Libya, 2005

It gives me great pleasure at the outset to

affirm my delegation’s confidence that the Swedish

leadership of the work of the current General Assembly

session will help us achieve the best results. I also

seize this opportunity to commend the efforts made by

Gabon, represented by its Foreign Minister, during its

leadership of the previous session. I would also like to

reiterate our gratitude for the efforts made by

Secretary-General Kofi Annan to advance the march of

United Nations reform and achieve the goals enshrined

in its Charter.

Since the 1970s, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has

been fully aware of the need to reform the United

Nations and was the first State to put forward official

proposals to the General Assembly in that regard,

presenting draft resolutions from the thirty-fourth to

the fortieth sessions aimed at reforming the Security

Council and abolishing the veto privilege. Though the

Libyan proposals were not successful because of the

objection of the super-Powers, they did, however,

create a wide understanding of that issue within the

General Assembly, resulting in the adoption of a

resolution at its forty-seventh session establishing an

open-ended group to review the issue of fair

representation in the Security Council and expanding

its membership. We participated actively in the group’s

work, but its activities reached an impasse.

We felt hopeful over the last few years while we

were conducting consultations at all levels in order to

realize a radical reform for the United Nations system,

in the service of international peace and security.

However, as the date of our summit-level meeting this

year approached, it became evident that the reform we

sought remained elusive. This is because some of the

privileged Powers of the Security Council do not wish

to give up their privileges — in fact not even to share

these privileges with others.

The victorious countries in the Second World War

arrogated rights and privileges for themselves at the

time the Charter was drawn up. This led to the

marginalization of the General Assembly and rendered

the Security Council a domineering body —

inequitable, unbalanced and undemocratic, with the

veto privilege greatly abused. The United Nations,

therefore, has been unable to administer justice among

nations; in fact, some of its decisions have inflicted

harm on many peoples.

As we discuss United Nations reform, we should

take into consideration that its membership has now

reached 191 States. New global problems have

emerged, in addition to the old ones. Thus, it is

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necessary to place the power of decision-making in the

hands of all Members of the United Nations, that is, in

the hands of the General Assembly, in which all States

have equal votes. However, if such an agreement is not

possible, we should seek a new formula for permanent

membership in the Security Council.

In this respect, we propose that permanent

membership be accorded to geographical groups, not to

specific States. We also propose that the African Union

be granted permanent membership even before the

comprehensive reform has been decided, given the fact

that Africa is the only continent without a country

holding permanent membership in the Security

Council.

As a member of the African Union, we affirm our

adherence to the common African position, adopted by

the Fifth African Union Summit, held in Sirte, Libya,

on 4 and 5 July 2005. This position was confirmed in

the African Union’s Extraordinary Summit on United

Nations Reform held in Addis Ababa on 4 August

2005.

Libya believes that the elimination of weapons of

mass destruction is a fundamental factor in confidence-

building and the consolidation of international peace

and security. Hence, Libya declared on l9 December

2003 its voluntary renunciation of the programmes and

materials that could lead to the production of

internationally prohibited weapons and their means of

delivery. Since that date, it has been cooperating in a

transparent manner with the International Atomic

Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for the

Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). All

relevant materials and equipment have been disposed

of with the knowledge of experts from the IAEA and

the OPCW.

Libya is now party to all international

conventions on weapons of mass destruction, as well as

the code of ethics concerning ballistic missiles. We

hope that members of the international community will

cooperate in a more appropriate manner to eliminate

weapons of mass destruction, acquired by all States,

without discrimination, in order to create a world in

which peace and security prevail.

The Libyan declaration was a culmination of

previous Libyan efforts undertaken in this field,

starting with effective participation in the

establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in

Africa — through its accession to the Pelindaba

Treaty — and the call to make the Middle East a zone

free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass

destruction.

We confirm our readiness to continue our full

cooperation with all international organizations in this

field and emphasize Libya’s right to expand its

programme of peaceful uses of nuclear energy for

development, particularly in the fields of medicine,

agriculture, desalination, mining and oil exploration.

We hope that all countries in the region would place all

their nuclear facilities under the IAEA inspection

regime.

Our country is concerned with human rights

issues at the international and national levels. We deal

with all organizations working in the field of human

rights in a transparent manner. We have donated 2

million dinars to support the activities of the Office of

the United Nations High Commissioner for Human

Rights, and we are now reviewing some of our national

legislation that is not in conformity with international

instruments in the field of human rights. We also have

eliminated the People’s Court, established in the early

years of the revolution, and its jurisdiction has been

assigned to regular courts.

Libya was among the first States that called for

the coordination of international efforts to combat

international terrorism and that proposed an

extraordinary session of the General Assembly to study

that phenomenon and to develop measures to combat it

and eradicate its causes.

Libya has condemned terrorism in all its forms,

including State terrorism, ratified all international and

regional conventions concerning terrorism and is

cooperating actively with the committee established by

the Security Council on that subject. We believe that

the eradication of terrorism requires practical measures

to eliminate its causes. Among such actions, we should

actively strengthen human rights protections for all

people, confront all acts of aggression and occupation

of the lands of others, fight poverty and encourage

democracy.

