I should like at the outset, on behalf of the
Islamic Republic of Mauritania as well as on my own
account, to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to
preside over the General Assembly at its sixty-fourth
session and to wish you every possible success in your
serious and noble mission. I have a great deal of
confidence that your efforts will bear fruit and enable
the Organization to continue to achieve the success
attained under the presidency of your predecessor,
Father Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann.
I should also like to convey my gratitude and
appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for the
efforts he has devoted to consolidating peace and
security throughout the world, to achieving the
Millennium Development Goals and to promoting the
fight against climate change.
This session is being held at a time when my
country is extricating itself from a political and
institutional crisis that lasted for a few months and was
resolved, with the help of the efforts of the
International Contact Group on Mauritania, through a
consensus reached by the political parties of
Mauritania and enshrined in the Dakar Accord. This
agreement provided for the elaboration of an electoral
agenda supervised by a Government of national unity
in which minority parties in Parliament enjoy half of
the number of seats, including among the sovereign
ministries, such as the Ministries of Home Affairs,
Information, Defence and others.
The normalization of the constitutional process
led to the election of Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz as
President of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. He
received 53 per cent of the votes during the first round
of the elections held on 18 July and all national and
international observers attested to the transparency and
fairness of this election.
On behalf of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania,
I convey my special gratitude to the International
Contact Group, and especially to the President of the
African Union, the Leader Muammar Al-Qadhafi, who
was one of the first to call for a domestic solution, thus
enabling Mauritanian stakeholders to normalize the
political situation in their country. I also convey my
gratitude to His Excellency Abdoulaye Wade, President
of the brotherly country of Senegal, who accompanied
the signing of the Dakar Accord and ensured its
follow-up implementation.
Mauritania, under the presidency of
Mr. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, is determined to
consolidate democracy and institutions and uphold the
rule of law in a spirit of calm and stability, thereby
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providing for the progress and well-being of the people
of Mauritania.
Aware of the need to integrate peoples and States,
Mauritania reiterates its attachment to the Arab
Maghreb Union as a strategic choice for the people of
the region. It also affirms its attachment to joint work
within the framework of the League of Arab States, as
well as its commitment to the African Union and to
United Nations purposes and principles,
We reiterate our support for efforts aimed at
reforming the United Nations, especially the expansion
of the Security Council, where a permanent seat should
be granted to the African continent and another to the
Arab Group, whose people make up more than 11 per
cent of the world population.
The tremendous efforts undertaken during the
sixty-third session of the General Assembly are
praiseworthy, whether we are referring to the Doha
Review Conference or the conference on the world
financial and economic crisis and its impact on
development. Despite these commendable efforts, the
world continues to be wracked by a stifling financial
crisis that has undermined development efforts,
especially in the least developed countries (LDCs). The
impact of the financial crisis on the economies of the
LDCs is disastrous. While the rich countries of the
North have achieved economic and social progress
during these past few years, the least developed
countries will face many obstacles that will have an
impact on programmes aimed at achieving their
Millennium Development Goals.
The international community must act rapidly to
confront this disaster that threatens the global
economic order. It must take concrete measures aimed
at restoring confidence, achieving economic progress
and creating jobs. Commerce, trade and investment
must be revitalized to provide the necessary financing
to poor countries and to maintain achievements made
thus far in the fight against poverty and in
strengthening the role of the United Nations
Development Programme in countering the economic
crisis and its adverse impact on development.
In this respect, we urge rich countries to fulfil the
commitments made in London in early April towards
financing development in developing countries, and
their pledges to allocate $1 trillion to revitalize the
global economy, including $50 billion devoted to the
low income countries. I pay tribute to all of those steps
from this rostrum.
The economic, social and environmental
dimensions of development are all closely interlinked.
For that reason we call upon all countries to fight
against climate change. My country is one of the ten
countries most affected by global warming, which
could lead to a rise in sea level. Here, we request that
industrialized States limit their greenhouse gas
emissions. We also welcome the meeting on climate
change that was convened by the Secretary-General
and await the outcome of the international conference
on climate change to be held in December in
Copenhagen, with great interest.
My country follows the issue of the Western
Sahara with great interest and reaffirms its backing for
the efforts of the Secretary-General and his Special
Envoy aimed at finding a final solution to this issue,
which would strengthen security and stability in the
region.
The Arab-Israeli conflict is a source of ongoing
tension and a threat to international peace and security
in a sensitive and vital region of the world. For that
reason, we support peace efforts aimed at finding a
solution to the conflict that will, on the one hand,
guarantee the brotherly Palestinian people all of their
rights, including the establishment of an independent
Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital,
and the right to live in peace and security side by side
with Israel; and on the other hand, will restore all
occupied Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan
and the Lebanese Sheba'a farms.
Turning to the situation in the Sudan, we wish
here to underscore our categorical rejection of the
International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for the
Sudanese President, because it undermines peace
efforts under way in that country and runs counter to
international norms.
The culture of peace, tolerance, justice and
respect for peoples and civilizations is the best possible
way to uphold international peace and security.
Outstanding issues are still without an available
solution; the chasm between the rich and the poor and
the turbulent international economic infrastructure
have led to tension, extremism and terrorism. Here I
reaffirm that the Islamic Republic of Mauritania rejects
terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and
reiterates its commitment to Islamic values, which
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reject violence and extremism and call for tolerance
and fraternity. We believe that it is the duty of the
international community to consider seriously the
causes of this phenomenon and to devise ways to
confront it and eradicate it once and for all.
Fulfilling the commitments that the international
community made in creating this Organization will
only be possible if all peoples and all countries share
the available resources and possibilities for successful
development, and if the policies of the countries of the
North are rooted in a vision of dignified, free and equal
existence for all. In my view this is the only way to
reach the objectives that this Organization was created
for.