It is indeed
an honour and a source of pride to see our sister State
of Qatar represented in the good person of the
11-51390 18
President leading this year’s session of the General
Assembly. His election was certainly the right choice
given his commendable initiatives and contributions to
maintaining peace and security, both regionally and
internationally, which bear out his qualifications and
capabilities. Indeed, we congratulate him on assuming
his post. Through you, Sir, may I also convey my
congratulations and gratitude to Mr. Joseph Deiss,
President of the Assembly at its sixty-fifth session.
We would also like to congratulate His Excellency
the Secretary-General on his reappointment. We commend
him and his colleagues on their admirable efforts in the
various areas in which the Organization is active. We
hope that our deliberations this year will benefit
humankind and serve to promote peace, harmony and
cooperation among peoples and nations.
I address the Assembly today as the Sudan
approaches the international community with new
momentum, having recently provided an exemplary
model in choosing peace and stability, even though
their price entailed sacrificing a dear part of our
country’s territory. During the past six years, the
international community has followed the Government
of the Sudan’s degree of commitment to the choice of
peace through the implementation of the
Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which we concluded
and signed on 9 January 2005.
Despite the obstacles and challenges facing the
implementation of the Agreement from the start, we
have continued to implement it with perseverance and
patience. That culminated in the holding of the
referendum on the self-determination of South Sudan
and, eventually, the acceptance of its result. We were
the first country to recognize the nascent Republic of
South Sudan, extending a hand of cooperation and
brotherhood to it.
The international community has also followed
the historic visit that our country’s President, Mr. Omer
Hassan Al-Bashir, paid to the city of Juba prior to the
holding of the referendum, as well as his participation
in the celebrations declaring the establishment of the
State of South Sudan on 9 July. His address on that
occasion outlined the guiding principles that
established the basis of our warm and friendly
relations, discarding the negative atmosphere and
bitterness of the past and looking towards the broader
horizons of cooperation and communication that serve
the interests of that country’s brotherly people. From
this rostrum, we reiterate our commitment to that spirit.
We also reiterate our congratulations to the State of
South Sudan as it takes its place among the Members
of the United Nations.
Allow me to take this opportunity to welcome the
National Transitional Council as the legitimate
representative of the brotherly people of Libya at the
United Nations, following the revolution that Libya
experienced and the changes it has brought about.
The separation leading to the establishment of the
independent State of South Sudan does not mean a
definitive divorce, in particular as we live in an era of
globalization and State alliances and groupings that
transcend political boundaries and traditional
frameworks. Moreover, until recently our two peoples
were one, connected by common denominators and
various historical, cultural and social ties.
Given those facts, we are resolute in our full
commitment to settling all outstanding issues with
regard to the implementation of the Comprehensive
Peace Agreement, including the situation in the Abyei
region, in order to complete the border demarcation
and the necessary joint measures and mechanisms
required to monitor the border and address economic
issues, including access to oil and oil revenues.
We also affirm that we are committed to reaching
security and political arrangements that address all the
recent tensions in Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile
states. As I have said before, we accepted the choice of
separation not because we were bored with unity, for
we had paid dearly for that unity, but because we
wanted sustainable peace and stability. It is therefore
unacceptable and irrational to accept any proxy war
that destabilizes those two states, or any other border
area between them. That will require understanding of
the joint vision that takes into account the special
characteristics of the demographic character of the
region and the interaction among the tribes in those
areas.
With regard to the situation in Darfur, the most
recent peace negotiations in the sisterly State of Qatar
concluded with the signing of the Doha Document for
Peace in Darfur, which was accepted and supported by
the various groups in Darfur. That support was
evidenced by the broad participation in the all-Darfur
stakeholders conference, which was held in May and
attended by representatives of internally displaced
persons, civil society and leaders from the legislative,
19 11-51390
political and executive branches, as well as tribal and
political party leaders, elders and local administration.
The conference adopted the Doha Document for Peace
in Darfur because it responded to all of the aspirations
of the people of Darfur in terms of peace, development,
stability, justice and political participation. As the
Assembly is aware, the Document has received
considerable support from the international community.
I wish to take this opportunity to reiterate our
appreciation to our sister State of Qatar, the African
Union and the League of Arab States, which
spearheaded this initiative. We also wish to thank the
Joint Mediation Support Team and all regional and
international partners who contributed to the
agreement. From this rostrum, I again emphasize that
we will continue to implement our national strategy on
Darfur on the basis of its five pillars: security,
development, the resettlement of refugees and
internally displaced persons, internal reconciliation and
a comprehensive political settlement. We will give top
priority to completing the return of internally displaced
persons and refugees and to creating stable conditions
for them through development, rehabilitation and
reconstruction projects.
We expected the Secretary-General to include a
special paragraph in his statement to illustrate my
Government’s commitment to peace, which was
evident from the signing of the Comprehensive Peace
Agreement and the declaration of the Republic of
South Sudan, which my Government was first to
recognize as a State. We call on our international
Organization not to be hoodwinked by the policies of
some countries, which refuse to give credit where it is
due. The Sudanese leadership, headed by President
Omer Hassan Ahmad Al-Bashir, enabled the people of
the South to exercise their right to self-determination.
It made a commitment to do so because of its desire for
peace and stability. Consequently, it is a leadership that
deserves respect and appreciation, not to be the target
of attempts at incrimination or of the arbitrary levelling
of accusations, for example, by the International
Criminal Court.
I need not recall the fact that the President is the
leader of the Republic of the Sudan and was
legitimately elected in fair and transparent elections
conducted under the supervision of international and
regional bodies. Moreover, the unilateral and
unjustified economic sanctions adopted by the United
States of America against the Sudan in order to weaken
it and erode its development revival are but unjust and
coercive measures against the people of the Sudan.
