Iraq, 1982

It is, Sir, a pleasure to express to you on

behalf of the delegation of the Republic of Iraq

and on my own behalf warmest congratulations on

your election as President of the thirty-seventh

session of the General Assembly. I am sure that

you will conduct the proceedings of this session

with all the wisdom and knowledge you are known

for, and I wish you success in discharging the

duties of your high post. May I also express our

appreciation for the Great Spirit of co-operation

which the General Assem¬bly showed Mr. Kittani,

President of the thirty-sixth session. We are

satisfied that he enjoyed the confidence and

appreciation of this esteemed body, which made it

possible for him to perform his functions most

efficiently at the last session. I would also

take this opportunity to express whole-hearted

congratulations and best wishes for success to

Mr. Perez de Cuellar on his election as

Secretary-General. I am confident that he will be

able to fulfill the functions of his

distinguished post and to deal with momentous

international events requiring him to exercise

all the virtues of knowledge, patience and wisdom

for which he is known.

67. The world is going through a delicate and

fright¬ening era unprecedented since the Second

World War. Undoubtedly the tense world situation,

with all the grave consequences that could flow

from such a state of affairs, is being steadily

exacerbated because of the intensifying rivalry

among the great Powers, which jeopardizes world

security and peace and disturbs the confidence of

peoples and their aspira¬tions to achieve detente

and peaceful coexistence. This hazardous

phenomenon engulfs the third world coun¬tries,

particularly the non-aligned ones. It presents

them with the dangers of confrontation and the

devastating effects of tensions, and it threatens

to expand the centers of polarization by luring

third world nations and bringing pressure to bear

upon them in a bid to exhaust material and human

resources that otherwise would be used to achieve

security, stability and development for those

nations.

68. What the great Powers and colonial States

are reluctant to accept is the fact that the non-

aligned nations, which forced their way to

freedom and sovereignty through decades of

struggle and a deter¬mination to achieve full

independence and to exer¬cise their free will,

are determined not to form part of military blocs

that are engaged in global conflict and to steer

clear of the currents generated by the centers of

polarization. No wonder, then, that conflict

persists between the non-aligned movement on the

one side and colonialism, including Zionism, on

the other.

69. Iraq, being a non-aligned State, backs

the policy of independence which any State might

pursue. It maintains that all States should

manage their affairs on the basis of the

fundamental principles of the United Nations and

in accordance with their legitimate national

interests that are compatible with those

principles, regardless of the requirements of

bloc policies and cold war. That would serve the

cause of maintaining world peace and encouraging

the trend towards progress and freedom, as well

as political and economic independence, and the

cause of extending the principles of justice and

equality to all nations, regardless of size,

affiliation and of any power con¬siderations.

70. Iraq abides by the principles of

non-alignment and wishes to advance the

non-aligned movement, to maintain a sound

relationship among its members and to promote its

effective role in international relations. Iraq

is also determined to implement those principles

in order to ensure security, justice and economic

well-being. Thus, over 10 years ago, Iraq offered

to host the Seventh Conference of Heads of State

or Government of Non-Aligned Countries at

Baghdad. Indeed, it was those very principles

which prompted Iraq not to insist that the

Conference be held at the scheduled time and

place, despite the elaborate preparations made

for it, including the drafting of relevant

declarations and documents, and despite the fact

that all the administrativeand technical

requirements had been met. Iraq had earlier sent

out invitations to all heads of State or

Government of countries of the movement and, in

fact, had received answers accepting the

invitation from the great major¬ity of them.

Thus, Iraq honored all its obligations towards

the movement and the Seventh Conference.

71. What should, however, be emphasized in

this regard is that Iraq did not, from the

outset, present its bid to host that non-aligned

conference in order to gain publicity or as a

national objective. Rather, Iraq's initiative

came to underscore its international good name,

not to create one by so doing. Iraq viewed the

matter with a sense of responsibility and concern

for the well-being of the movement, both at

present and in the future, for non aligned

principles constitutes a major component of our

foreign policy and we believe that the strength

and dignity of Iraq are identi¬cal to the

strength and dignity of the movement.

