee an unfettered opportunity to study the problem in all its aspects.
62. In Viet-Nam an explosive situation which threatens world peace and security is deteriorating steadily while the United Nations stands on the sidelines as a helpless spectator. It is true that the 1954 Geneva Agreements of Indo-China did not prescribe any role for the United Nations in this problem, but its total exclusion from any active part in promoting a peaceful settlement is perhaps symptomatic of one of the major weaknesses of the Organization, and that is its inability to deal effectively with any question in which great-Power rivalries and interests are involved. It is the view of the Government of Iraq that the conflict in Viet-Nam should be resolved on the basis of the Geneva Agreements of 1954. This does not mean that the United Nations has no useful role to play; on the contrary, it can strive to achieve a settlement within the context of those Agreements. However, we agree that no negotiations can be possible in the shadow of continuous military operations. A cease-fire which will include the cessation of aerial bombardment must precede the negotiations.
63. The Viet-Nam conflict has shown the folly of excluding the People's Republic of China from the United Nations. The question of China's representation in the United Nations must be resolved once and for all and in the only way that is compatible with the Charter — namely, the full and unconditional restoration of the right of the Government of the People's Republic to represent China in the Organization.
64. Closely linked with China's participation in the United Nations is the problem of disarmament, which remains the most crucial test facing the Organization. Of all the responsibilities of the United Nations, none is more urgent and important than disarmament. The lack of progress at the recent meeting of the Eighteen-Nation Committee has been most disappointing. The deterioration of relations among the nuclear Powers and the escalation of conflicts in many parts of the world contributed, no doubt, to the failure of the Geneva talks. This has reinforced the view shared by many that progress in disarmament is difficult while so many major disputes remain unsolved and when one of the great Powers of the world is totally excluded from the United Nations.
65. For this reason, my delegation feels that, until this abnormal situation is rectified, another forum for disarmament negotiations should be found in which all States of the world will be represented. The Second Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non- Aligned Countries in Cairo, last year, recommended that a world disarmament conference be convened, and the Disarmament Commission adopted a resolution to that effect last spring. It is our hope that the General Assembly will endorse this proposal early in this session. Meanwhile, we hope that the interest which the major Powers have shown in regard to the proliferation of nuclear weapons will contribute to finding a solution to this very crucial and urgent problem. One of the pre-conditions of general and complete disarmament is the liquidation of foreign bases, which have been and continue to be one of the greatest sources of world tension and instability.
66. In our part of the world, the Cyprus problem still defies a solution. Iraq is interested in seeing a just settlement of the problem on the basis of the independence and territorial integrity of Cyprus, with essential guarantees for the basic rights and legitimate interests of the two communities inhabiting the island. The United Nations should continue its efforts to find a just solution of the problem in accordance with the principles of the Charter.
67. Another serious problem that is causing grave concern is the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. It is needless for me to recall the historic ties that bind us to these two great countries of Asia, now locked in a fratricidal conflict that has caused untold suffering to their people. The ceasefire demanded by the Security Council was indeed an important first step on the path to permanent peace. We owe the Secretary-General a debt of gratitude for the patient and skilful way in which he handled the difficult negotiations leading to the cease-fire, which unfortunately has not yet been fully observed. I said that the cease-fire was a first step, because the duty of the United Nations cannot and should not end with the cessation of hostilities. It has a primary responsibility to deal with the causes of the conflict, with a view to promoting a peaceful settlement. At the recent Conference of the Heads of Arab States in Casablanca, the India-Pakistan conflict was discussed at length. We came to the conclusion that a lasting solution of the Kashmir problem must be based upon the principles of the Charter and the decisions of the competent organs of this Organization.