This is happening at a time when we aspire to have the
support of the international community as we move
towards that goal more openly and with greater
determination to fulfil our natural role as an active and
pioneering member of the international family.
As a State emerging from conflict, we look
forward to the contribution of the international
community and its financial institutions in terms of
debt forgiveness and support for development projects.
That would be consistent with the measures being
applied to all least developed countries, as well as to
those emerging from conflict and moving into
peacebuilding, which has now become a reality. The
World Bank has put forward these and other
requirements, and has stated that my country has
indeed demonstrated compliance in that regard.
Similarly, from this rostrum, we call on all
investors, without exception, to try to benefit from the
Sudan and its promising resources, especially those
other than oil, such as mineral resources and metals.
We urge them to invest in the Sudan’s agricultural
resources, taking into consideration the extent of the
country’s arable land and its significant water
resources. This is particularly important in the light of
the food crises, famines resulting from drought and
desertification, and the urgent global need for cereals
and grains. The Sudan’s investment law has provided
all necessary facilities to all foreign investors.
The international financial and economic crisis
has adversely affected most countries of the world. In
the countries of Africa, the crisis has notably
intensified and exacerbated the difficulties plaguing the
economies of developing nations, resulting in increased
poverty and food shortages and the decline of social
services.
At a time when climate change is leading to
natural disasters in many countries, I call on the
General Assembly, all donors and the relevant United
Nations agencies, funds and programmes to respond
urgently to the devastating famine and the attendant
tragic humanitarian situation, which is affecting some
of our sister republics in the Horn of Africa, in
particular Somalia.
We also wish to highlight the importance of
giving issues affecting the African continent a high
priority on the development agenda of the United
11-51390 20
Nations, with a view to supporting and building the
capacities of African economic institutions. This could
be accomplished by reactivating the New Partnership
for Africa’s Development initiative. Priority, support
and financing should be given to projects aimed at
combating poverty and endemic diseases on the
continent, as well as to the relevant programmes linked
to the achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals.
Since development and peace go hand in hand,
we wish to emphasize the importance of supporting the
institutions of the African Union, especially its Peace
and Security Council and its other various mechanisms,
to build early-warning conflict prevention capacities. I
need not mention that Chapter VIII of the United
Nations Charter clearly emphasizes the importance of
regional arrangements in strengthening and
maintaining international peace and security.
We also wish to emphasize the importance of
activating preventive diplomacy mechanisms and
African peacemaking efforts. I refer in particular to the
experience of the Panel of the Wise of the African
Union, headed by former South African President
Thabo Mbeki, which is playing a commendable role in
the Sudan. This attests to the effectiveness of the role
of regional bodies in settling disputes and achieving
peace and security in African countries.
The Sudan had hoped for international consensus
on climate and environment issues, in particular
because we have been directly affected by them, as has
clearly been the case in Darfur. United Nations reports
have emphasized the relationship between the negative
impact of climate change and the intensification of
conflict, especially on the African continent. We had
also hoped that the efforts made in Copenhagen would
have been successful and led to an agreement on how
to address this phenomenon and avoid its negative
consequences.
We had hoped, too, that developed nations would
assume their historic responsibilities in that regard by
adopting specific strategies and action plans to tackle
the root causes of climate change in a manner
consistent with the Rio Declaration on Environment
and Development, adopted at the Earth Summit in
1992. The Sudan attaches the highest priority to the
implementation of a series of national programmes
designed to alleviate the consequences of climate
change and to raise awareness as to its dire effects.
The Sudan looks forward to participating actively
and effectively in the United Nations Conference on
Sustainable Development to be held next year, in order
to help strengthen international efforts to face the
challenges of sustainable development with a
collective will that reflects the aspirations of the whole
world, developing nations in particular, for
development and a decent life for their peoples.
Various entities of the United Nations, including
the Security Council, have adopted dozens of
resolutions regarding the question of Palestine, none of
which have been implemented. This is because of
Israel’s blatant defiance of the international community
and because of the support and protection it enjoys
from some powerful countries. This demonstrates that
the Organization is incapable of standing up for the
rights of peoples and to support their legitimate claims,
as enshrined in the Charter. That has given the green
light to the occupying authorities to continue with their
settlement policies that seek to entrench the occupation
and banish the Palestinian people, the owners of the
land.
The Sudan therefore fully supports the
Palestinian National Authority’s decision to request full
membership of the United Nations, which is their legal
right, based on the right to self-determination, one of
the principles of international law. Moreover, the
Palestinians’ request for recognition as a State is a
legitimate right that seeks to confirm that, first, the
United Nations is committed to its Charter and,
secondly, to international law. This would also help to
alleviate tensions in the region. The international
community should consider the fact that there may be
no one to negotiate with if it allows Israel to impose
conditions on the world and to deprive the Palestinians
of their legitimate rights.
In conclusion, the reform of the United Nations,
and in particular of the Security Council, is an urgent
and compelling priority requiring speedy action.
Without efforts to reform the Organization and its
various entities, we will weaken the role of developing
nations and have a negative effect on their national
interests. This will also allow bodies such as the
Security Council to become a channel through which
particular countries impose their own political agendas,
especially with regard to international peace and
security. Genuine reform of the Security Council and
its working methods is therefore the only way to
prevent it from being exploited by some countries in a
21 11-51390
manner that could cast doubt on the credibility and
neutrality of the Organization, whose founders
carefully drafted its Charter so as to make it the widest
possible forum for consultation and debate — debate
that requires cooperation and interaction among
peoples, nations, cultures and civilizations in order to
create a world in which values such as freedom, peace,
security and justice can prevail.