Libya, 1993

On behalf of my delegation,

may I condole through the delegation of India, with the

Government and people of India over the natural calamity

which has befallen that great people. Allow me, at the

outset, to congratulate you sincerely on your election to the

presidency of the forty-eighth session of the United Nations

General Assembly. I should also like to express my

country’s appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Stoyan

Ganev, for his constructive efforts. We hope that in

continuing to play a constructive role in the new

international environment the General Assembly will benefit

from your diplomatic skills and broad experience.

May I also take this opportunity to express our

appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr. Boutros

Boutros-Ghali, for his dedication to the United Nations and

for his efforts aimed at reforming the Organization at this

critical juncture.

I should like also to welcome the new countries that

have joined the United Nations. We are confident that their

membership will enhance the role of the Organization and

further universal acceptance of its principles and purposes,

which aim at establishing and strengthening international

peace and security and ensuring that justice is done.

Today, the people of the Jamahiriya celebrate the

anniversary of the departure of the last remnants of Fascism

from Libyan soil, thus putting an end to a period in its

history that was characterized by the domination of settler-

colonialism, a period during which injustice and persecution

prevailed. As our people celebrate this anniversary today,

they reaffirm that relations between Libya and the State from

which those settlers came are now relations of good-

neighbourliness, based on understanding and cooperation in

every field.

During the forty-seventh session of the General

Assembly, there were numerous developments in the

international situation. However, before I speak of my

country’s position on those developments, allow me to start

with a question which is of great importance to us and

which is not unrelated to those recent international

developments. Rather, it is one of their by-products. It has

to do with the tendency of certain countries to impose

solutions to their differences with other countries in a

manner that is not consonant with the Charter of the United

Nations or with international norms and conventions. In so

doing, those countries tend to deliberately apply double

standards, especially when the dispute is with a country that

pursues independent policies and adopts unsubmissive

positions. This is the case with regard to the dispute that

arose between the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and France,

Forty-eighth session - 7 October l993 5

Britain and the United States of America, when the three

countries declared that they suspected the involvement of

Libyan nationals in the Pan American and UTA plane

incidents and demanded that two Libyan citizens be handed

over to stand trial in Scotland or the United States of

America. Notwithstanding the fact that the Libyan

authorities, once notified, took the appropriate legal steps,

the other parties refused to cooperate with the Libyan

authorities or to await the results of their ongoing

investigations. Instead, they resorted to the Security Council

and directed it to deal with this matter under Chapter VII of

the Charter, which has nothing to do with the issue in

question. Libya has not threatened anyone, nor has it

endangered international peace and security. The whole

thing is a question of suspicions and allegations that have to

be investigated through judicial channels.

Although my country realizes that this matter has been

addressed, intentionally, within a framework that is totally

incompatible with its legal character, it has continued to

investigate the whole issue, as it has done since it was

notified of the matter, because it is determined to uncover

the circumstances and facts surrounding the case. Libya has

also declared its readiness to cooperate by responding to the

requirements of Security Council resolution 731 (1992),

which include cooperation with the Secretary-General of the

United Nations to ensure the success of the mission

entrusted to him by that resolution.

In this respect, my country has reiterated its

condemnation of international terrorism in every shape and

form. It has severed relations with all organizations and

entities suspected of being involved in terrorist acts and has

affirmed that it will not allow its territory, institutions or

citizens to be used, directly or indirectly, for the carrying out

of such acts. It has declared its readiness to punish severely

those proven guilty of involvement in terrorist activities. My

country has also declared that there are no terrorist training

camps on its soil and has invited the Security Council, or

any other international body the Council may choose, to

investigate and verify this.

In addition, my country has cooperated with the

Government of the United Kingdom in trying to find

individuals whom the British Government has accused of

involvement in terrorist acts. More than one meeting has

been held in this respect, and British officials have

confirmed the Jamahiriya’s positive cooperation with them

in this matter. Moreover, in order to determine the

responsibility for the bombing of the French UTA plane,

more than one meeting has been held between the Libyan

investigative judge and his French counterpart. Contacts are

ongoing with the French authorities to arrange the French

judge’s visit, and his mission will be facilitated, provided he

arrives in a peaceful and civilized manner and not in the

manner of sixteenth-century gunboat diplomacy.

I have spoken briefly of the measures taken by Libya

in response to the stipulations of Security Council

resolution 731 (1992). As regards the determination of

responsibility for these terrorist acts to which the American

and French planes were subjected, my country took legal and

investigative measures and has called on the British and

American authorities to cooperate in completing the

investigation. It has also called on neutral bodies and

international and humanitarian organizations to verify the

fairness of the investigations.

