JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF CONFIDENCE-BUILDING TO ACHIEVE SECURITY IN MIDDLE EAST
Press Release
GA/9323
JORDANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER STRESSES IMPORTANCE OF CONFIDENCE-BUILDING TO ACHIEVE SECURITY IN MIDDLE EAST
19971003 Assembly Also Hears Foreign Ministers of Madagascar, Maldives, Solomon Islands, Guinea, Yemen, Republic of CongoConfidence-building and peacemaking were the best way to achieve individual and regional security in the Middle East, the Jordanian Foreign Minister, Fayez Tarawneh, told the General Assembly this afternoon, as it continued its general debate. He called on Israel to do everything possible to build and consolidate confidence with the people of the region, particularly the Palestinians.
He said Israel must abandon its settlement policy and the creation of new faits accomplis on Palestinian territory, including attempts to change the demographic structure and the religious and historical character of the occupied territories and Jerusalem. Nuclear weapons were a threat to regional peace and to confidence-building, and Israel should therefore abandon the production and development of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons. Jordan had decided to adhere to the Chemical Weapons Convention because it believed such weapons would not establish security and stability, he added.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, Fathulla Jameel, said that if the latest predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concerning global warming came true, by the year 2100, almost 80 per cent of the low-lying island countries, including his own, would be submerged by the sea. For the Maldives and other small island developing States, which were most affected by the degradation of the world's environment, the lack of international action was most lamentable. Unless the world acted swiftly, it might be too late to avoid environmental catastrophe.
He called upon industrialized countries to follow the examples of the United Kingdom and the European Union and to commit themselves to legally binding and meaningful targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emission levels. The Maldives found it hard to accept a target below the 20 per cent reduction level by the year 2005 as meaningful. The world was looking forward with great optimism to the forthcoming Third Conference of the States Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto.
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The Foreign Ministers of Madagascar, Solomon Islands, Guinea, Yemen and the Republic of the Congo also addressed the Assembly. The representatives of Turkey and the United Republic of Tanzania spoke in exercise of the right of reply.
The Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. on Monday, 6 October, to continue its general debate.
Assembly Work Programme
The General Assembly met this afternoon to continue its general debate. The Foreign Ministers of Madagascar, Jordan, Maldives, Guinea, Yemen and the Congo and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Solomon Islands were scheduled to speak.
Statements
HERIZO RAZAFIMAHALEO, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Madagascar, said the United Nations must change its structure to adapt to the world's new realities, which was marked by globalization and interdependence between all countries. Certain developing countries had undergone rapid economic growth and had been able to integrate into the dynamic world economy, while others had been marginalized in the globalization process. While the privileged could surf and navigate the Internet, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) there were still 800 million people per day who did not get enough to eat. Reform of the United Nations should be based on good government, good management, transparency and democratization of international relations.
His own Government sought to practise those values and ideals, he said. It was also ensuring that human rights, social justice, participation by all in national development, the implementation of economic reforms and the practice of democracy were not simply part of the political process, but were effective. On restructuring of the United Nations, it was clear that some merging of functions in the Organization must be made for efficiency. For example, he supported the merging of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Centre for Human Rights. There was also a need to increase transparency and create a culture of shared savings. Humanitarian relief would become more effective with an office to coordinate emergency measures.
The work done by the United Nations in human rights must be considered an element in the field of preventive diplomacy, he said. Restructuring of the United Nations must include all aspects of human rights, since it was an indivisible and interdependent aspect of development. Reform must not be a simple cost-cutting exercise, but should strengthen the role of the Organization. The role of the General Assembly must be also strengthened, as a forum to discuss peace and development through effective participation by its Members. One of main weaknesses of the United Nations was that some Members paid in full unconditionally, while others delayed for a number of reasons. He supported a good-conduct proposal in the area of payments.
