At the
outset, Mr. Treki, permit me on behalf of Yemen and on
my own account to congratulate you on your well-
deserved election to the presidency of the General
Assembly at its sixty-fourth session. I am confident
that your long experience in the area of diplomacy, in
particular Arab and African diplomacy, will ensure
your skilful and able conduct of our proceedings. I
wish you every success in carrying out your noble
mission. I also wish to congratulate Father Miguel
d’Escoto Brockmann, President of the General
Assembly at its sixty-third session, on his efforts,
which ensured the success of the various Main
Committees of the Assembly. In addition, I thank the
Secretary-General for his tireless efforts to consolidate
international peace and security and advance the work
of the Organization.
The Republic of Yemen is facing complex socio-
political and development challenges, to which a
number of factors have contributed, including the
world financial crisis and its impact on Yemen’s
economy, as well as an acute shortage of resources as a
result of declining oil production and low prices on
international markets. We also face a growing
population, combined with water shortages and limited
commitments by our development partners to help us
combat poverty by providing employment
opportunities and decent livelihoods for the Yemeni
population. Despite those difficulties, the Yemeni
citizen has the smallest share of official development
assistance when compared with citizens of other least
developed countries. Undoubtedly, lack of
development and rising unemployment and poverty
7 09-52604
rates have created many challenges and difficulties for
our Government.
The Government also faces other challenges,
including, in particular, the rebellion by the Al-Hothi
elements in the Sa´ada governorate, who abandoned
the Zaidi doctrine, which is the second most prevalent
religious sect in Yemen, to embrace the beliefs of the
Shi´ite Twelvers sect. Although they had the right to do
so as Yemenis, they exploited it to gain Shi´ite support
and sympathy after they had carried out an armed
rebellion against the Government. These subversive
groups have committed terrorist and violent acts
against citizens, targeted State institutions and facilities
and hampered the work of local councils, calling for
changes in our democratic republican system in order
to return Yemen to the days before the 26 September
revolution. The Government has been compelled to
deal with these destructive groups, channelling a
portion of its limited resources allocated for
development towards fighting the saboteurs and
re-establishing governmental authority and the rule of
law throughout Yemen. The destructive acts carried out
by these rebellious groups before the recent military
operations against them caused the displacement of
tens of thousands of citizens from areas affected by
violence, which has recently increased as a result of
military clashes.
As a result of its concern about the situation of
internally displaced persons (IDPs), the Yemeni
Government has addressed that humanitarian situation
responsibly and in cooperation and coordination with
international and civil society humanitarian relief
organizations, providing secure camps and meeting the
needs of IDPs for food and health care. Here, I wish to
recall that our Government has declared two cessations
of hostilities during the most recent military
operations, the second of which was in response to the
appeal made by the Secretary-General and
humanitarian and international organizations for the
opening of safe corridors for the provision of relief to
refugees. However, the saboteurs exploited that
ceasefire by increasing their attacks on our military
forces, cutting off roads, planting mines and spreading
false rumours about Government forces attacking the
IDPs. The Government has established a committee to
investigate the situation, although it is aware that there
was no IDP camp in the area but rather a camp used as
a supply centre and meeting place by the saboteurs,
who have violated five previous agreements and
returned to violent actions.
I wish to highlight our commitment to the
principles of guaranteeing human rights, protecting
civilians from the effects of military operations and
upholding the sovereignty of the Constitution and the
rule of law in dealing with an internal situation caused
by a group that is committing violent and terrorist acts
in violation of the law and the Constitution.
This challenge is growing, as can be seen from
the activities of Al-Qaida elements in Yemen and their
attempts to consolidate their presence in Yemen and to
target our country and other States in the region.
Al-Qaida is supporting the saboteurs in Sa´ada, seeking
to make their acts of violence and rebellion serve the
interests of Al-Qaida in Yemen and to spread anarchy
and instability. This highlights the need for continued
Yemeni efforts to uproot terrorism and for continued
international coordination among security and
intelligence organs, so that extremism and terrorism
can be defeated.
Meanwhile, a number of separatist elements are
exploiting the atmosphere of democracy and freedom
of thought and expression, the Government’s respect
for human rights, and economic difficulties and a low
standard of living to promote their separatist agenda —
which was rejected by the Yemeni people in 1994 — in
an invitation to reject constitutional legitimacy and to
conspire against the unity, security and stability of
Yemen.