68. On the agenda of the present session there are three questions which are of particular interest to my country. The first is the question of Palestine, whose people have been victims of the worst type of colonialism and the gravest injustice of our time. The Zionist aggression in Palestine was not merely an armed invasion of a country and the imposition of alien rule on its inhabitants. Its aim was to destroy the Arab community of Palestine and permanently detach for the rest of the Arab world a country which had been an integral part of it for more than fourteen centuries. In no other occupied territory in the world has the physical removal of the inhabitants, through mass expulsion, been the avowed objective of the alien usurpers. For this reason, the problem of Palestine must be viewed as a conflict between the people of Palestine, who are determined to regain their homeland, and the Zionist invaders, who wish to legalize and consolidate their aggression.
69. The Arab refugees of Palestine are a living reminder of one of the gravest crimes committed against any people. They continue to demand to go back to their ancestral homeland. Their right to do so is not negotiable. It is an absolute and unconditional right that has been solemnly proclaimed and reaffirmed in every resolution adopted by the General Assembly on the refugee problem since 1948, but consistently flouted and violated by Israel. The Palestinians will continue the struggle for their usurped homeland, supported and sustained by the entire Arab nation.
70. The situation in Aden and the rest of the occupied south provides a glaring example of the violation of the principle of self-determination. Two years ago, the General Assembly adopted, by an overwhelming majority, resolution 1949 (XVIII), by which it recognized the right of the people of the territory to self-determination and freedom from colonial rule and recommended certain steps to be taken with a view to ascertaining the wishes of the people and establishing free and representative institutions for the whole territory prior to independence.
71. The General Assembly also called upon the Administering Authority to lift the state of emergency, cease forthwith all repressive measures and military actions against the people of the territory, repeal all laws which restrict public freedoms, and release political prisoners. After the adoption of this resolution in December 1963, the Committee of Twenty-Four continued its review and examination of the situation and adopted a number of resolutions, which have all been flouted and disregarded by the Administering Authority. It is true that the British Government declared earlier this year that it subscribed to the basic objectives of resolution 1949 (XVIII) and would consider setting up a unitary state, as demanded by the people of the territory and recommended by the General Assembly and the Committee of Twenty-Four.
72. However, deeds speak louder than words. In at least five instances, the United Kingdom Government has violated or disregarded these resolutions: firstly, by the maintenance of the state of emergency; secondly, by the continuance of military operations against the people of the territory; thirdly, by its refusal to consider the eventual liquidation of the military base in Aden.
73. Fourthly, the British Government has disregarded United Nations resolutions by its decision to break up the preliminary talks with political leaders last August because, and I quote the words of the British Colonial Secretary, "of the insistence of certain delegations on a hundred per cent acceptance of resolution 1949 (XVIII) of 1963, without qualifications".
74. Fifthly, on 25 September, the British Government suspended the Aden Constitution and gave absolute powers to the High Commissioner who dismissed the Government of Aden headed by Mr. Mackawee. These measures were taken at a time when the British Government was ostensibly attempting to improve its relations with the Arabs. It could not have escaped those in positions of responsibility in London that such measures and their extraordinary timing could lead only to further deterioration in Arab- British relations. More than 700 people were arrested in one single day recently — this is according to the British Press and other media of information, and only God knows how many have been arrested and detained by now — and other arbitrary and repressive measures have been taken against the people. The magnitude of this figure can be better understood if we remember that Aden is only a small town, and all these arrests were just in one quarter of the town.
75. It is not enough to state that the policy of the British Government is to grant independence before 1968. The question is what kind of independence? Will it be a shadowy independence that will perpetuate the power of the trusted clients of British colonialism in the territory, and maintain the military base in Aden whose early removal was recommended in 1963 by the Assembly which declared it to be prejudicial to the security of the region?
76. The General Assembly is called upon in this session to take firm measures to deal with this situation that constitutes a threat to international peace and security. The minimum required of the British Government is that it should declare unequivocally its unconditional acceptance of resolution 1949 (XVIII) and its readiness to implement that resolution faithfully. It is only in this way that a beginning can be made in dealing with the problem and enabling the people of the territory to attain their freedom in a peaceful and orderly manner.