He welcomed the Secretary-General's proposal to put more finance into development and the establishment of a development dividend. Madagascar supported the Organization of African Unity (OAU) position on Security Council
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reform. Africa had the most Members in the United Nations, yet it had no seats on the Security Council. He supported the increase in membership of the Security Council based on transparency, democracy and geographical representation. He also supported the proposal for two rotating permanent seats, which could be allocated to Africa. It sounds logical that the Security Council should either extend the right to veto to all permanent members or simply abolish the veto.
He said the OAU welcomed the strengthening of the African capacity for peacemaking. He had voted in favour of the moratorium on exporting landmines and was satisfied with the Oslo proposal to completely dismantle all anti- personnel mines. He appealed to all States to take steps towards complete disarmament. Turning to the issue of transnational crime, he said it now threatened culture and societies. There was traffic in drugs, humans and all other aspects of organized crime, and developing countries were prime targets. In closing, he said preserving the environment was a precondition for sustainable development. His country was proud to comply with the measures conceived in Agenda 21 of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), since his country was a sanctuary for nature.
FAYEZ TARAWNEH, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Jordan, said if the security problem was a major obstacle to peace in the Middle East, confidence- building and peacemaking were the best means to achieve individual and regional security. He called upon Israel to do everything possible to build and consolidate confidence with the people of the region in general, and the Palestinians in particular. Israel must abandon the settlement policy and the policy of creating new faits accomplis on Palestinian territory, including attempts to change the demographic structure and the religious and historical character of the occupied territories and Jerusalem.
In order to build confidence with the people and governments of the region, he called upon Israel to abandon the production and development of weapons of mass destruction, particularly nuclear weapons. Since the presence of nuclear weapons was a major obstacle to peace, the problem should be removed. The Middle East should be a nuclear-weapon-free zone. In that context, Jordan had taken the decision to adhere to the Chemical Weapons Convention, prompted by the belief that such weapons would not establish security and stability.
The Iraqi people had suffered enough under the blockade imposed upon them for seven years, he said. It was time for the international community to act to alleviate the suffering. In issuing a serious call for the lifting of the blockade imposed on the people of Iraq, his Government reaffirmed the necessity of preserving Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Government of Iraq must fully implement all relevant Security Council
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resolutions and endeavour to solve the problem of Kuwaiti prisoners and missing persons.
Refugees in the Middle East presented one of the most intricate problems facing the region, he continued. The financial crisis that gripped the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) had been escalating and had forced the Agency to undertake austerity measures. Since the inception of the refugee tragedy five decades ago, Jordan had borne the heaviest burden of all host countries. There were 1.5 million refugees in Jordan, with 20 per cent in refugee camps serviced by UNRWA and the others scattered throughout cities and villages. Jordan spent $340 million annually in caring for the refugees, in addition to a new $240 million initiative to develop infrastructure in refugee camps and disadvantaged areas.
Improving the living standard of Palestinian refugees did not diminish their political right to return and to compensation, he said. He called on the international community to continue the services provided by UNRWA until a lasting, just and comprehensive solution to the question was reached. In line with Assembly and Security Council resolutions, which called for the facilitation of the return of displaced persons, donor countries should increase their contributions to an extent commensurate with the natural increase in the number of refugees.
Turning to reform of the Security Council, he said any new structure must represent developing countries all over the globe. The Arab Group, in view of its major and effective role, was entitled to a permanent seat on the Council. Addressing other aspects of United Nations operations, he called upon Member States to pay their outstanding contributions in order to ease the financial difficulties faced by some countries contributing troops to peacekeeping operations, including Jordan.
FATHULLA JAMEEL, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Maldives, said United Nations reform should cover all its political, social, economic and legal activities. Its Security Council reform should include an increase in the number of non-permanent members to reflect the growth of the Organization's membership. Non-permanent members should be re-elected for any number of consecutive terms, as long as they enjoy the confidence and support of other Member States. The Council's permanent members should be encouraged to agree on an accord which would remove or at least minimize the common apprehension arising from the fear of their misusing the veto power. The Secretary-General's much needed reform proposals deserved careful consideration as they contained far-reaching and constructive arrangements which would help the United Nations emerge from its present difficulties.