72. Being proud of our commitment to the

movement and anxious about its future and the

development of its capability to face world

events and in order to avoid possible division in

the ranks of the movement's members, we declared

our intention not to insist on holding the

Seventh Conference in Iraq, as we recog¬nized

that some circles within the movement took

seriously, either in good faith or otherwise, the

black¬mail and attempts at obfuscation carried

out by Iran. There is no doubt that Iran's

behavior simply demonstrates the

short-sightedness of the rulers of Iran and their

ignorance concerning the importance of the

non-aligned movement and their lack of belief in

ft. One cannot rule out the possibility that

Iran's objective is to undermine and weaken the

movement and to diminish its role as an effective

Power in inter¬national relations by resorting to

blackmail and threats as well as by encouraging

the enemies of the movement to belittle it.

73. The non-aligned movement considers the

ques¬tion of Palestine to be its problem and is

committed to supporting the struggle of the

Palestinian people to realize their inalienable

national rights. It empha¬sizes that that

struggle is one of the responsibilities of the

non-aligned countries. Obviously, the question o?

Palestine is at the core of the Middle East

problem and represents the essence of the

Arab-Zionist con¬flict. Unless a just,

comprehensive and lasting solu-tion is found that

is acceptable to the Palestinian people and

satisfies their national aspirations, peace

cannot be established in the area and a state of

con¬tinuous conflict will persist, with all its

continuing implications for world peace and

security. Meanwhile, lot it be known that might

no matter how over¬whelming, will not dampen the

zeal of patriotism and will not suppress the

revolutionary urge of the people. Therefore, to

achieve genuine peace in the area, the Zionist

entity must withdraw unconditionally from all

occupied Arab territories and the estab¬lished

inalienable national rights of the Palestinian

people, including the right to return to their

homeland, Palestine, should be restored as should

their properties, their right to exercise

self-determination and their right to establish

their own independent, fully sover¬eign State.

Moreover, Jerusalem must be recognized as part of

occupied Palestinian territory and the Zionist

entity must withdraw from it. There should also

be recognition of the PLO, the sole legitimate

representative of the Palestinian people, and it

should be enabled to exercise its right to

participate in all conferences and activities

relating to the question of Palestine on an equal

footing and standing with all parties concerned.

Further, existing Zionist settle¬ments on Arab

territories must be removed, and the policy of

establishing new ones there must be

discon¬tinued. In addition, confiscation of Arab

land must cease.

74. The latest form of brutal aggression by

the military forces of the Zionist entity was the

war of mass annihilation against the PLO and the

helpless, homeless refugees in camps in various

parts of Leba¬non. That war was launched in the

first week of last June and continued through the

last week of August. There then took place a

massacre such as has never been witnessed in

modem times. Those racist mali¬cious forces

brought destruction to all the towns and villages

of southern Lebanon and slaughtered tens of

thousands of innocent Palestinians and Lebanese,

who were buried under debris in mass graves.

Those forces wrought devastation and havoc in

that part of Lebanon, which is an independent

neutral State, a founding member of both the

United Nations and of the non-aligned movement.

The forces of the Zionist enemy unleashed the

burning fire of its military machine from land,

air and sea at Palestinian refugee camps, killing

unarmed children, women and the elderly,

destroying plantations and reducing buildings and

houses to rubble. Those forces pursued their

crimes in west Beirut and its suburbs, exposing

their latent hatred to the extent of cutting off

water, medi¬cine, food and electricity from the

residents while bombarding the city with heavy

artillery and con¬tinuing air and sea attacks for

many hours daily for several weeks. Many shells

and rockets were fired indiscriminately at

residential communities and civilian

installations, causing the loss of thousands of

human lives; it will not be possible to assess

the amount of property destroyed for a long time.

75. The barbaric invading forces did not stop

at genocide and brutal acts committed throughout

Lebanon. They also organized a massacre in Beirut

on 16 September 1982. Over 3,000 unarmed

Palestinians were annihilated for no reason

except that they were Palestinians. This racist

massacre outraged the entire world, including

even the traditional friends of the perpetrators.

