Algeria

I wish at the outset to congratulate Mr. Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann on his election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-third session. I also pay well-deserved tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Srgjan A/63/PV.13 08-53122 24 Kerim, and thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the dignified, far-sighted and able manner in which he has carried out his heavy responsibilities since his election. The central theme of this session and the subjects chosen for two high-level events are a perfect reflection of the international community’s current concerns. In recent months, the world has experienced crises that have revealed our collective vulnerability and our inability to confront those crises. As always, since the world order is based on that imbalance, the developing countries in particular pay the highest price by being powerless to meet the challenges that threaten their political stability and social cohesion. The President returned to the Chair. In that regard, the consequences of climate change and the food crisis caused by the scarcity and soaring prices of certain basic commodities have plunged millions of people into extreme poverty. International financial and economic institutions, whose mission it is to anticipate crises and alert the international community to their potential risk, must play their proper role by undertaking the needed reforms without requiring developing countries, in particular African countries, to abide by commitments incompatible with their development goals. We must effectively and resolutely combat terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We stress once again the importance and urgency of adopting a comprehensive counter-terrorism convention, while avoiding any provisions or stipulations that would prejudice the legitimate struggle of people to reclaim their freedom or of discrediting any particular religious community. It is indispensable to continue the work of reforming the Organization so that it can become an instrument to promote freedom, democracy, justice, peace, security, development and progress. Such reform will be fruitful and promising only if it includes reform of the Security Council through the equitable expansion of its membership, the democratization of its decision-making processes and the improvement of its working methods. Algeria’s actions in the geographical and political spheres to which it belongs are based on the principles of good-neighbourliness, cooperation and solidarity. In the Arab Maghreb, Algeria is working to ease the difficulties we are experiencing, which have hindered the re-launching of the Arab Maghreb Union, in the conviction that the destiny of our peoples and the requirements of our times demand the advent of a united and prosperous Maghreb. We are, however, keen to ensure that efforts in that regard do not meet with new disappointments, and we therefore think that that re-launching must be undertaken on a sound, solid and lasting basis that takes into account the enlightened self-interest of all the peoples of the region. Inspired by its faith in that ideal of the Maghreb, Algeria has sincerely supported and will continue to support efforts to find a just, lasting and internationally legitimate solution to the conflict in Western Sahara that will allow the Saharawi people to exercise freely and transparently their inalienable right to self- determination. That is why Algeria believes it vital that the momentum created by the Manhasset process be preserved and encouraged. We cannot overstress the responsibility of all the parties. We have made an urgent appeal to the Secretary-General to participate in actions to remove obstacles to the negotiating process and to bring about conditions that will permit the holding of the fifth round of the process as soon as possible, as required by the relevant resolutions of the Security Council. Algeria, for its part, will continue to assume fully the role dictated by its status as a neighbourly country and an observer of the process. On the Middle East, Algeria is pleased to note the positive developments in Lebanon and encourages all parties to persevere on the path of unity and national reconciliation. It is obvious that the Middle East will know no peace without a settlement of the Palestinian question, which is at the core of the Israeli-Arab conflict. There is no need for me to remind the Assembly that the advent of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East will inevitably require restoring to the Palestinian people their national and historic rights, including their right to an independent State, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, the return of refugees and the restoration of all the other Arab territories occupied by Israel. On that basis, we appeal to the international community to fully shoulder its responsibilities towards the Palestinian people, to support their just cause politically and to step up its humanitarian assistance in order to ease their suffering. The African continent has been experiencing profound and promising changes. Undeniably, it is in the field of peace that the continent’s achievements A/63/PV.13 25 08-53122 have been the most remarkable. Thus, the African Union and other regional organizations have become respected and necessary partners, particularly in preventing and settling African crises. Algeria welcomes these positive trends. We regret, however, that the support and commitment of Africa’s partners remain below the agreed objectives, both with respect to restoring peace and to economic and social development programmes. We believe it is of the greatest importance to refrain from any action likely to thwart current peace efforts or to undermine the unity, territorial integrity and sovereignty of the Sudan. We must therefore mobilize the international community to promote the political process, which remains the only way to ensure that the Sudanese people can benefit from the restoration of peace and national reconciliation. In that regard, we reiterate our support for the efforts and proposals of the League of Arab States, the African Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Non-Aligned Movement, calling on the Security Council to freeze the decision of the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and to promote and consolidate the dynamics of peace and national reconciliation. Similarly, with regard to the situation in Zimbabwe, Algeria can only welcome the approach adopted by the African Union and the Southern African Development Community to enable the people of Zimbabwe to overcome their current difficulties. We are solidly behind Africa’s efforts to settle the Somali crisis by means of unreserved support for the political process and the dispatch of a peace mission to help the transitional authorities to restore peace and security in the country. There is no way to overcome the dangers to peace and harmony in the world other than concerted efforts and consultations on the basis of a renewed equitable and effective multilateral system that places the non-discriminatory fulfilment of human needs and the preservation of human dignity at the heart of its concerns. From that standpoint, the fight against all the ills that afflict large swathes of humankind — whether extreme poverty, endemic disease, environmental problems or clandestine immigration — can be won only if we all, and in particular the developed countries, join our efforts. The two high-level meetings during this session, and others to be held over the next few months will undeniably test our capacity to respond collectively and solidly to the challenges of our time.