Algeria, 2008

I wish

at the outset to congratulate Mr. Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann on his election to the presidency of the

General Assembly at its sixty-third session. I also pay

well-deserved tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Srgjan

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Kerim, and thank Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for

the dignified, far-sighted and able manner in which he

has carried out his heavy responsibilities since his

election.

The central theme of this session and the subjects

chosen for two high-level events are a perfect

reflection of the international community’s current

concerns. In recent months, the world has experienced

crises that have revealed our collective vulnerability

and our inability to confront those crises. As always,

since the world order is based on that imbalance, the

developing countries in particular pay the highest price

by being powerless to meet the challenges that threaten

their political stability and social cohesion.

The President returned to the Chair.

In that regard, the consequences of climate

change and the food crisis caused by the scarcity and

soaring prices of certain basic commodities have

plunged millions of people into extreme poverty.

International financial and economic institutions,

whose mission it is to anticipate crises and alert the

international community to their potential risk, must

play their proper role by undertaking the needed

reforms without requiring developing countries, in

particular African countries, to abide by commitments

incompatible with their development goals.

We must effectively and resolutely combat

terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. We stress

once again the importance and urgency of adopting a

comprehensive counter-terrorism convention, while

avoiding any provisions or stipulations that would

prejudice the legitimate struggle of people to reclaim

their freedom or of discrediting any particular religious

community.

It is indispensable to continue the work of

reforming the Organization so that it can become an

instrument to promote freedom, democracy, justice,

peace, security, development and progress. Such

reform will be fruitful and promising only if it includes

reform of the Security Council through the equitable

expansion of its membership, the democratization of its

decision-making processes and the improvement of its

working methods.

Algeria’s actions in the geographical and political

spheres to which it belongs are based on the principles

of good-neighbourliness, cooperation and solidarity. In

the Arab Maghreb, Algeria is working to ease the

difficulties we are experiencing, which have hindered

the re-launching of the Arab Maghreb Union, in the

conviction that the destiny of our peoples and the

requirements of our times demand the advent of a

united and prosperous Maghreb. We are, however, keen

to ensure that efforts in that regard do not meet with

new disappointments, and we therefore think that that

re-launching must be undertaken on a sound, solid and

lasting basis that takes into account the enlightened

self-interest of all the peoples of the region.

Inspired by its faith in that ideal of the Maghreb,

Algeria has sincerely supported and will continue to

support efforts to find a just, lasting and internationally

legitimate solution to the conflict in Western Sahara

that will allow the Saharawi people to exercise freely

and transparently their inalienable right to self-

determination. That is why Algeria believes it vital that

the momentum created by the Manhasset process be

preserved and encouraged. We cannot overstress the

responsibility of all the parties. We have made an

urgent appeal to the Secretary-General to participate in

actions to remove obstacles to the negotiating process

and to bring about conditions that will permit the

holding of the fifth round of the process as soon as

possible, as required by the relevant resolutions of the

Security Council. Algeria, for its part, will continue to

assume fully the role dictated by its status as a

neighbourly country and an observer of the process.

On the Middle East, Algeria is pleased to note the

positive developments in Lebanon and encourages all

parties to persevere on the path of unity and national

reconciliation. It is obvious that the Middle East will

know no peace without a settlement of the Palestinian

question, which is at the core of the Israeli-Arab

conflict. There is no need for me to remind the

Assembly that the advent of a just, comprehensive and

lasting peace in the Middle East will inevitably require

restoring to the Palestinian people their national and

historic rights, including their right to an independent

State, with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital, the return

of refugees and the restoration of all the other Arab

territories occupied by Israel. On that basis, we appeal

to the international community to fully shoulder its

responsibilities towards the Palestinian people, to

support their just cause politically and to step up its

humanitarian assistance in order to ease their suffering.

The African continent has been experiencing

profound and promising changes. Undeniably, it is in

the field of peace that the continent’s achievements

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have been the most remarkable. Thus, the African

Union and other regional organizations have become

respected and necessary partners, particularly in

preventing and settling African crises. Algeria

welcomes these positive trends. We regret, however,

that the support and commitment of Africa’s partners

remain below the agreed objectives, both with respect

to restoring peace and to economic and social

development programmes.

We believe it is of the greatest importance to

refrain from any action likely to thwart current peace

efforts or to undermine the unity, territorial integrity

and sovereignty of the Sudan. We must therefore

mobilize the international community to promote the

political process, which remains the only way to ensure

that the Sudanese people can benefit from the

restoration of peace and national reconciliation. In that

regard, we reiterate our support for the efforts and

proposals of the League of Arab States, the African

Union, the Organization of the Islamic Conference and

the Non-Aligned Movement, calling on the Security

Council to freeze the decision of the Chief Prosecutor

of the International Criminal Court and to promote and

consolidate the dynamics of peace and national

reconciliation.

Similarly, with regard to the situation in

Zimbabwe, Algeria can only welcome the approach

adopted by the African Union and the Southern African

Development Community to enable the people of

Zimbabwe to overcome their current difficulties.

We are solidly behind Africa’s efforts to settle the

Somali crisis by means of unreserved support for the

political process and the dispatch of a peace mission to

help the transitional authorities to restore peace and

security in the country.

There is no way to overcome the dangers to peace

and harmony in the world other than concerted efforts

and consultations on the basis of a renewed equitable

and effective multilateral system that places the

non-discriminatory fulfilment of human needs and the

preservation of human dignity at the heart of its

concerns. From that standpoint, the fight against all the

ills that afflict large swathes of humankind — whether

extreme poverty, endemic disease, environmental

problems or clandestine immigration — can be won

only if we all, and in particular the developed

countries, join our efforts. The two high-level meetings

during this session, and others to be held over the next

few months will undeniably test our capacity to

respond collectively and solidly to the challenges of

our time.