The damage at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps

is a disgraceful stain on the history of mankind

that will never be forgotten. The inter¬national

community is called upon to take, through the

international organs of the United Nations, the

appropriate deterrent measures, to condemn

cate¬gorically the actions and policies of the

Zionist entity, to impose sanctions that are

proportionate to its horrifying acts, and to

consider seriously disqualifying it as a Member

of the Organization, for its presence here

constitutes a challenge to the Charter as well as

to all human norms and conduct.

76. The Foreign Minister of the Zionist

entity declared on 6 September 1982 that the

condition which his Government set for withdrawal

of its forces from southern Lebanon and the

termination of its military occupation of the

area was agreement by Lebanon to sign a peace

treaty with the Zionist entity. He also said that

certain agreements needed to be introduced

regarding southern Lebanon, to ensure the

security of the State of Israel. At the same

time, the Zionist Minister of Defense declared

that the invading forces would remain deployed in

southern Lebanon for at least 15 years. In our

view, such a condition and determination

illustrates the intention of the Zionist entity

to proceed with its expansionist plan of annexing

parts of southern Lebanon, including control of

the Litani River and other water resources, as

one further step towards the realization of

Zionist ambitions for the establishment of

Greater Israel.

77. Hence, in view of this grave situation,

we believe that the United Nations should live up

to its respon¬sibilities and stand firmly by the

side of Lebanon as a free, independent and fully

sovereign State and a founding Member of the

United Nations, and should ensure the immediate

and unconditional withdrawal of the Zionist

entity behind the Lebanese borders. Also, the

Security Council, in particular, should take

appropriate action to eliminate aggression

against Lebanon should the Zionist entity refuse

to withdraw immediately and unconditionally from

Lebanese territory. In our view, the appropriate

action which the Security Council should take is

the imposition of deterrent sanctions against the

Zionist entity. Fore¬most among such sanctions

should be the suspension of its membership in the

Organization and the imposition of a

comprehensive embargo against it. This would, of

course, require a show of will by the United

States to act seriously in the exercise of its

responsibilities as a great Power claiming to

have an interest in the question of security and

peace and alleging concern for the good name of

the United Nations. It is indeed high time for

the American Administration to recognize- that

its policy towards the Arab Zionist conflict are

not serve the interests of the American people

and is in contradiction with their renowned

traditions. Thus it is incumbent upon the United

States Government to uphold justice and equity

and to display courage and political will, free

from the pressure of the Zionist minority.

78. The danger of the Zionist entity in the

Middle East is not limited to aggression

committed at such time and place as it might deem

proper in order to achieve its colonial

expansionist goals, thus jeopar¬dizing peace in

the area and impeding the development programmes

required for the resurgence of the Arab nation

and its economic and social progress. In fact it

goes beyond all that to threaten to continue its

intensive effort in developing the Zionist

nuclear program for military purposes and using

it against the Arab countries. It is no longer a

secret that the Zionist entity has now acquired a

number of nuclear bombs and weapons, with the

relevant systems to direct and deliver them

against any part of the Arab world. It is indeed

regrettable that no great Power has paid serious

attention to this imminent danger which threatens

more than the Middle East. The great Powers cared

neither about the non-accession by the Zionist

entity to the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons nor about its non¬compliance with

the Treaty safeguards. Furthermore, the Zionist

entity refused to allow IAEA to carry out

inspection measures in regard to the Zionist

nuclear reactors and programmes. Thus the

Zionists were encouraged by this to escalate and

intensify their aggression against the Arab

nation, as they had learned from repeated

experience that any aggres¬sion committed by them

would pass without serious attention being paid

to it by the great Powers, espe¬cially the United

States of America, and would not result in any

sanctions or other practical action, regardless

of the dimensions of the aggression and even if

it involved human loss.

79. The clearest evidence proving the

deliberate cover-up of the repeated Zionist acts

of aggression by some great Powers and their

failure to shoulder their responsibilities was

the raid by Zionist planes of American

manufacture on 7 June 1981 on the Iraqi nuclear

installations, despite the fact that those

instal¬lations, as certified by IAEA, were meant

for strictly peaceful purposes and were subject

to regular inter¬national inspection.

