Comoros, 1999

It is an

honour and a pleasure for me to take the floor once again

before this Assembly. At the outset I would like to

congratulate the President on his brilliant election to lead

our work at this session. His election is an unparalleled

tribute to all of Africa and particularly to his fraternal

country, Namibia, which today sees one of its sons

presiding over the destinies of this fifty-fourth session of

the General Assembly. We are confident that his qualities

as an eminent diplomat and his great experience guarantee

the success of our work.

I would also like to take this opportunity to pay

glowing tribute to his predecessor, His Excellency Mr.

Didier Opertti, for the devotion and the ability with which

he conducted the previous session.

At the same time, allow me to express appreciation

for the full value of the efforts deployed by our Secretary-

General, His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, in the service

of our Organization. The evidence he gives of an untiring

will and of constant dedication to the human cause,

especially in the field of peace, deserve saluting, and I

would like to express all of our gratitude to him.

At the same time, I would like to wholeheartedly

welcome the delegations of the Republics of Kiribati and

Nauru and of the Kingdom of Tonga, and to express to

all of them our congratulations on their having been

admitted to the great family of the United Nations.

The time has come to assess the century that is

coming to a close and to see together how we are going

to face the challenges of the next millennium — a

millennium that we hope will be one of peace and

prosperity, bringing hope to our peoples and our

countries. This is the wish of the Comorien people for all

the nations of the world. But how can we realize this

wish?

Our Organization offers the best framework for

facing the challenges of the third millennium, but it will

need to be supported by a more active commitment on

our part, a greater willingness to face problems and a real

will to deal with them — without excessive fervour or

uncertainty — and to resolve them rationally. With such

will we can achieve the objectives of the founders of our

Organization in the field of peace, justice and progress.

Achieving a disarmed world, which will at the same

time guarantee peace, social justice and progress, is the

fundamental purpose of our Organization. In addition, we

all hoped that the 1990s would be the decade of peace

and solidarity among nations, because certain positive

aspects led us to expect this. The various day-to-day

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realities we have experienced unfortunately are reviving our

fears that the next millennium will begin in uncertainty

about the future of humanity.

In fact, the wars that are tearing our continents apart,

the grave violations of human rights, the extreme poverty

to which many peoples have been reduced and which

reveals the enormous disparities between the social strata,

and the recent tragedies such as that in Kosovo make us

fear the worst and require us to be more vigilant. Our

Organization, the efforts of which we salute, must persevere

in the search for solutions for eliminating the major and

various problems besetting the world today.

Human rights has always been an essential concern of

our Organization. Thus, how can we not deplore that, at the

threshold of the next millennium, humanity is still

witnessing flagrant violations of fundamental rights. It is

because of this major concern that I would like to salute

here the efforts to establish an international criminal court,

which, I am certain, will contribute to greater justice. We

hope that this court, once it becomes operational, will enjoy

all the necessary independence to carry out its functions

fully and effectively and to apply the fundamental

principles of humanitarian law.

With regard to economic issues, we must agree that

economic recovery is not yet in sight for many countries,

especially those suffering from armed conflicts. Certainly

many agreements emerging from international meetings

have highlighted the special attention that must be paid to

the problems of developing countries. But we must insist

further on this and demand that genuine solidarity with

these countries be shown. Through such solidarity positive

action could be mobilized.

With regard to Africa, in general it continues to be

marked by several things. First, its external debt has

become a major obstacle to development, especially

because financial flows are often used for debt servicing

rather than for promoting the expansion of the economy

and sustainable development. Also, the level of debt has

discouraged domestic and foreign investment. Secondly, the

continent is heavily scarred by wars which have sharply

checked development. Thirdly, global trade practices have

reduced the commercial prospects of the continent.

Fourthly, the continent is to some extent excluded from the

global information revolution. In Africa the basic education

system is generally the most limited, the effects of poverty

are extreme, and the health system needs reforming.

To create the necessary conditions to solve these

different problems which are hampering the development

of our African countries, national, regional and

international initiatives must be undertaken, encouraged

and supported by the international community. A genuine

partnership among African countries must be the basis for

solid and effective cooperation that allows these countries

to share their experiences and promotes the rapid

integration of regional economies.

In the context of this need for South-South

cooperation, my country welcomed most favourably the

holding of the special summit in Sirte, which revealed

once again the solidarity of African States and their

support for Libya, a brother country. We believe that the

conditions are now in place for the total and final lifting

of the embargo imposed on that country. The summit also

put in place new rules to improve the structures of the

Organization of African Unity, with a view to an effective

union of its countries through the strengthening of

security and cooperation arrangements. In this regard the

Sirte summit continues to serve as a point of reference,

and we hope its objectives will be achieved.

