SYRIA WARNS AGAINST SENDING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS "BACK TO SQUARE ONE"; REPUBLIC OF KOREA URGES REUNIFICATION OF KOREAN PENINSULA

Press Release
GA/9617

SYRIA WARNS AGAINST SENDING PEACE NEGOTIATIONS ‘BACK TO SQUARE ONE’; REPUBLIC OF KOREA URGES REUNIFICATION OF KOREAN PENINSULA

Syria's Foreign Minister, Farouk Al-Shara, told the General Assembly this morning that the Israeli Foreign Minister had carried the flag of the culture of peace in his statement yesterday, while fully ignoring the fact that the Israeli occupation was the main reason for the absence of peace.

As the Assembly moved into the eighth day of its general debate, the Syrian Foreign Minister said the culture of peace required ending Israeli occupation of all Arab territories; discontinuation of the destruction of Arab houses and settlement activities; and translation of statements about peace into action. If Syria's call for full Israeli withdrawal to the line of 4 June 1967, and for resumption of peace talks from the point at which they had been stopped, were called a precondition, as the Israeli Government had claimed, it would send the negotiations back to square one.

Commenting on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, Foreign Minister of Qatar, said the peace process had failed to attain the envisaged progress due to the policy of the former Israeli Government. While welcoming the new Israeli Government and the stated intent to preserve peace, he said that such gestures should be coupled with actual deeds. In addition, he stressed that nuclear weapons in the region, now exclusively available to Israel, constituted a strategic imbalance that should be eliminated.

Said W. Musa, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Belize, said that the multilateral financial institutions governed people’s lives today, and that these were dominated by a few powerful countries. There was no transparency, accountability or effective mechanism for civil participation or good governance. Calling on those organizations to practice good governance and follow a global code of ethics, he hoped for a reformed United Nations that would ensure that global institutions were democratic and just.

Hong Soon-Young, Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, said the guiding precept of global actors was shifting from nationalism to internationalism, and further to globalism. However, while the whole world was converging around shared values and behaviour patterns, a conspicuous exception was the Korean peninsula, where cold war-style confrontation kept the two States divided in mutual distrust and hostility. Decades had passed

General Assembly Plenary - 1a - Press Release GA/9617 18th Meeting (AM) 30 September 1999

since the end of the Korean War yet, the Korean peninsula remained frozen in an icy time warp. His country aspired to melt the ice and reconcile with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Statements were also made this morning by the Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius, and the Foreign Ministers of the Congo, Ecuador and Barbados.

The Assembly will continue its general debate at 3 p.m. today.

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly continued this afternoon its general debate. The Prime Minister of Belize and Foreign Ministers of Qatar, Mauritius, Congo, Syrian Arab Republic, the Republic of Korea and Ecuador were expected to address the Assembly.

Statements

SAID.W. MUSA, Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Foreign Affairs of Belize, said that the institutions that, more than national governments, governed people’s lives today, such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Group of Seven industrialized countries, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and the World Trade Organization, were dominated by a few powerful countries. There was no transparency, no accountability, no effective mechanism for civil participation, no good governance. Calling on those powerful organizations to practice good governance and follow a global code of ethics, he hoped for a reformed United Nations that would ensure that global institutions were democratic and just.

"We must find a way to make interdependence meaningful", he stated. Belize called for the implementation of effective regional organizations. Through the Association of Caribbean States, it sought to insert the Central American and Caribbean countries into the world economy, to secure fair terms of trade, greater market access and more beneficial investments. Smaller developing nations were challenged to narrow the gap between those who earned billions and those who worked for pennies.

Turning to the crisis in East Timor, he said that only a culture of prevention could prevent human tragedies. Belize looked forward to welcoming Palestine as a full Member of the United Nations in the Millenium Summit and to achieving peace and security for all the peoples of the region.

He was also concerned about the eradication of poverty, as the basis for creating a better world. A necessary condition for the elimination of all forms of poverty was the creation of fair rules for trade and investment. The small and vulnerable States must benefit from trade liberalization along with their developed partners, he said.