Terrorism cannot be uprooted unilaterally through

actions taken by one State or group of States. The

solution for such a problem cannot be achieved by

linking it to a certain religion or nationality. It is not

fair that the legitimate struggle of peoples to achieve

self-determination and independence should be

classified as terrorism. We should all exert and

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coordinate all our possible efforts under the umbrella

of the United Nations to combat terrorism and

complete, as early as possible, a comprehensive

counter-terrorism treaty.

My country was subjected to unjust sanctions that

caused great material losses totalling about $40 billion.

Now, while this matter has ended and the reason

behind the sanctions settled, I extend my gratitude to

all the friendly and sisterly countries that stood by our

side and supported our position in tackling that

situation.

Competent Libyan authorities are now drawing

up plans for restructuring the Libyan economy and are

reviewing the public sector, encouraging the private

sector and providing opportunity for all to engage in

economic activities. New economic policies were

adopted in order to advance the national economy,

eliminate deficiencies and improve performance.

Certain measures have been taken in the monetary

field, including the adoption of a single exchange rate

for the Libyan dinar against foreign currencies, the

abolition of monetary control and a reduction of

income taxes. Import and export licences as well as

customs guarantees on exports have been abolished as

have customs fees on approximately 3,500 imported

items.

Important steps have been taken for the

privatization of many public sector companies. Libya

has opened its doors to investors and a law for the

encouragement of foreign investment has been

promulgated. This law gives foreign investors many

privileges and exemptions and allows them 100 per

cent ownership of their enterprises or partnership with

domestic investors. Our application to join the World

Trade Organization was approved unanimously by the

organization on 27 July 2004. We seek further

cooperation from all countries in that respect.

The consolidation and realization of peace and

security for all is a fundamental goal of the United

Nations. It is an objective that could not be realized by

the Organization without the assistance and

cooperation of all Member States, which could be

effective tools to solve the most difficult problems and

conflicts among countries, particularly in Africa. In

this respect, we wish to express our satisfaction with

the stabilization of the situation in Sierra Leone and

Angola and the improvement of the situation in

Somalia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the

Congo, as well as the signing of the peace agreement in

Sudan.

We call on all Member States to assist the African

Union in its endeavours to face its various challenges

and create a unified African continent capable of

achieving progress and participating effectively in the

march towards progress, upholding freedom and

human rights and eradicating wars, poverty and disease

while removing the remnants of colonialism. We hope

that support will be extended to the African Union’s

plans to achieve prosperity for all African people by

providing assistance to the New Partnership for

Africa’s Development.

The international community so far has failed to

solve the Palestinian problem, although it is as old as

the United Nations itself. In fact, the problem is getting

worse. The Palestinian people have lived for over half

a century either as refugees all over the world or

subjected to an occupying Power, which has usurped

its land and practiced against them the most horrible

crimes, including the killing of children, women and

the elderly. Their lands have been confiscated, their

farms burned, their trees uprooted, their houses

destroyed over their occupants, while houses are built

for settlers coming from all over the world. Even

though highly sophisticated weapons are being used

against civilians, the Security Council stands unable to

take concrete steps to stop such practices. This has

encouraged the occupying Power to continue its

aggression and crimes, heedless of the decisions of the

international community.

The suffering of the Palestinian people requires

that urgent and firm action be taken by the

international community to put an end to the Israeli

aggression and provide a radical solution for the

Palestinian question.

We believe that the solution cannot be achieved

by accepting a de facto situation or by merely adopting

resolutions or unrealizable plans. It will happen

through a radical solution that allows and guarantees

the return of all Palestinian refugees to their lands and

the establishment of a democratic State on the land of

historical Palestine in which Jews and Arabs live side

by side, enjoying full equality, similar to the South

African model, where blacks and whites reconciled

after decades of conflict and bloodshed. If such a

solution is not realized, with the support of the

international community, the suffering of the

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Palestinian people will continue, and the region will

continue to witness tension and conflict without peace

and security.

The Israeli occupation forces must withdraw from

all occupied Arab territories; the Golan Heights must

be returned to Syrian sovereignty and the Shabaa farms

to Lebanon.

In Iraq, where international law has been violated

and the country subjected to occupation on unfounded

bases and flimsy pretexts, the tragedy is escalating

daily, getting more and more difficult to solve. The

Iraqi people are paying a high price with the lives of

their sons and daughters as a result of the occupation.

We have to exert every possible effort to guarantee a

speedy end to the occupation in order to enable Iraq to

regain its independence and sovereignty and preserve

its territorial integrity and Arab identity. The Iraqis

must be allowed to determine their own affairs, future

and manage their resources, and to achieve self-

determination with freedom involving all citizens

without the marginalization of any group so that peace,

prosperity and security can prevail all over Iraq.