During the Assembly's special session in June, Member States noted the lack of progress in the international action called for by UNCED, he said.
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Emissions of greenhouse gases were continuing unabated. If the latest predictions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change on global warming came true, by the year 2100, almost 80 percent of the low-lying island countries, including his own, would be submerged in the sea. For the Maldives and other small island developing States, which were most affected by the degradation of the world's environment, the lack of international action was most lamentable. Unless the world acted swiftly, it might be too late to avoid environmental catastrophe. The unwavering commitment and cooperation of the entire international community was needed.
He said the Maldives was creating environmental awareness by involving non-governmental organizations and the private sector. It had also successfully implemented a few projects to protect and preserve the environment. For example, under the 2-million-tree national programme, the people had planted eight trees per person in the last two years. At the regional level, the new Delhi Declaration of the Environment Ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), reflected a common position on global environmental issues. At the international level, the Maldives was working closely with the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS). It placed utmost importance on the swift and steady implementation of the Barbados Program of Action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States.
He called upon the industrialized countries to follow the examples of the United Kingdom and the European Union, to commit themselves to legally binding and meaningful targets to reduce their greenhouse gas emission levels. The Maldives found it hard to accept a target below the 20 per cent reduction level by the year 2005 as a meaningful reduction. Last month, the Maldives hosted the thirteenth session of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climatic Change. The world was looking forward with great optimism to the forthcoming Third Conference of the States Parties to the Framework Convention on Climate Change in Kyoto.
The Committee on Development Planning, at its session in May, had proposed that the Maldives be graduated from the least developed countries list in the year 2000, if it continued to prosper at the present rate, he said. His Government was overwhelmed to see its development efforts being rewarded with a decision of expulsion. Over the years, his country had improved the per capita income, raised the standards of living and provided basic services at higher levels than many other least developed countries. That success was due to the stable political climate and carefully planned, action-oriented policies and strategies. However, the results would not have been achieved without support from friendly countries and multilateral organizations.
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The vulnerability of the Maldives economy compelled it to continue to depend on external resources, to build infrastructures and to develop human resources necessary for further development, he said. Small countries were also vulnerable to drug trafficking, money laundering, terrorism and other forms of organized crime. He stressed the importance of developing and applying a vulnerability index for the small island developing States as a basic and meaningful criteria for determining the status of least developed countries.
PATTESON OTI, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of Solomon Islands, said that in an ideal United Nations, the future design of the Security Council should be "equality of membership yes, the veto no". Political reality required another approach. Serious consideration should be given to granting Germany, Japan and several developing countries permanent seats in an expanded Security Council. Since the present permanent members insisted on retaining the veto, it must be restricted to issues related to Chapter VII of the Charter.
Explaining that Solomon Islands and other States in the Oceania were especially sensitive to environmental change, he said his country was moving quickly to enact legislation that would enable it to meet its obligations under the Framework Convention on Climate Change. Solomon Islands was also committed to the adoption of a seabed mining code with strong provisions for protecting the marine environment.
He was also concerned over the transportation, dumping and storage of radioactive and other dangerous wastes in the Pacific region. His Government had ratified the Waigani Convention on the importation and shipment of hazardous and radioactive wastes and the Noumea Convention to protect the region's marine and terrestrial environments. Responsible parties must meet the relevant international standards stipulated in those treaties.
Expressing his Government's continued support for the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the southern hemisphere and elsewhere, he called for the creation of a forum of non-nuclear-weapon States that would be committed to the elimination of all nuclear weapons and would seek agreement on the implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). Solomon Islands would sign the treaty banning anti-personnel landmines.