The level of expenditure required for our
Government to impose the rule of law and combat
terrorism has reduced the number of employment
opportunities, decent livelihoods and educational
opportunities for our young people and the chance to
fight poverty. Therefore, we urge the international
community, donor countries, international
organizations and Yemen’s partners to join an
international alliance to combat terrorism. Once again,
we call upon them to shoulder their responsibilities and
provide generous support to Yemen in order to
strengthen our development programmes to combat
poverty and provide job opportunities, since
development and economic growth are important
elements in combating terrorism, reducing
unemployment and achieving development. From this
rostrum, we call on Yemen’s partners and donors to
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fulfil the pledges that they made at the November 2006
London conference in support of development.
The Republic of Yemen continues to strengthen
the democratic principles of its political system,
reflected in political pluralism, the peaceful handover
of authority, freedom of expression, respect for human
rights, growing decentralization, building local
government with broad powers, electoral and
constitutional reform and improving partnerships with
civil society organizations. Those involved in political
work in Yemen agreed to postpone for two years the
parliamentary elections that were to be held next April
in order to reform the election law and to introduce
some constitutional changes with a view to reforming
governance. For its part, the Government has
introduced a system of broad local government
involving the election rather than the appointment of
governors with a view to bringing about further
decentralization of authority.
The difficult humanitarian situation of the
Palestinian people under Israeli occupation should
remind all in this Hall that the international community
has failed to secure the legitimate demands of the
Palestinian people and to assist it in establishing its
own State, and that it has ignored the suffering of the
Palestinian people, the systematic violation of their
human rights and the increase in illegal settlement
activities in the occupied Palestinian territories. The
unjust blockade imposed on the Palestinians in Gaza
makes life a tragedy for the entire population of Gaza
owing to the complete disregard of the practices of the
Israeli occupation in violation of the relevant
international resolutions and instruments, and in the
light of the recalcitrance shown by the Israeli
Government and its rejection of all initiatives aimed at
moving the peace process forward, in particular with
regard to the course adopted by the United States
Administration to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict. We
call upon our Palestinian brothers to show a spirit of
national responsibility towards their people living
under the yoke of occupation by unifying and putting
an end to their differences so as to benefit the
Palestinian issue and achieve their goals.
The situation in Somalia calls for the
international community to take more effective
measures to achieve peace and security and to rebuild
the institutions of the Somali State by urging the
Transitional Federal Government to act in such a way
as to contribute to the strengthening of peace and
stability in the Horn of Africa. Here, we welcome the
efforts of the Transitional Federal Government to
secure peace and to extend its administration
throughout Somali territory. However, it urgently needs
further support to enable it to serve the Somali people.
We call on all Somali parties without exception to end
their differences, to participate in national dialogue and
to achieve reconciliation, putting the interests of the
Somali people above all else.
We call on the external parties to stop interfering
in Somalia’s internal affairs. Instability in Somalia is
adversely affecting all States of the region. The
phenomenon of piracy and the increasing flow of
refugees to neighbouring States, resulting from the
instability in Somalia, are creating socio-economic and
health difficulties for Yemen, as it bears the burden of
caring for hundreds of thousands of those refugees. We
call on the international community to help the Somali
coast guard to protect the coasts and international
maritime trade.
With regard to the situation in the Sudan and in
Darfur, we welcome the mediation efforts of Qatar,
Libya and Egypt to achieve peace in the Sudan. We
support the efforts of the international community in
bringing about the reconciliation of all opposing
factions, and we reiterate our call for the decision of
the International Criminal Court with regard to
President Omer Al-Bashir to be overturned as it does
not respect the sovereignty of the Sudan and hinders
the efforts for peace in the Sudan.
Yemen condemns all acts of terrorism to which
the Iraqi people are subjected, and we call on them to
overcome their differences and to strengthen their
national unity.
Yemen welcomes the efforts of the Secretary-
General towards reforming the Organization. We
reaffirm our position that the United Nations and its
system should be reformed in order to achieve
equitable representation and a better decision-making
process that places the required emphasis on
development, fighting pandemics, easing poverty and
addressing environmental issues, which have a direct
impact on the standard of living of millions of people.
We must strive to bolster the Security Council’s role in
the maintenance of international peace and security; at
the same time we must reform the Council and expand
it to make it more representative, ensure that its
deliberations are more transparent and rationalize the
9 09-52604
use of the veto so as to avoid its abuse and double
standards.
In conclusion, on behalf of the Government of
Yemen, I would like to extend our appreciation for the
good work of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in
managing this Organization and in improving its work.
I reiterate my congratulations to you, Mr. President,
and wish you every success.