Allow
me at the outset, Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, to
congratulate you and your fraternal country, the Great
Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, on your
election as President of the General Assembly at its
sixty-fourth session. We are confident that your
experience and knowledge of the role and influence of
the United Nations in international relations will play a
great part in the success of the work of this session. I
also take this opportunity to express our thanks to your
predecessor, His Excellency Father Miguel d’Escoto
Brockmann of friendly Nicaragua, for his excellent
efforts in guiding the work of the previous session. I
wish also to express our appreciation to Secretary-
General Ban Ki-moon for his tireless efforts to enhance
the effectiveness of the Organization’s machinery. We
wish him every success.
There is no doubt that the United Nations has
achieved much during its more than 60 years of joint
international action. Its achievements have made a
positive contribution to the maintenance of
international peace and security. The Organization has
provided technical assistance to developing countries
in their socio-economic development projects, and has
helped to reach consensus on many political issues and
conflicts, contributing to the development of
international peacekeeping mechanisms.
And yet the Palestinian issue remains unresolved
despite all the efforts of Arab countries and the
international community. We believe that the Arab
Peace Initiative and international peace efforts are the
most appropriate way to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict
on the basis of an end to occupation, the return of Arab
lands occupied since 1967, the establishment of an
independent Palestinian State on the West Bank and
Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital and the
removal of all the illegal and illegitimate Israeli
settlements. This would indeed help to achieve
peaceful coexistence and positive cooperation between
Arab States and Israel, and would contribute greatly to
opening new horizons of cooperation, progress and
development in the region and the world at large. Peace
based on those principles would be one of the most
important achievements of the people of the region and
would pave the way towards ending regional crises and
eradicating the root causes of terrorism.
We thus call on Israel to seize the historic
Initiative and join the efforts to establish a just and
comprehensive peace in the Middle East, one that
would bring security and peaceful coexistence to all
the States and peoples of the region. Squandering this
historic opportunity would constitute a grave loss for
the Israeli people, and we would all regret it.
We welcome the recent positive developments in
Iraq. We hope that such developments will continue in
order to achieve security and stability in that country,
contribute to the success of the comprehensive national
reconciliation efforts and help establish positive,
cooperative relations with neighbouring countries,
allowing Iraq to resume its distinct positive role in the
region at all levels.
We look forward to positive results from the
Darfur peace talks, to be held in Doha, Qatar, between
the Sudanese Government and the Darfur opposition.
We hope that the parties concerned can build a
framework for a political agreement that would help
realize security, stability and development in Darfur.
We also welcome the policies of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh
Ahmed, President of the Transitional Federal
Government of brotherly Somalia, and his efforts to
achieve peace in his country. We urge all of our
brethren and all factions in Somalia to renounce
violence and embrace dialogue. We support international
efforts to combat piracy and armed robbery against
commercial ships off the coast of the Horn of Africa.
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We welcome the continued cooperation between
the friendly Islamic Republic of Iran, the international
community and the International Atomic Energy
Agency. In this respect, we see some positive signs that
could lead to a sound diplomatic solution.
There is no doubt that the efforts exerted by the
rich industrialized nations to restore stability and
balance to the international capital markets have begun
to bear fruit. This could lead to the recovery of the
world economy. We believe more international effort is
needed to reach consensus in the Doha Round of trade
negotiations, taking into account the interests of all
States, including the developing countries. In light of
the serious shortages of food, water and medicine from
which many countries are suffering, we urge the rich
industrialized countries to increase investment in
agriculture research, food security and the supply of
water and medicine, for these have a direct impact on
humankind.
It is also our hope that the Climate Change
Conference to be held in Copenhagen at the end of the
year will adopt a long-term plan to protect the
environment and reduce harmful carbon dioxide
emissions.
In conclusion, I would like to express our deep
thanks and gratitude to the President of the General
Assembly for his efforts in leading the work of this
session. We urge all Member States to take the
necessary practical measures to help us reach
consensus on all the issues on our agenda.