HAMAD BIN JASSIM BIN JABR AL-THANI, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Qatar, said it was deplorable that the same problems and disputes were being discussed year after year, for it proved that the international community had not made sufficient efforts to overcome the crises, which were far removed from the centre of politics. Poverty, misery, unemployment, terrorism, drug-trafficking and proliferation of the arms of mass destruction, as well as environmental degradation and scarcity of water resources, still plagued humankind. To deal with the tasks of the future, there was no better or more comprehensive framework than the United Nations. All nations, regardless of narrow interests, must provide the Organization with sufficient means and show the required political will. There was also an urgent need to make the United Nations more efficient. Member States should respect their commitments to the United Nations. The Security Council must become more representative and transparent. The use of the veto should be restricted to certain conditions, which needed to be agreed upon.

A new and vital role for the United Nations was to assume the function of leading the world in harnessing the effects of globalization and ensuring cultural openness, he said. A new spiral of disagreement and conflicts seemed to be a

direct result of the vacuum that the cold war had left behind. Particularly disquieting was the spread of crises, which quickly evolved into sources of danger. He expressed satisfaction at the steps taken in respect of the crises in the Balkans and East Timor and said that he hoped that Indonesia would overcome its difficulties and reclaim its prominent position in the region and the world. Settlement of regional and other conflicts was possible; preventive measures were important in that regard.

Qatar stood in support of reaching a settlement in the Gulf Region through negotiations and mediation, he said He welcomed progress made on the Lockerbie question and hoped that it would be brought to conclusion as soon as possible. However, the regional situation was still far from a comprehensive peace. The suffering of the Iraqi people was also a cause of grave concern. It was high time to find effective solutions there and remove the sanctions. His country had consistently supported a diplomatic solution to ensure the territorial integrity of Iraq.

Turning to the question of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, he said the peace process had failed to attain the envisaged progress as a result of the policy of the former Israeli Government. He welcomed the new Israeli Government and the stated intent to preserve peace. Such gestures should be coupled with actual deeds. Negotiations with Syria should be resumed on the basis of the principle of land for peace. There could be no other solution, than a permanent settlement based on the agreed principles and implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions, and on Israel's withdrawal from the Syrian Golan and South Lebanon, to the internationally recognized borders. Qatar also supported the right of Palestine to an independent state with its capital in Quds al-Sharif. Nuclear weapons in the region, now exclusively available to Israel, constituted a strategic imbalance and a threat to peace. That imbalance should be eliminated.

RAJKESWUR PURRYAG, Deputy Prime Minister of Mauritius, said that the United Nations was the sole mechanism through which peace and security could be secured. It was necessary, therefore, that the Charter be reformed to reflect the tremendous changes the world has undergone since the Organization was founded half a century ago. Increasing the membership of the Security Council was most important, as the Council in its present form was neither adequately representative nor sufficiently transparent in its work for its decisions to be universally acceptable. But a lack of political will on the part of some Council members had stalled this process for nearly six years. He appealed to all Member States to work constructively to advance the overdue reform process expeditiously.

While the international community had successfully avoided global wars, regional armed conflicts continued to endanger peace and security, he said. The African continent in particular had continually been afflicted with conflicts, the worst being in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in Angola. "The international community should take comfort in the fact that the African continent has spared no efforts to find solutions and restore peace."

"Respect for human rights is of primordial importance for the prevention of conflicts and the maintenance of durable peace", he said. All countries should make strict observance of human rights a matter of national priority.

"Peace, security and development are indivisible and mutually reinforcing", he said. Globalization had brought both challenges and opportunities, but it was becoming increasingly clear that market forces alone could not resolve the problems

of poverty, deprivation and marginalization. This was particularly the case in Africa, which comprised the largest number of the least developed countries. The United Nations had an important role to play in this respect, "as there is a crying need for coherence in the formulation and implementation of policies in the trade, finance and social sectors".

