Kuwait, 2006

I am pleased to

convey to Sheikha Haya Rashed Al Khalifa, on behalf

of the State of Kuwait, its Government and people, our

most sincere congratulations to her personally and to

her brotherly country, the Kingdom of Bahrain, on her

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-first session. We assure her of our readiness to

cooperate with her seriously and constructively as she

assumes her heavy responsibilities.

I cannot fail to mention here, with great

appreciation and admiration, the prominent role of the

Secretary-General in his ongoing efforts at the helm of

this Organization to enhance and energize the work of

its various bodies and to make them more democratic,

transparent and capable of meeting the challenges of

this century, and more effective in carrying out the

duties assigned to them in the fields of peace, security

and development.

In that context, Kuwait welcomes the Republic of

Montenegro as a new Member of the United Nations.

In the Outcome Document of the 2005 World

Summit, our leaders expressed their firm belief and

conviction in the important role of this Organization as

an umbrella for multilateral work. They drew a road

map for us to follow as we seek solutions to the major

international threats and challenges that threaten

international peace and security, such as terrorism, the

deterioration of the environment, human rights

violations, poverty, hunger and the spread of such

dangerous and infectious diseases as AIDS and

malaria.

Of great concern is the emergence of new

challenges to international peace and security that are

no less dangerous than those aforementioned, such as

the incitement of hatred, xenophobia, insults to

religions, including Islamophobia, together with all

kinds of racial, ethnic and religious discrimination.

A year after the adoption of the Outcome

Document, and despite the extensive efforts made to

follow-up the implementation of the Summit’s

resolutions, there is still an urgent need to redouble the

efforts to achieve our objectives in the fields of

disarmament, non-proliferation of nuclear weapons,

counter-terrorism, setting a balance between developed

and developing countries in international trade, and

reform of the Security Council to enhance its authority

and efficiency and give greater transparency and

fairness to its decisions by according due consideration

to the representation of the small States that make up

more than half the membership of the United Nations.

The State of Kuwait hopes that efforts will be

enhanced to promote dialogue and advance

international coordination and cooperation to overcome

the problems that impede the achievement of the

Millennium Development Goals in various regions of

the world. Kuwait will maintain its course in adhering

to the provisions, principles and purposes of

international agreements and conventions.

While we take pride in the social, economic and

political development that has been achieved in

Kuwait, as reflected in the annual international reports

issued by the specialized agencies of the United

Nations, we will not be distracted from pursuing our

efforts to further improve the social and economic

conditions that favour the Kuwaiti citizen’s standard of

living and prosperity. In that context, Kuwait will

continue to support, within its means, the efforts of

many developing countries to achieve their

development goals. It will continue to do so through

the Kuwaiti Fund for Economic Development, which

finances infrastructure projects by granting soft loans,

which to date amount to $12 billion and have benefited

more than 100 countries around the world.

Kuwait also contributes to the funding of

development projects in developing countries through

06-52885 42

United Nations programmes and specialized agencies,

and regional organizations and associations. Within the

framework of supporting international efforts to

eradicate poverty, Kuwait announced last month that it

will provide $300 million to the Islamic Development

Bank to combat poverty in Africa.

Kuwait follows with grave concern the difficult

security conditions in brotherly Iraq resulting from

ongoing terrorist acts that target the Iraqi people, State

institutions and economic and social facilities. Despite

progress in the political process that has led to the

formation of a constitutionally elected Government, the

difficult security conditions impede similar progress in

rebuilding what the previous regime destroyed as a

result of its hostile policies towards its own people and

its neighbours.

Kuwait reiterates its commitment to all relevant

Security Council resolutions and vows to continue

supporting the efforts of the Iraqi Government to

promote democracy and respect for human rights, to

rebuild, confront security problems and achieve

national harmony between the various segments of the

Iraqi people. We hope that the international community

will also redouble its efforts in support of the efforts of

the Iraqi Government and the League of Arab States to

achieve security and stability in Iraq, which in turn will

contribute to consolidating peace and security in the

region. There is no doubt that a democratic, secure,

stable and economically prosperous Iraq that respects

human rights, is a master over its own decisions,

without any interference in its internal affairs, and lives

in peace with its neighbours will be in the interest of

all the States of the region without exception. That is

what Kuwait hopes for and seeks to achieve.