Concerning its contribution to the eradication of

international terrorism, the aforementioned practical

measures prove my country’s seriousness in stamping out

this phenomenon. Libya’s eagerness to eliminate

international terrorism was embodied in our call for the

convening of a special session of the General Assembly to

study the causes and dimensions of the problem.

The matter that has not yet been resolved is that

relating to the request by the British and American

authorities to turn over the two suspects to stand trial in the

courts of one of those countries. My country has spared no

effort in seeking to resolve this problem in accordance with

the conventions of legality. We offered to go to the

International Court of Justice and we proposed surrendering

the two suspects to the United Nations office in Libya for

investigation. We also proposed that the Secretary-General

of the United Nations establish a legal fact-finding

committee to examine the verisimilitude of the accusations

and carry out a comprehensive investigation.

The competent authorities in my country put this

problem before the Basic People’s Congresses - the

legislative authority - in Libya, which adopted a decision

wherein they stated they would not object to the suspects

being tried before an unbiased and fair court agreed upon by

all concerned. On this basis, my country announced its

readiness to enter into negotiations with the countries

concerned, under the auspices of the Secretary-General, on

a venue for the trial that could be agreed upon by all parties

to the dispute and that would guarantee an environment

conducive to revealing the truth. To our minds, this is the

substance of Security Council resolution 731 (1992). The

Secretary-General was notified of this step in December

1992 and again last July, when he was informed that Libya

6 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

was prepared to discuss the proceedings and arrangements

relating to the trial.

The position taken by the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

concerning these disputes met with widespread approval

from various States and regional organizations, including the

Non-Aligned Movement, which is made up of some 110

States (see the Jakarta Message, A/47/675); the

Organization of the Islamic Conference, with its 54 members

(resolutions 6/20 and 21/14); the League of Arab States,

which has 22 members (resolutions 5156, 5158, 5161, 5224

and 5281); and, last but not least, the Organization of

African Unity (OAU), which consists of more than 50

States. The OAU, in resolution 1457, expressed appreciation

for Libya’s initiatives towards the resolution of this dispute

and commended Libya’s readiness to cooperate with the

legal and judicial authorities and called upon the Security

Council to review resolution 748 (1992) with a view to

lifting the embargo imposed on Libya.

The positions taken by these organizations show that

they see the justice of the Libyan viewpoint, and also

highlight their interest in playing their roles in resolving the

dispute by peaceful means according to Chapter VIII of the

Charter. It was hoped that the three States concerned would

take these positions into consideration and respond to the

Libyan initiatives, but our efforts have been rejected.

Moreover, the States concerned have discredited both the

flexibility and responsiveness of the Libyan position and

have insisted, in contravention of international laws and

practices, on the extradition of the suspects to the United

States or Britain to stand trial before the courts of one of

those countries.

Libya has not, in principle, rejected the trial of the

suspects, as it has confirmed from the very start. All Libya

has asked for, and is still determined to obtain, is a

legitimate and unbiased trial with all the legal and

psychological guarantees that go with it. Intensive

consultations and contacts in this regard were recently

conducted, and their results were communicated to the

Secretary-General on 24 September 1993. Libya considers

the content of the Secretary-General’s reply sufficient and

acceptable, and, therefore, the only step left in the resolution

of this problem is that of convincing the suspects to submit

themselves to the Scottish judiciary. The Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya is encouraging them to do so. This was

communicated to the Secretary-General in two letters

contained in document S/26523, dated 1 October 1993.

The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has responded

pragmatically to the stipulations of Security Council

resolution 731 (1992). Now it becomes necessary not only

to abandon the efforts aimed at tightening the sanctions

imposed by resolution 748 (1992), but to lift those sanctions

immediately. This is why we appeal to this Assembly,

which represents the conscience of the world, to support the

measures that have been called for by the international and

regional organizations I have mentioned.

The sanctions have caused the Libyan people much

misery and have cost them billions of dollars in material

losses, to which must be added the deaths of hundreds of

children, women and elderly people. I do not want to go

into detail, for we have elaborated on this in 14 documents,

the latest of which is document S/26139. However, in brief,

let me say that the embargo has prevented about 8,525

patients with severe illnesses from travelling abroad for

treatment. It has prevented college professors from

travelling to Libya and has led to the suspension of contracts

with hundreds of physicians. The embargo has caused the

number of fatal road accidents to double because of the

difficulty in transporting the injured to specialized hospitals

in neighbouring countries. Also, the death rate among cattle

has been high because of lack of immunization and a

shortage of preventive medications. It has cut the revenue

from economic activities by more than $2,400,000,000.