I also take this opportunity to express our thanks to

the Government of Libya for the generosity it showed to

certain African countries, allowing them to honour their

commitments to the pan-African organization.

Moreover, the international community, especially

the international financial institutions, must support these

national and regional efforts by facilitating their access to

markets and investments, reducing debt constraints and

allowing developing countries to benefit from new trade

agreements.

Like all developing countries, the Islamic Federal

Republic of the Comoros also faces enormous difficulties.

The regrettable events that have unfolded there since

March 1997 have further weakened an economy that was

already in decline and beset by considerable deficits in

public finance; a chronic deficit in the balance of

payments; a large foreign debt; and strong competition for

export resources by synthetic products.

This situation is of great concern to the Government

which I have the honour to represent. It is firmly engaged

in a process of development through the establishment of

solid bases for the rule of law and the adoption of a

policy of rehabilitation and economic and political

recovery through the strict management of public finances

and the promotion of morality in administrative practices

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and political customs. This rehabilitation policy should

allow the State to fulfil its priority domestic commitments

domestically and to honour its commitments to its foreign

partners.

In addition, other objectives to complement this good

governance policy are being considered by the current

Government. They include respect for human rights; the

improvement of social policies and hence of the efficacy of

health and education services for all; the protection of

children and women; the implementation of the Convention

on the Rights of the Child; the advancement and

mainstreaming of women; guaranteed autonomy for the

judiciary; freedom of the press; and so on.

To encourage private investment and promote the

introduction of new technology and foreign capital,

opportunities have been opened to domestic and foreign

investors by suppressing constraints on approvals of foreign

investments.

Furthermore, aware of the enormous contribution

South-South cooperation makes to development by offering

the opportunity to exploit the economic prosperity of other

regions, the Islamic Federal Republic of the Comoros must

respond to the two-fold necessity of participating fully in

the globalization process and of steadfastly prospering in its

own regional and subregional environment. That is why it

is striving further to consolidate its participation in the

Indian Ocean Commission and planning to join other

groups of the region. These endeavours, undertaken since

the accession to power of the current Government, may

well be insufficient, but they constitute a serious and

essential foundation, and a guarantee of in-depth reform.

The President returned to the Chair.

After this general summary, I would be remiss if I

failed to report the prevailing political situation in the

Comoros. My country is experiencing a secessionist crisis

in the sister island of Anjouan, which has shaken the very

foundations of the Republic and threatened its unity,

territorial integrity and, above all, the peace and tolerance

that have always characterized relations among the

inhabitants of our four islands.

My country’s Government cannot endorse secession or

independence, which could dislocate the Comoros, whose

unity and social coherence are the only guarantees for the

evolution of harmonious social and economic development.

Three inter-island conferences have been held under the

auspices of the OAU and the League of Arab States with a

view to rapidly settling this crisis. The most recent, held

in Antananarivo, Madagascar, in April, resulted in an

agreement to establish a new institutional framework to

meet the aspirations of the Comorians, guarantee unity

and territorial integrity, and give each island greater

autonomy. In this respect, I have the pleasant duty once

again to convey our sincere thanks to the Malagasy

authorities, not only for having held that important

meeting on the sisterly large island, but also for having

established conditions conducive to our debate.

At the conference, the lack of cooperation and the

intransigence of the representatives of the island of

Anjouan — who postponed the signing of the final

document — provoked extremist groups among the

population of Grande-Comore, where anti-Anjouan riots

broke out. The threat of civil war, of hateful “insular

cleansing” and the violent and forcible separation of

families led the National Development Army, in the face

of the inertia of the political authorities, to act to avoid

the worse by assuming control of the country. A

transition Government was immediately formed to restore

and guarantee civil peace and to create new republican

and democratic institutions to ensure greater autonomy for

the islands, in compliance with the Antananarivo

agreement. Thus, the consolidation of the Antananarivo

agreement remains a Government priority and we are

doing everything possible to establish the conditions

essential to the implementation of the agreement.

In the context of the settlement of the crisis, a frank,

direct and constructive dialogue has been established for

the first time between the central authorities and the

Anjouan separatists. In this respect, a joint communiqué

signed on the Comorian island of Mohéli in July by the

leaders of the two parties to the summit. I wish to stress

that Comorians view this act as a step towards the

settlement of the crisis. In his meetings with Comorians,

the Head of State, Mr. Azali Assoumani, is seeking the

necessary breakthrough to achieve an honourable peace to

the benefit of all that unites us.