80. Iraq firmly adheres to the principles of

the Charter which call for the policy of the

charter which use of force, settlement of

international dispute by peaceful means and

non-interference in the domestic affairs of other

countries. Although Iraq strove to establish good

relations with Iran after the fall of the Shah's

regime, all cur endeavors were in vain in

persuading rulers of Iran to cease their acts of

provocation, aggression ant3 interference in our

internal affairs, as well as to fulfill their

international obligations towards Iraq.

81. That remained our approach in dealing

with Iran even after it started its armed

aggression against Iraq on 4 September 1980.

Since that day, the Presi¬dent of the Republic of

Iraq. Mr. Saddam Hussein, has stressed the fact

that we look forward to enjoying relations of

good-neighborliness with the countries of the

region, including in particular Iran, and that

Iraq has neither any territorial ambitions in

Iran nor any intention of waging war against it,

nor does Iraq intend to expand the scope of the

conflict with Iran beyond the defense of its

rights and sovereignty. But the armed Iranian

aggression against us has continued at an intense

level to this very day, while the Iranian regimehas

declined to respond in a spirit of constructive

co-operation to any of the international

endeavors to settle the dispute and has turned

down all the peaceful initiatives put forward by

Iraq to reach a just and honorable solution. The

rulers of Iran favor the continuance of

aggression, and that can only be interpreted as

evidence of their desire for expansion at the

expense of our country; as at first stage, to be

followed by Iran's overrunning the Arab countries

of the Gulf region, including Saudi Arabia, for

the purpose of colonial expansion and the

con¬solidation of a reactionary regime and in

order even¬tually to force our region back into

the Dark Ages, in which racism and religious

intolerance would reign supreme.

82. Our peace initiatives with Iran were

submitted at a meeting of the Security Council on

12 July of this year, at which meeting the

Council adopted resolution 3 64 (1982). Iraq

welcomed that resolution, whereas Iran rejected

it. It is well known that between the eve of the

adoption of that resolution and 30 July the

Iranian regime launched a series of massive

military acts of aggression against Iraqi

territory to the east of Basra, an account of

which is contained in docu¬ment A/37/428. It

should be recalled here that the Arab countries

took a unified position in support of Iraq at the

Twelfth Arab Summit Conference held in Fez early

this September, after the expansionist intentions

of the Iranian regime had become crystal¬lized in

a tangible fashion. The Arab Summit Con¬ference

adopted a clear and firm decision expressing the

Arab countries' support for and solidarity with

Iraq and their willingness to implement the

Common Defense Pact of the members of the League

of Arab States. The entire region would be in a

new and dangerous situation were the Iranian

regime to proceed further with its plan. We

should like to draw the attention of the world

public to th s development, which is obviously

fraught with potential dangers. The full

responsibility for the consequences of a possible

confrontation between Iran and the Arab States as

a whole would therefore be Iran's alone.

83. At a time when efforts to settle the

dispute and stop the fighting are being made by

the United Nations, which is a source of hope in

all peace-loving nations, the Iranian regime is

carrying out a further act of aggression against

the central sector of Iraq. By the morning of 1

October 1982 Iran had made four large- scale

attacks. The Security Council discussed this

matter on 4 October and unanimously adopted

resolution 322 (1982), in which the Council

recalled its two earlier resolutions and urged

Iran once again to act in accordance with the

principles of the United Nations by settling the

dispute by peaceful means and emulating Iraq's

co-operative attitude to the Council.