Furthermore, there is a severe lack of spare parts for aircraft,

which has led to a plane crash with 157 fatalities among

passengers of various nationalities.

The easing of tensions in international relations has

enabled the international community to achieve progress in

the areas of disarmament and the protection of human rights.

It has also enhanced international efforts aimed at solving

disputes which, until recently, have been a source of great

concern. This has included the reconciliation in Cambodia

and the maintenance of stability in Central America. There

are also positive signs regarding the attainment of lasting

peace in Mozambique. Important steps have been taken

towards full national reconciliation in Liberia, and the

dispute in Rwanda is on its way to a final solution.

However, these hopeful developments should not mask the

fact that the world now is in the grip of unprecedented

tensions and conflicts, which necessitate further efforts by

the United Nations and regional organizations not only to

resolve them but also to prevent certain countries from

monopolizing the resolution of such conflicts. The problem

of Cyprus remains unsolved. The situation in Bosnia and

Herzegovina and the Balkans in general has deteriorated and

continues to cause much human misery. Afghanistan has not

achieved total stability yet, and fighting in Angola has

intensified. The national peace accords there have not been

genuinely observed, regardless of the international and

Forty-eighth session - 7 October l993 7

regional efforts deployed. The situation in South Africa has

witnessed some positive developments, but an immediate

stop must be put to the acts of violence which negatively

affect the transformation of South Africa into a unified,

democratic and non-racial State.

For more than four decades, the United Nations has

continued to adopt numerous resolutions on the question of

Palestine. Regardless, the Israelis have refused to comply

with any of those resolutions, all of which recognize the

inalienable and legitimate right of the Palestinian people to

self-determination and their right to return to their homeland.

The provisions of General Assembly resolution 194 (III) on

the right of return for refugees, of resolution 478 (1980) on

Jerusalem, of resolution 3375 (XXX) on the right to self-

determination and of resolution 799 (1992) on deportees are

only a few dead letter examples. Despite the recent

developments concerning the question of Palestine, the

position of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya regarding this issue

and the conflict in the Middle East remains as we have

previously explained it, and let me now reiterate it: all

occupied Arab territories should be liberated, and the

Palestinian people should be supported until they have

regained all their rights - the foremost of which being their

right to self-determination, their right to return to their land

and their right to establish in Palestine their own State,

where both Arabs and Jews can live on an equal footing.

In another part of the Arab homeland, namely Somalia,

the situation is still a source of grave concern. Although

earlier efforts were successful in creating a safe environment

for the distribution of humanitarian relief assistance to those

suffering from the widespread famine, the recent events,

which indicate that the circumstances have changed, show

how sensitive the situation is in that region. My country,

which has closely followed the developments in Somalia,

remains convinced that solutions to problems cannot be

imposed by force regardless of the enforcer. Solutions can

be found only through dialogue and understanding.

First and foremost, the Somalis themselves should

abandon their differences and work together to implement

the agreements they have reached so that Somalia and its

people may regain peace, security and stability.

Given our conviction that peace and security in the

Mediterranean region is closely related, not only to security

and cooperation with Africa and Europe, but also to world

peace and security, the strengthening of security and

cooperation in the region is a high priority for the Libyan

Arab Jamahiriya. That is the reason why my country

welcomed General Assembly resolutions in this regard as

well as the resolutions adopted on the subject by other

organizations, such as the Non-Aligned Movement. Once

again, we declare that we welcome any and all initiatives

aimed at removing the causes of tension, enhancing stability

and expanding cooperation in the region.

My country is fully cognizant of the fact that the

strengthening of security and cooperation in the

Mediterranean region is a multidimensional issue. However,

we continue to believe that withdrawal of foreign fleets and

the closing down of foreign bases in this region constitute

the essential elements. Such a step would enhance

confidence-building in the area and channel resources

towards economic and social development. At the same

time, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya believes that the use of

dialogue and understanding - on the basis of mutual respect

for sovereignty and in accordance with international norms

and conventions - to settle differences would also constitute

a basic element in restoring security and stability to the

Mediterranean region. Moreover, intensified collaboration

and coordination of efforts in areas of common interest

would further enhance cooperation. For this reason, the

Jamahiriya welcomes the steps taken within regional

groupings such as the Arab Maghreb Union and the Western

Mediterranean Grouping (5 + 5), as such steps constitute an

important breakthrough towards the realization of peoples’

aspirations after peace, security and cooperation.