We hope that the ratification of this agreement by

our Anjouan brethren will not be long in coming so that

the process may continue in the interests of the united

Comorian people. The Comorian Government has begun

in-depth reflection in order to draft the fundamental texts

to govern the future union of the Comoros. The next step

is very crucial in order to implement the published

electoral timetable, which anticipates, inter alia, a popular

referendum on the constitution and mayoral, legislative

and presidential elections.

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The Comorian Government welcomed the relevant

resolutions adopted by the OAU at its thirty-fifth Summit

in Algiers; the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the

Organization of the Islamic Conference at their most recent

Conference in Ouagadougou; the Ministers for Foreign

Affairs of the League of Arab States at their 112th session

in Cairo (A/50/864/Annex II, res. 1) and the Permanent

Council of French-speaking Countries, meeting in Paris, in

the framework of the speedy establishment of constitutional

order and of the settlement of the separatist crisis. To that

end, we invite all people of good will and friendly,

brotherly and neighbour countries, as well as organizations,

to come see with their own eyes the process that has been

launched and to contribute to the consolidation of

democracy and the rule of law in the Comoros.

Nevertheless, we remain concerned by the fact that

holding elections in Anjouan would be tantamount to

recognizing secession or ratifying independence. Indeed,

such a formula is contrary to the principle of unity of the

country, the spirit of the Antananarivo agreement and the

very principles of the OAU, the sponsor of the agreement.

In this regard, we invite the OAU and the entire

international community to join us in the consideration

necessary to overcome this dilemma.

In this vein, I should also like to take this opportunity

to express the sympathy and profound gratitude of the

people and the Government of the Comoros to the countries

of the region, especially South Africa and Madagascar;

friendly countries such as France and Egypt; and

institutions such as the OAU, the League of Arab States,

the International Organization of La Francophonie and the

European Union, which have never ceased attaching their

special interest to this problem. I should like to tell them

once again that the people of the Comoros hopes to be able

to rely on them, again and always, to find a speedy solution

to this crisis.

The Anjouan crisis, in the view of Comorians, is all

the more threatening to unity, peace and love among them

as it is added to a painful 24-year-old problem, that of the

Comorian island of Mayotte. The Assembly will understand

the helplessness of a people threatened with dispersion,

following the amputation of part of the territory of its

country, Mayotte, and witnessing an attempt by a sister

island to leave the Comorian union. This crisis has revived

the pain of the Comoros people caused by the problem of

Mayotte, which still shows no signs of being resolved. Our

Organization, which is regularly seized of this question, has

always recognized that Mayotte belongs to the Comoros

and has adopted resolutions in favour of the integration of

the island into its natural family.

The Comorian Government, faithful to the

fundamental principles of the Charter of our Organization,

continues to give priority to dialogue to resolve this

problem. It is with deep respect for these principles that

it appeals to France, a country with which the Comoros

has for long had close ties of friendship and cooperation,

to consider opening a direct, constructive dialogue to find

a rapid, negotiated solution to this unfortunate dispute.

My country is very concerned about the situation in

the Middle East. It hopes that the new Israeli

Administration will commit itself more to the peace

process begun on 4 September at Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt,

for a lasting, fair and harmonious resolution of the Israel-

Palestine crisis. We also hope that the other problems,

regarding Syria and Lebanon, will soon be settled.

The question of Jammu and Kashmir continues to be

of concern to us. We appeal to India and Pakistan to

show restraint in order to prevent any escalation in the

region.

My country welcomes the diplomatic initiatives of

the United Nations which made it possible for peace to be

restored to Kosovo and East Timor.

We also welcome the Lomé Peace Agreement of 7

July 1999, with regard to the Sierra Leone conflict; the

Abuja Agreement and its additional protocols regarding

the conflict in Guinea-Bissau; and the Lusaka ceasefire

agreement, signed on 10 July 1999 by the parties to the

conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Having noted these hopes reasons for hope, we

cannot forget the situation in Angola and Somalia and the

situation prevailing between Ethiopia and Eritrea, where

there are no signs of a solution. The efforts made by the

OAU should be supported by our Organization in order to

achieve peace and reconciliation in these fraternal

countries.

The ideals of peace, security and development are

the responsibility of the international community, which

must work to make them a reality. Each of us must

contribute to ensure these values and to build a more

human, peaceful and just world which is a harbinger of

hope for future generations.

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