84. My delegation will explain to the General

Assem¬bly in detail the peace initiatives Iraq

has taken in order to reach a just and honorable

settlement of the dispute with Iran when the

Assembly debates agenda item 134, entitled

Consequences of the prolongation of the armed

conflict between Iran and Iraq . At this

juncture, I should like to say that Iraq has

given adequate proof of its good intentions and

of its. Sincere desire to see peace and security

estab-lished m our region, which is of

significant importance to international peace and

security. The rejection by the rulers of Iran of

all peace initiatives indicates that they lack a

sense of responsibility for security and

stability in the area, and this could exacerbate

the disturbances and tension there, lead to an

escalation of the conflict and jeopardize

international peace and security. I would also

like to stress that should Iran continue its

intransigence and its rejection of the call for

peace and persist in its aggression, Iraq would

inevitably have to resist that aggression by all

the means available to it in the exercise of its

legitimate right to self-defense. In the mean

time, we believe that the Iraq-Iran dispute

warrants the General Assembly's maximum attention

and care, since it represents a test of its will

and of the strength of the Charter. By the same

token, any success in this endeavor will enhance

the chances of peace and will prevent further

deterioration of the situation in that sensitive

and dangerous part of the world.

85. Racial crimes, including the policies of

Zionism and political doctrines based on racial

discrimination are still being committed in many

parts of the world, in spite of the fact that

such crimes violate the Charter, the principles

of non-alignment and the Universal Declaration of

Human Rights. Although the Decade to Combat

Racism and Racial Discrimination is now drawing

towards its end, and although it has produced

some positive results, certain regimes—especially

the Zionist entity and the racist minority regime

in South Africa—still refuse to accede to the

International Convention on the Suppression and

Punishment of the Crime of In this regard, a more

serious position against them should be adopted,

with stronger condemnation, in order that the

peoples of South Africa and Namibia, along with

all the liberation movements in Africa and Latin

America, may achieve their aspirations to

freedom, inde¬pendence and self-determination.

36. It is important to recall that the

reactionary racist regime in South Africa

violates all values, and that it was owing to its

antagonistic stand that the most recent meeting,

held at Geneva, on the imple¬mentation of the

United Nations plan for the inde¬pendence of

Namibia proved abortive. We must also mention the

conclusions of the International Conference on

Sanctions against South Africa, which was held in

Paris in 1981, and commend the declara¬tions it

adopted/ which, in keeping with the Charter,

reject racist concepts.

87. Furthermore, we should like to draw

attention to the fact that a number of Western

countries, and the Zionist entity, boycotted that

humanitarian con¬ference. While the great

majority of the States Mem¬bers of the United

Nations supported General Assem¬bly resolution

36/172, which calls for comprehensive mandatory

sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter

against the racist regime in Pretoria, the same

group of Western countries and the Zionist entity

continue to take negative positions. That

confirms their collusion with the racist regime

in South Africa and their deal¬ings with it in

the economic, trade, diplomatic and military

areas, as well as the development and

co-ordination of joint action with that regime in

the nuclear field, including the production of

enriched uranium. Obviously, such behaviour on

the part of Western countries and the Zionist

entity constitutes a flagrant violation of

Security Council resolution 418 (1977) and of the

relevant General Assembly resolu¬tions, and

encourages the racialist regime in Pretoria to

pursue its policy of aggression against the

peoples of Namibia and South Africa, and to

disregard any action, even if adopted by the

overwhelming majority of Members of the United

Nations.

88. The practices of the racial minority

regime in Pretoria are not limited only to the

peoples of Namibia and South Africa, but also

include the artificial creation of crises and

other conditions, as well as the recruit¬ment of

mercenaries to commit military aggression against

many independent peaceful African States,

especially Angola, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho,

Swaziland and Seychelles. Apart from violating

the security and sovereignty of the countries of

the region,

such acts of aggression always result in the

killing of large numbers of unarmed civilians and

poor peasants and in the destruction of their

homes and farms.

89. We therefore appeal to the international

commu¬nity, and especially to the Western

countries which are permanent members of the

Security Councill, not to block the efforts made

to put an end to the aggres¬sion by the racial

minority in South Africa, through the imposition

of legitimate sanctions against that regime under

Chapter VII of the Charter.