Concrete progress has been made over the past few

years in the area of disarmament, especially with regard to

the reduction of nuclear-weapon stockpiles and accession by

more countries to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. While it

welcomes those developments, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya

does not consider them to be sufficient and believes that the

danger of nuclear proliferation requires further international

efforts that would lead to the complete elimination of all

weapons of mass destruction in the case of every State that

possesses, produces or stockpiles them. Consequently, my

country supports all initiatives aimed at achieving this end,

including the enhancement of the United Nations

disarmament mechanisms and especially the Conference on

Disarmament, whose work has been crowned by the

Chemical Weapons Convention. This is an ambitious

document on the road to general and complete disarmament.

However, my country has so far abstained from signing this

Convention because of the existence in the region we live in

of weapons of mass destruction that are not subject to

international safeguards and inspection. Under such

circumstances, it is difficult to consider the Chemical

Weapons Convention without considering other weapons of

mass destruction in the Middle East, mainly nuclear

weapons.

8 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

My country has supported the call for the establishment

of nuclear-weapon-free zones, including the proposal by the

Arab Republic of Egypt which calls for making the Middle

East an area free of weapons of mass destruction. Based on

my country’s eagerness to stamp out the dangers of such

weapons and in order to get rid of them, it has called on the

United Nations to adopt the necessary measures to destroy

nuclear, bacteriological, chemical and other weapons of mass

destruction, such as ballistic missiles, and to prohibit and

criminalize the development, possession and use of all such

weapons.

The international family’s current efforts to establish

security and stability in the world, mainly through the

redoubling of efforts to contain political crises and end

regional disputes, should be expanded to embrace economic

problems as well. The impact of economic problems on

international peace and security is not less dangerous than

that of armed conflicts. According to the 1993 World

Economic Survey, the world economy continues to stagnate.

Its revitalization requires urgent international measures

which would give special attention to the developing

countries, which suffer from economic difficulties that arise

from trade protectionism, large external debts, restrictions on

the transfer of technology, the reverse flow of resources and

low commodity prices.

In the context of the international community’s efforts

to promote economic and social development, my country

wishes to draw attention to the danger of the coercive

measures of various forms, to which some developing

countries, including mine, are being subjected. Such

measures constitute one of the main obstacles to

development and run counter to the Charter, the rules of

international law and to all relevant General Assembly

resolutions.

Support for development efforts also requires the

international community to honour its commitments to

certain development programmes, such as the United Nations

New Agenda for the Development of Africa in the 1990s.

Africa attaches great hope to this programme because it

would help promote developmental efforts that began with

the establishment of Africa’s economic community and have

been enhanced by the establishment of a number of

subregional groupings such as the Arab Maghreb Union,

which has taken important steps towards improving the use

of the region’s resources and towards strengthening the

regional ties that would enhance the adoption of common

policies by its member countries in the political, economic

and social spheres.

Last year’s Earth Summit yielded important results.

We are satisfied with the measures adopted towards the

realization of the Conference’s objectives, especially the

beginnings of a convention to combat drought and

desertification. This is an extremely important issue for my

country and for the whole North Africa region, which suffers

from a shortage of water and is threatened by drought and

creeping desertification. Furthermore, we believe that true

determination to protect the environment lies in international

cooperation and in honouring the commitments made at the

Rio Conference. Protection of the environment is one of my

country’s top priorities. Our first step in combating drought

and desertification is the great man-made river. Our national

plans include the reclamation of thousands of hectares of

desert for the purpose of agriculture and settlement.

In this respect, I must inform the Assembly that our

efforts to expand environmental protection and maintenance

are being hampered by the widespread presence of remnants

of war, and of mines that were laid in Libya’s soil during

World War II. International and regional organizations have

adopted numerous resolutions in this connection, and the

General Assembly has also adopted similar resolutions, the

latest of which was resolution 40/197. All those resolutions

have called upon the countries responsible to provide the

information and technical assistance required for the removal

of those mines and other remnants of war, and to pay

compensation for the damage caused. Today, we call once

again upon those countries to shoulder their responsibility

and to respond to the calls of the international community

and the United Nations resolutions on the remnants and

debris of war.

The adoption of international policies and programmes

aimed at ensuring mankind’s well-being and attaining the

best possible standard of living is one of our objectives. On

this basis, my country welcomes the convening of the

International Conference on Population and Development

next year, and of the World Conference on Women and the

World Summit for Social Development in 1995. To our

mind, these conferences will give a strong political impetus

to international efforts and activities aimed at stamping out

underdevelopment, poverty and hunger. In welcoming these

conferences, we are encouraged by the important results

from the International Conference on Human Rights. They

are a great achievement in the promotion of respect for

human rights and basic freedoms.