He drew attention to the presence of more than 100 ships from the Second World War containing fuel and unexploded munitions that lay at the bottom of the Pacific channels and on land. Estimates of the cost of clearance had been put at $1 billion or more. A large number of unexploded bombs still littered the shores and leaking fuel contaminated fish breeding grounds and affected
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the aquatic food chain. He called on the countries responsible to provide technical and financial assistance for the clearance.
Recognizing the need to restructure the Solomon Islands economy, he said his Government was closely reviewing several key areas, such as public expenditure, banking and the taxation regime. He said his Government was expanding investment and trade to meet the demands of globalization. He called on international lending agencies and the developed countries to assist it.
LAMINE KAMARA, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guinea, said many imbalances and challenges continued to confront the international community. The developing countries had been left behind by globalization. The debt burden continued to hinder economic development and protectionism still limited access to markets. The initiative proposed to create a United Nations group for development was welcomed, as were other reform proposals, including strengthening the role of the Economic and Social Council.
The proliferation of small weapons was a serious problem confronting African nations, he continued. He, thus, supported establishing a department for disarmament and arms control, with adequate funding and the ability to monitor cross-border movements. Addressing Security Council reform, he said that Africa should be given two permanent seats, with the same rights as other permanent members.
The subregion of West Africa had been shaken by conflicts in Liberia and Sierra Leone, he continued. He hoped today's meeting on Liberian reconstruction would lead to the provision of adequate resources. The international community had offered needed support to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) efforts to restore democracy in Sierra Leone.
The conflicts in those neighbouring countries had forced 650,000 refugees across the Guinea border, he said. His country had paid a heavy price in hosting the refugees, who were equal in number to one sixth of Guinea's population. The environment and infrastructure in border areas had deteriorated, schools had been closed to house refugees and health problems had been created. However, a recent appeal to the international community to provide resources to assist Guinea had generated needed funds.
ABDULKARIM AL-ERYANY, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Yemen, stressed that the purpose of United Nations reforms should be to reinforce the Organization's ability to shoulder its responsibilities within the framework of the Charter. Yemen was concerned over indications in the Secretary-General's reform report on the likelihood of reducing the United Nations role in development and limiting its responsibilities in the field of social justice. Any move in that direction would encourage such phenomena as
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legal and illegal immigration from developing to developed countries. A diminished United Nations role in development would also lead to an increase in population growth in developing countries. In the absence of such basic needs as food, clothing and shelter, that could lead to further deterioration of the environment.
He said that Yemen strongly supported expansion of the representative base of the Security Council, whether by accepting Germany and Japan as new permanent members or by increasing the number of permanent members through an increase in the representation of geographic groups and allowing each group to rotate its permanent seat among the countries of that group. There was a need to reduce the use of the veto by permanent members. Such use should be limited to matters that directly affected high national interests.
He cited the displacement and arrest of Palestinians, the occupation of their territories, the establishment of settlements, the confiscation of their properties and the violation of their basic human rights in the Arab-Israeli conflict. That constituted a breach of the principles of the Charter and a defiance of resolutions adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly. The optimism that followed the Oslo Agreement, the Jordanian- Israeli peace agreement and progress in the talks on the Syrian track had been extinguished by the Israeli Government, which had sent the whole region back to square one.
The peace process should be completed as stipulated in the Madrid Conference, various Security Council resolutions and subsequent agreements, and in accordance with the principle of "land for peace", he said. That principle would ensure complete Israeli withdrawal from all Palestinian occupied territories, establishment by the Palestinian people of its own independent State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, the return of Palestinian refugees, the release of prisoners, the dismantling of settlements built by Israeli occupation authorities and full Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Golan and occupied southern Lebanon. Israel should respect the sovereignty of Lebanon and should release Lebanese prisoners and detainees in Israeli camps, and should compensate Lebanon for all the damages caused by the Israeli aggressions against its peoples and lands.
He said Yemen held its second parliamentary election on 27 April this year, in a free and fair atmosphere, as confirmed by national and international observers, he said. Those elections represented a major advance in strengthening the democracy, based on a political multiparty system, freedom of the press and respect for human rights.