77. In Oman, colonialism continues to suppress the aspirations of the people for freedom and deny them their right to self-determination. At a time when the winds of change are blowing in all parts of the world and the colonial system is retreating from one position after another, we still see in Oman and in the neighbouring territories in the Gulf region and in South Eastern Arabia, a stubborn reluctance to face realities. Colonialism is desperately trying to maintain, in that part of the Arab homeland, an anachronistic situation where colonial influence is maintained by a variety of indirect means and ill-concealed subterfuges. An example of British colonial repression In the Gulf area is the arbitrary removal of the Sheikh of Sharja — and this is his gravest mistake and greatest crime — because he asked for technical aid from the League of Arab States. It is our fervent hope that action will be taken this year to accelerate the attainment of freedom by Oman in accordance with the firm resolve of the United Nations that the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples be speedily applied to all territories that have not yet attained their independence.
78. These are by no means the only colonial problems facing the United Nations. In Africa, the struggle continues to eradicate the last remnants of colonialism. In Rhodesia, the British Government is called upon to take all necessary measures to prevent a unilateral declaration of independence by the racist minority Government. That and they alone, as the Administering Authority, are held accountable to the United Nations in accordance with the Charter and the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples.
79. Portugal's desperate efforts to maintain a foothold in Africa will no doubt crumble before the mighty tide of African nationalism. All Members of the United Nations, particularly those with special relations with Portugal, must shoulder their responsibilities in helping to bring about the speedy liquidation of the Portuguese colonial empire in Africa. South Africa continues to defy the United Nations and world opinion by its illegal occupation of South West Africa and by its apartheid policies. My Government will do everything it can to alleviate the suffering of the victims of apartheid and will support any action taken by the United Nations to ensure the compliance of the South African Government with the numerous resolutions adopted by the General Assembly in this regard.
80. In the field of development, and economic and social co-operation in general, the United Nations has recorded impressive achievements. Its activities in these fields have expanded to an extent that was not thought possible when the Charter was signed more than twenty years ago in San Francisco. However, this should not blind us to the fact that what has been done so far is woefully inadequate.
81. The problem of closing the gap between the developing and developed countries has not yet been seriously met. The Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance and the Special Fund have made valuable contributions, but their resources are limited and they touch on only one aspect of this vast undertaking. The United Nations is still not permitted to deal effectively with the crucial question of financing development. While we fully agree that the key to the problem of financing is trade rather than aid, we feel that action is now overdue to divert a much greater proportion of financial assistance through multilateral channels.
82. In trade, the net earnings of the developing countries have declined in the last twelve months. This has added urgency to the action to be taken by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, but, unfortunately, few of the recommendations of the first Conference have been implemented and the two sessions of the Trade Board this year have not been encouraging. Thus the problem of closing the gap between the developing and developed countries remains as serious and as difficult as ever.
83. The first five years of the United Nations Development Decade have been disappointing. The rate of growth still falls short of the 5 per cent envisaged in resolution 1710 (XVI) adopted by the General Assembly in 1961. The General Assembly and, under its authority, the Economic and Social Council are required to take vigorous action to reverse this trend during the second half of the decade. This can be achieved only if there is a greater willingness of the part of the developed countries to bring their trade and economic policies in closer harmony with the objectives of the decade. The developing countries, in their turn, must exert greater efforts and adopt sound and progressive economic and fiscal policies and planning to help them traverse the long and difficult road that lies ahead. Organizationally, the United Nations must adapt itself to the changing pattern of international economic and social co-operation, and improve its machinery in order to be able to discharge its rapidly increasing tasks and responsibilities in this vital field of human endeavour.
84. These are some thought which I wished to share with representatives gathered in this Assembly, in the hope that our deliberations at this important session will bring the world nearer to its cherished goals of just peace and human welfare.