My country which belongs to one of the great cultures

of the world, namely the Arab-Islamic culture that has

contributed greatly to the promotion of human rights, is

determined to continue to support the international

Forty-eighth session - 7 October l993 9

community’s efforts, deployed through the United Nations

and its organs, in the area of human rights, so that we may

realize the goals of the Vienna Declaration and Programme

of Action.

Given its interest in human rights which it considers to

be the basis for development and prosperity, my country has

worked to achieve and strengthen equality for all its citizens

and to guarantee their rights. This has been stressed in the

great green document on human rights and basic freedoms.

The freedom enhancement act was promulgated in 1991, and

a large number of international agreements in the area of

human rights have also been ratified. In addition, the

International Committee on the Qaddafi Award for Human

Rights has been established.

The restructuring and reform of the United Nations and

the democratization of the composition of its organs have

become a necessity if the United Nations is to be enabled to

meet international demands, become more responsive to the

needs of Member States and more effective in its work, in

consonance with the goals of the Charter.

My country has been following with interest the current

attempts at reforming the United Nations in the economic

and social fields. We welcome the decision on the

revitalization of the General Assembly and the streamlining

of its agenda. We hope that the ad hoc working group

established for this purpose will reach a conclusion that

strikes a balance between, and safeguards the interests of, all

Member States.

The Secretary-General’s proposals in his report entitled

"An Agenda for Peace" are a valuable contribution towards

enhancing the Organization’s ability to meet the challenges

of the coming period. My country welcomed those

proposals, and has taken note of the two resolutions adopted

by the General Assembly in this respect.

In carrying out the recommendations of the Agenda for

Peace, the United Nations should be guided by the principles

of the Charter and especially by its respect for the

sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of

States, as stipulated in resolution 47/120, and confirmed by

resolution 47/233 adopted by the General Assembly just last

month. The strengthening of the General Assembly so that

it may perform the role entrusted to it by the Charter should

be one of the main objectives in reforming the United

Nations. The Security Council, which Member States have

entrusted with the maintenance of international peace and

security on their behalf, should carry out its duties in a

manner that fully conforms with the principles and purposes

of the Charter and with international laws and norms. The

Council should also improve its methods of work and adopt

an objective course of action. It should not apply double

standards when dealing with issues of world peace and

security. The present facts on the ground necessitate an

enlargement of the membership of the Security Council not

through partial measures but through radical solutions that

reflect the increase in the membership of the United Nations

and take into consideration equal geographical distribution in

accordance with the provisions of Article 23 of the Charter

and the objectives of General Assembly resolution 47/62.

Within the context of the reform process, it is highly

important to review some of the provisions of the Charter

that are no longer in keeping with the great changes that

have taken place in the international arena. The world

situation in 1945 and the situation now are different. This

requires the adoption of bold measures in relation to certain

provisions of the Charter whose continued existence

constitutes a major impediment to the most important role of

the United Nations, namely, the maintenance of international

peace and security. Here, we refer to the veto power in the

United Nations Security Council, which is held by a very

few countries. The abolition of this privilege is something

that has long been called for; calls for abolition have grown

over the last few years. The position expressed by many

countries, including my country, during the last session of

the General Assembly and in other forums, confirms the

widespread desire to abolish this privilege and highlights the

fact that any collective security system that is subject to the

veto power of some countries cannot be depended upon to

maintain international peace and security.

In conclusion, as we prepare to celebrate the fiftieth

anniversary of the United Nations, and as we look forward

10 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session

to the next 50 years, we are duty bound, both as States and

as peoples, to lay down a strong and just foundation for the

world of tomorrow. The world we aspire to is a world free

from conflicts, disputes and wars; a world where the means

of annihilation and destruction do not exist and where the

manifestations of poverty and suffering have long

disappeared; a world of security and stability built by people

on the basis of virtue, justice and equality, where democracy

and human rights are reinforced by the absence of violence,

injustice and arbitrary acts; a world where all people have a

genuine opportunity to look to the future with optimism and

to enjoy peace, security and happiness by truly applying the

principles of the Charter of the United Nations. In

contributing to the achievement of these goals, the Libyan

Arab Jamahiriya put forward a proposal designed to deal

with and solve many of the problems and issues with which

mankind is preoccupied. That proposal was circulated in

document A/46/840 which I shall not address but which is

available to representatives as an addendum to this

statement.