He said that his country was fully committed to the consolidation of peace and stability at both regional and international levels. That was reflected in its position regarding its conflict with Eritrea and its
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endeavour to solve border problems with its neighbours in a peaceful manner. Yemen also took pride in its ability to solve its border problem with Oman through a solution acceptable to both parties. It also hoped to solve its border problems with Saudi Arabia in a manner that would serve the interests of the two countries and consolidate peace and stability in the region.
While expressing solidarity with the Somali people, Yemen's leadership had joined in regional efforts to achieve peace in Somalia. Yemen called upon the Somali people to take the initiative and demonstrate the political will to find a peaceful solution and attain stability that would enable them to recover their national institutions and reconstruct their country. He also called upon the international community to exert more effort and to provide the necessary assistance and support to rebuild State institutions within a national framework that was acceptable to all Somalis.
Yemen welcomed the memorandum of understanding signed between Iraq and the United Nations to implement Security Council resolution 986 on the sale of oil for food, he said. However, the implementation of that agreement faced great difficulties, from time to time, which had exacerbated the agony of the Iraqi people. While his country reaffirmed the need for Iraq to implement all legitimate international resolutions and to continue cooperating with the United Nations, it was urgently necessary to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people caused by the embargo imposed on that country. Yemen also wanted to add its voice to those calling for the end to the embargo and other measures imposed on Libya. He also called upon Iran and the United Arab Emirates to continue their direct dialogue in order to reach a peaceful solution with respect to the three islands under issue.
DESTIN-ARSENE TSATY-BOUNGOU, Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo, expressed deep sorrow at the deaths that had occurred on the sides of both President Pascal Lissouba and ex-President Sassou-Nguesso in the civil war that had ravaged his country since 5 June. The Congolese people felt abandoned by the international community. Nevertheless, everything had been done to safeguard his country's young democracy during the sudden transition from a one-party system in which all organized opposition had been banned, to a system based on individual, political and religious freedom. The democratic election of President Lissouba by a 61 per cent majority had heralded a bright future for the young democracy. Since coming to office, the President had done everything to shore up democracy by calling on the opposition to participate in the government. His efforts were rejected by the opposition, which had lost the subsequent elections. The war engulfing Brazzaville was the result of the opposition's refusal to accept democracy.
He said the world's economic Powers should be more concerned about the fate of thousands of displaced Africans than about his country's vast mining resources. The international community could not justify standing idly by as
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a people faced extinction. The Congolese were killing each other with rockets and cannons sold to them by Western "philanthropists". They deserved the right to humanitarian intervention, which should not depend on colour or geography. Otherwise, the faith innocent victims had always placed in the United Nations would be damaged. The Congolese must settle their own problems, but if no action was taken to help his country today, the same fate might befall another country tomorrow.
Many Congolese viewed proposals by the mediation committee, led by President of Gabon, Omar Bongo, for a power-sharing arrangement between the parties as a way to end the war, he said. Unfortunately, the opposition, led by ex-President Sassou-Nguesso, had shattered those hopes when they demanded the office of First Vice-President, Prime Minister and Minister of Defence. Neither the Government nor the other opposition parties could accept such a demand. A new government led by the mayor of Brazzaville, Bernard Kolelas, was formed after Mr. Sassou-Nguesso made those demands, but the ex-President and the armed opposition had rejected the offer of several ministerial posts. His Government still believed in dialogue rather than force and hoped the International Mediation Committee would offer the country lasting peace, power-sharing and free and fair presidential elections. President Lissouba and Prime Minister Kolelas had recently signed a cease-fire agreement, but Mr. Sassou-Nguesso had not.