90. The world economy is passing through a

very serious stage, in which a heavy burden is

being placed on the developing countries in

particular. The dimen¬sions of the situation are

reflected in: receding eco¬nomic activity and

growth; increasing balance-of- payments deficits

in the developing countries and a decline in the

prices of their export commodities; rising

unemployment figures; monetary inflation; the

adverse effects of high rates of interest in the

world markets on foreign loans to the developing

coun¬tries; a weakening of the flow of

multilateral assist¬ance on favorable conditions;

dwindling supplies of foodstuffs; increasing

protectionism exercised by the industrial

countries against exports of the developing

countries; harsh and unfavorable conditions for

the transfer of technology to the developing

world; deliberate control of raw material prices

with adverse effects on the terms of trade of the

developing countries; and the recurrent

application of irrespon¬sible concepts, such as

gradualism, selectivity and discrimination, which

are being introduced by the industrial nations in

their trade transactions with the developing

world. AH those factors impede the efforts made

by the developing countries to secure their

economic growth, to continue interest payments on

their foreign debts and to meet their basic needs

for imported goods.

91. The developing countries sought seriously

and sincerely to maintain a constructive dialogue

with the industrialized countries in a bid to

restructure the world economy on just and

balanced terms. But the industrial nations were

not responsive to such endeavors and initiatives.

On the contrary, some of them even opposed any

international action to improve the world

economic situation. Among the vital issues raised

by the developing countries was the initiation of

global economic talks within the frame¬work of

the United Nations. Ever since the eleventh

special session of the General Assembly, held in

1980, obstacles have remained in the way of

initiating those important and essential

negotiations. There¬fore, Iraq and all other

developing countries support the call for

starting those talks as early as possible, and we

urge all States that oppose them to reconsider

their positions in the interests of us all.

92. The Group of 77 this year submitted

constructive and moderate proposals to resolve

the question of starting such negotiations, but

those proposals did not suit some industrial

nations.

93. The problems of debts and cash liquidity

which face the developing countries have become

so dan¬gerous and pressing as to require an

overall solution. In our judgment, the industrial

countries bear great responsibility in this

connection. At their recent annual meeting the

World Bank and IMF recommended some measures to

alleviate the financial burden weigh¬ing on the

developing countries. Those measures, however, do

not go far in addressing the essence of the

problem, a problem which is due basically to the

failure of the existing world monetary system to

develop along with the changes that have been

taking place since the Second World War.

Moreover, those measures constituted a mere

reaction to the crisis, which is assuming

intolerable dimensions, and there fore cannot be

considered as remedial measures in the true sense

of the word.

94. Iraq was among the first countries to

diagnose the nature of the economic problems that

are plaguing the world. That is why the President

of the Republic of Iraq has proposed the

establishment of a world fund for long-term

assistance to developing countries. The proposed

fund would help them to cope both with the

effects of inflation passed on to them by the

industrial countries, and with the increasing

bill for their oil imports. This vital plan,

which was wel¬comed at the Sixth Conference of

Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned

Countries, held at Havana in 1979, was the

subject of extensive discussion by experts of the

Group of 77 at a meeting they held at Baghdad in

March 1982. An outline of the fund was drawn up

and later approved by the co-ordination and

follow-up Committee of the Group of 77, which met

at Manila in August this year. That Committee

decided to recommend the inclusion of the Iraqi

proposal in the list of items to be discussed in

the global negotiations. We now trust that the

industrial¬ized countries will seriously consider

this plan, which we hope will eventually be

translated into action.

95. Economic co-operation among the

developing countries has undoubtedly become more

important in recent years. Iraq, as a developing

country, views this matter as a major component

of its foreign policy, and it contributes to many

regional and international funds. We also try to

help to enhance and promote such co-operation

through bilateral agreements. I should like to

recall in this regard that the High- Level

Conference on Economic Co-operation among

Developing Countries held in Caracas in 1981

approved an overall program for such co-operation

and that the developing countries are in the

process of implementing it.

96. We catll upon all the industrial nations

and the international institutions to take all

possible action to ensure a constant and

increasing flow of assistance to the developing

world to help to maintain that co-operation. At

this point we must emphasize, however, that the

expansion of economic co-operation among the

developing countries does not relieve the

industrial countries of their responsibilities

towards the devel¬oping nations.