Finally, the Prime Minister revieved the background to the issue of the Chagos Archipelago. Within the framework of its friendly relations with the United Kingdom, Mauritius had repeatedly asked for the return of the Territory, on which the United States had built a military base at Diego Garcia. So far, there had been no significant progress. The United Kingdom had maintained that it would return the Archipelago only when it was no longer required for defence purposes by the West. Dialogue on this issue would continue; he urged the United Kingdom in the meantime to allow the displaced inhabitants to return to the Chagos Archipelago.

RODOLPHE ADADA, Foreign Minister of the Republic of the Congo, said that his Government, since the end of the civil war, had been working for national reconciliation, rebuilding the country, looking for peace and relaunching the democratic process. That process had been stopped by a resumption of violence orchestrated with the sole aim of partitioning the country into ethnic areas. The consequences had been catastrophic, including the killing of key persons at the local level, and the systematic destruction of infrastructures of vital importance.

Now, he said, the fighting had stopped and the country was again starting to rebuild its future. He expressed willingness of the Congo to relaunch intercongolese dialogue to consolidate peace and security, reinforce national unity and relaunch the democratic process interrupted by the riots of violence.

Turning to Africa, he welcomed the conclusion of the Lusaka Accords; his country was counting on the protagonists to implement them. He invited Ethiopia and Eritrea to put an end to their war, in line with the United Nations peace plan. He called for the total isolation of Jonas Savimbi and the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), as the sole basis for bringing the Angolan conflict to an end. Controlling the circulation of weapons and small arms was of vital importance to the achievement of lasting peace in the continent, he said.

He questioned how peace could be achieved in the face of so much misery and poverty, which led to political instability. Further, how could development be achieved when the global economy held no encouragement for the developing countries, when the conditions for lending were discriminatory, when levels of ODA were constantly declining, and the developing countries were denied opportunities for integration into the global trading system? Finally, he urged a restructuring of United Nations organs along democratic lines.

FAROUK AL-SHARA', Minister for Foreign Affairs of Syria, said that a note of pessimism would unfortunately mar the optimism at the turn of the century. The understanding of each other's problems should increase, for the new problems, such as pollution of the environment and drug trafficking, knew no borders. Weakening of the economies of the developing countries undermined their purchasing power, which had an impact, in turn, on the economies of the developed countries. Therefore, there must be a constructive dialogue between the developed and the developing nations, aimed at ensuring sustainable development and social justice. As religious and ethnic differences pervaded most societies in the world, those conflicts were a source of concern for most countries.

The United Nations should be truly respected by all, he continued. Marginalizing the United Nations and using it as a cover for decisions taken outside of the Organization would not be in anyone's interests. It was clear that many were not satisfied with military interventions, exercised outside its auspices under humane pretexts, from Somalia to Kosovo. However, such military interventions were not as grave a source of concern as the ignoring of bloody and dangerous crises raging in Africa. Many Africans, deprived of the most basic means of life, perhaps, envied the inhabitants of Kosovo, who at least had been provided with food and medicine.

The Non-Aligned Movement was most enthusiastic about the prospect of reform directed at a more democratic and just representation in the Security Council, for its member states fully realized that their influence in the Security Council was not proportionate to their number. At the moment, no consensus existed on that issue. It seemed that deliberate marginalization of the Council had provided a pretext for some to violate the sovereignty of States, in violation of the Charter.

Syria reiterated its call for the creation of a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East, he continued. Syria’s call for full Israeli withdrawal to the line of 4 June 1967 and resumption of peace talks from the point at which they had been stopped, could not be called a pre-condition, as the Israeli Government claimed. If that claim were accepted, it would send the negotiations back to square one. Israel’s claim that Syria wanted to reach a result in the negotiations before they were resumed was invalid. Syria was not surprised at yesterday's statement by the Israeli Foreign Minister, who had carried the flag of the culture of peace, while totally ignoring the fact that the Israeli occupation was the main reason for the absence of peace. The culture of peace required: the end of Israeli occupation of all Arab territories; discontinuation of the destruction of Arab houses and of settlement activities; and translation of statements about peace into actions. Reaffirming concern for the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq, he called for the lifting of sanctions against that country, and also for an immediate end to the sanctions against Libya, since that country had honoured all its commitments under Security Council resolutions.