At the regional level, with regard to the issue of

the three disputed Emirati islands, Kuwait supports the

position of the Arab Gulf Cooperation Council and

hopes that negotiations will resume and intensify at all

levels between the brotherly United Arab Emirates and

the friendly Islamic Republic of Iran to find a solution

to that conflict in conformity with the principles and

rules of international law and good-neighbourly

relations, which would enhance the security and

stability of the region.

Concerning the Iranian nuclear issue, Kuwait

calls on all the concerned parties to spare the region

any crisis that could undermine the security and

stability of that vital region, which for the past two

decades has been the theatre of conflicts and wars that

have squandered the fortunes and resources of its

countries and delayed their development. We therefore

hope that action will be taken to resolve the crisis by

diplomatic means. We urge the Islamic Republic of

Iran to continue its cooperation with the International

Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the international

community in order to dispel any fears or doubts

surrounding the nature and aims of its nuclear

programme.

In that context, we affirm our position on the

need to make the Middle East, including the Gulf

region, an area free from all weapons of mass

destruction. That zone must include Israel, which must

accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of

Nuclear Weapons and subject all its nuclear facilities to

the safeguards regime of the IAEA.

In recent weeks, the brotherly Republic of

Lebanon was subject to a vicious Israeli aggression

that killed hundreds of innocent civilians, injured

thousands of others, and made more than 1 million

people refugees. Kuwait immediately and very strongly

condemned those shameful and inhumane crimes

against the brotherly people of Lebanon. Proceeding

from its sense of duty and responsibility, and driven by

close brotherly relations, the Government and people

of Kuwait organized emergency relief operations to

alleviate the suffering of the Lebanese people through

the Kuwaiti Red Crescent society, other associations

and the private sector. Kuwait also announced the

donation of $324 million to the efforts to rebuild

Lebanon.

While Kuwait welcomes the measures taken by

the international community to implement Security

Council resolution 1701 (2006), it calls on Israel to

cease its repeated aggressions against Lebanon and to

respect its sovereignty, independence and territorial

integrity. Kuwait also calls on the international

community to assist the Lebanese Government to

extend its control over all Lebanese territory and to

support its endeavours to recover all of its rights,

including compensation for its losses as a result of the

Israeli aggression.

The core of the Middle East crisis is the

Palestinian question. That issue, regrettably, remains

stalled. International endeavours and efforts to move it

forward are met with Israel’s intransigence and refusal

to implement international resolutions, as well as its

43 06-52885

disregard for international conventions and the

agreements it has signed with the concerned parties

within the framework of the peace process.

The continued Israeli occupation of Arab

territories will always be a source of tension and

instability in the Middle East. Israel’s repeated military

incursions in the occupied territories, oppressive

practices against the Palestinian people, and

undermining of the Palestinian Authority will not

benefit the Israeli Government, nor will its continued

aggression and deliberate destruction of Palestinian

infrastructure and national Palestinian institutions

secure its so-called security. The solution lies in

resolving the root causes of the problem and by

restoring usurped rights so that all the peoples of the

region can enjoy peace and stability.

In that context, we renew our full support for the

struggle of the Palestinian people to recover its lawful

political rights and establish its own independent State

over its own land with Jerusalem as its capital. We

demand that the Israeli Government withdraw from all

the Arab lands it occupies, including the Syrian Golan

Heights, in implementation of relevant Security

Council resolutions and the principle of land for peace.

In that respect, we reiterate the importance of the Arab

peace initiative adopted in Beirut in 2002 as the only

strategic option for achieving a permanent, just and

comprehensive peace in the region.

Since its founding, the United Nations has

registered numerous accomplishments and

demonstrated its efficacy in establishing peace and

security in various parts of the world. It has helped

prevent many problems from deteriorating and it has

thereby become an indispensable tool of the

international community in confronting global issues

and challenges. It is our hope that the United Nations

record of accomplishment in achieving peace and

security will soon include Iraq, the Middle East, the

Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan and other countries that

are still experiencing conflicts and wars that have

killed countless numbers of their citizens, depleted

their resources, destroyed their capacities and delayed

their march towards development and progress.