The same countries that preserved their own interests by underhandedly contributing to the bloodshed and destabilization of democratic States had refused to intervene, he said. However, non-intervention would be the worst form of interference, leading to more slaughter and further destabilization. Power-sharing, rather than a change in power between political parties, was necessary for lasting peace and democracy. In African countries that shared the same economic and historical conditions as his, power-sharing could promote peace and development, whereas changes in power between political parties would bring about destabilization and fuel ethnic hatred. The struggle for democracy in his country would fail if the international community, and especially the United Nations, showed no signs of support for those efforts.
Right of Reply
TULUY TANC (Turkey) said the statement by the Foreign Minister of Greece on 26 September contained false accusations and a misrepresentation of facts concerning Turkey. Greece had often exploited the general debate for propaganda purposes and to disseminate misleading information about significant issues between Turkey and Greece. Greek relations stood in stark contrast to the good intention and conciliatory policy that the Turkish Government was pursuing with a view to finding solutions to the problems existing between the two countries.
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In a recent statement, the Turkish Foreign Minister had stressed that, in its relations with Greece, Turkey's principal objective was to promptly tackle, through a substantive and result-oriented dialogue, the issues that still stood between the two countries, he said. The Presidents of the two countries had adopted a joint declaration in Madrid in June, aimed at improving bilateral relations. However, the subsequent attitude of Greece has not conformed, until now, to that positive mood.
Addressing the Greek claim of different breadths of territorial sea and national airspace in the Aegean, he said that international law dictated that the breadth of national airspace should correspond to the breadth of the territorial sea, as stipulated in articles 1 and 2 of the Chicago Convention on Civil Aviation. Greece's claim of an airspace of 10 miles regardless of its 6-mile territorial sea was a clear manifestation of Greece's disregard of international law. Greece's stance with respect to the breadth of territorial sea and airspace in the Aegean was one of the elements causing friction between the two countries.
He asked if Greece could convincingly defend its violation of the status of the eastern Aegean islands, which were under a demilitarized regime established by international treaties. Would Greece, which insisted on referring the Kardak issue to the International Court of Justice, also agree to take the issue of the violation of the demilitarized status of the eastern Aegean islands to the Court by waiving its reservation clause which excludes from the jurisdiction of the Court any dispute relating to defensive military actions taken by Greece, even though they violate international treaties and law? Those realities reflected the a la carte approach of Greece to matters of international law, he said.
The international community, familiar with those issues for several decades, would easily distinguish between fact and fiction, between propaganda and truth, he said. At a time when so much effort was under way to find peaceful solutions to those problems, Greece's engagement in acrimony and propaganda made one wonder if Greece saw an advantage in prolonging the disputes between itself and Turkey.
DAUDI N. MWAKAWAGO (United Republic of Tanzania) said the Assembly had heard a statement yesterday by the Foreign Minister of Burundi blaming his country for Burundi's problems and failed peace process. The continuation of the process of political dialogue aimed at a negotiated settlement to the conflict in Burundi remained his Government's central objective. The United Republic of Tanzania had no interest in Burundi but to assist its people to live in peace within their borders.
It was cynical for Burundi to suggest that his country would derive any advantages from instability there, he said. The problems were in Burundi
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itself; they were not bilateral or regional. His Government had not and would not support any armed aggression against Burundi. The alleged armed incursions emanating from refugee camps or military training camps in the United Republic of Tanzania were illusions created by the Burundi authorities to justify further oppression of its people. He asked that evidence of such military activities be furnished so his Government could put an end to them, as violations to its sovereignty. Locating refugee camps near the border was a necessity and would continue. Retaining refugees in proximity to their homeland encouraged their return and simplified logistics.
Sanctions had been imposed on Burundi by countries of the region as an incentive to negotiation, he said. The onus now rested with the Burundi authorities. Accusations that negotiators had been harassed or threatened while in the United Republic of Tanzania were false. If there were problems with the mediators or the venue, his Government was willing to discuss those matters within the context of regional efforts. Ultimately, the issue was the negotiation of acceptable arrangements for political accommodation and the security of all. His Government would continue to urge the military authorities in Burundi to see reason and seize the opportunity for dialogue.
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