HONG SOON-YOUNG, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea, said the guiding precept of global actors was shifting from nationalism to internationalism, and further to globalism. As the whole world was converging around shared values and behaviour patterns, a conspicuous exception was the Korean peninsula, where cold war style confrontation kept the two States divided in mutual distrust and hostility. Decades have passed since the end of the Korean War, yet “the Korean peninsula has remained frozen in an icy time warp”. The Republic of Korea aspired “to melt the ice and reconcile with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea”.

His country’s engagement policy was one of cooperation, designed to promote the prosperity of all Koreans so that they might finally be free of the threat of another war. South Korean businesses were investing in the North. The engagement policy was supported by the United States and Japan, and neighbours in Northeast Asia, yet North Korea remainsed suspicious. “We have no wish to undermine North Korea or absorb it. All we seek is peaceful coexistence.” He hoped that North Korean authorities take steps to address the chronic food shortage that had caused difficulties to their people. The problems required the assistance of the international community.

Northeast Asia must learn region-wide cooperation and integration, as seen in other parts of the world, and must strengthen trust by upgrading the mode and calibre of their dialogue and consultations. The region's peace and prosperity would benefit from global disarmament and non-proliferation efforts; his country was now a party to all key non-proliferation treaties. The Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty next year and the revitalization of the Conference on Disarmament were a priority task for the global community.

He said his country's sweeping and intense reforms over the past 18 months are beginning to pay off, with 6 per cent growth expected this year. It had learned a valuable lesson from the economic crisis and was now keenly aware of the necessity of free and fair competition, good governance and social welfare systems based on human resources development. It welcomed discussions about restructuring the global financial architecture, in which the crisis-stricken countries and other emerging economies should have an extensive role. There was also a pressing need for a new paradigm of international development cooperation, combined with efforts to ensure healthy populations, respect for human rights and the alleviation of poverty.

BENJAMIN ORTIZ BRENNAN, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ecuador, said that the newly established border between Ecuador and Peru could be taken as an example of what the fruits of peace could bring to the world. He drew attention to the two countries’ cooperation in the construction of binational roads, the joint development of river basins and the accomplishment of a human development programme dedicated to improving the lives of border citizens who had endured so many decades of social and economic stagnation due to the uncertainties of war. To reach their common goals, Ecuador and Peru had combined their efforts, and also counted on international cooperation.

Natural disasters and other crises in the international arena had had a negative impact on Ecuador's efforts to eradicate poverty and pursue development, he said. It was urgent to implement a strategy for international cooperation that would predict, prevent or mitigate the disastrous consequences of violent climactic phenomenon. El Niño had had a tremendous impact on Ecuador's population, economy and environment. Ecuador had proposed the creation of an international research centre that would facilitate the adoption of precautionary measures in respect of such events.

Ecuador called upon the Assembly to include in its cooperation strategies the notion of human security, especially in the light of worsening violence, illegal drug trafficking, terrorism and environmental deterioration, and the occurrence of so many armed conflicts around the world.

The Foreign Minister also said that both Ecuador and Peru had begun the removal and destruction of landmines. "He counted on the international community to continue to lend its cooperation for the accomplishment of the demining programme.

BILLIE A. MILLER, Foreign Minister of Barbados, said that Barbados and the Caribbean were making efforts to remain viable economies as traditional systems of cooperation between individual States and groups of nations were supplanted by the modern concepts of globalization. More democratic, participatory and transparent systems were needed to protect the interests of the smaller and more vulnerable States. In this context, she called upon the international community to recognize that within the context of trade liberalization free trade required fair trade.

She called for the suspension of the unilateral economic embargo against Cuba, and said Barbados had developed a productive and cooperative relationship with Cuba. The continuation of the embargo against Cuba was contrary to the spirit of constructive engagement.

She stressed that military intervention should be authorized by the United Nations Security Council. The United Nations could only remain viable if all Members honoured their financial commitments. A healthy balance must be maintained between the United Nations peacekeeping focus and its development mandate, she said. In that regard, she was concerned at the declining funding available to the United Nations Development Programme and the other United Nations agencies.

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