Oman, 2003

Allow

me, Sir, on behalf of the Sultanate of Oman, to

congratulate you on your election as President of the

General Assembly at this session. We assure you of our

readiness to work with you and to contribute sincerely

and successfully to the achievement of the noble goals

we all seek to accomplish in the service of humanity,

and to the safety and security of the international

community. I also take this opportunity to express our

heartfelt thanks to your predecessor, His Excellency

Mr. Jan Kavan, who presided over the previous session,

for his efforts to guarantee the success of the regular

session and the special sessions held during the past

year.

Let me also acknowledge the tireless and serious

efforts of the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, to

promote the leading role of the United Nations in the

field of international peace and security.

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Once again, we stress the Sultanate of Oman’s

support for the Organization in its endeavours to

achieve the purposes and principles of the Charter.

At the outset, I should like to shed some light on

the measures taken by my country to develop its

important institutions, particularly the judiciary. It is

our strong belief that a fair and just judiciary forms the

basis for social and economic development. In our

contemporary history, the Sultanate of Oman has

enabled the judiciary to become the most important

means of establishing justice, issuing fair rulings and

removing injustices in society, without interference by

the Executive branch or by any other branch of

Government. That development was endorsed in the

constitutional State system enacted by His Majesty

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said through decree 101/96, issued

on 6 November 1996.

His Majesty also issued decree 90/99, which

enacted the law granting full independence to the

judiciary, on 21 November 1999. That law regulates the

jurisdiction and the functions of courts of various

circuits and at various levels. Moreover, the Supreme

Court was established at the top of the judicial

pyramid, with competence to standardize legal

principles and to address faulty rulings. That was

followed by a series of laws organizing various judicial

organs, including a law establishing the higher judicial

system. Additionally, a draft law on civil and trade

procedures has been elaborated.

All of the aforementioned demonstrates His

Majesty’s interest in guaranteeing the well-being of the

Omani citizen and in ensuring that all citizens are

familiar with their rights and obligations, which are

guaranteed through the right to due process.

In the spirit of continued development and

broadened participation by the Omani people in our

social and economic development programmes, my

country — since the dawn of the blessed renaissance

that began in 1970 at the initiative of His Majesty

Sultan Qaboos Bin Said and that has continued

throughout the past 33 years — has adopted an

approach utilizing the experience and expertise of

Omani citizens in the Majlis al-Shura, or Consultative

Council, which includes positive aspects of our cultural

heritage in the modern development of the Sultanate.

Our Consultative Council process has witnessed a

qualitative shift and an important transformation in our

modern history. His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said

issued royal instructions in October 2002 expanding

the base of popular participation in elections for the

Omani Consultative Council by granting every citizen,

male or female, over the age of 21, the right to vote and

to participate in the next election — scheduled for

4 October — to select the 83 members of the

Consultative Council for its fifth session, from 2004 to

2006. That step complements previous steps aimed at

developing the Consultative Council. Those important

developments in the Sultanate of Oman will create a

strong foundation for more development and

advancement programmes to benefit the Omani people.

We have followed recent developments in

Palestine with grave concern. The Palestinian National

Authority responded positively to the international

community’s demands by accepting the road map —

considered the most important document in the history

of the Arab-Israeli conflict — which embodies the

international commitment to establishing an

independent, sovereign Palestinian State alongside the

State of Israel. Nevertheless, the cycle of violence

between the Palestinians and the Israeli Government

continues unabated, which may doom the entire peace

process, plunging it into a dark abyss from which it

could be very difficult to rescue it. Therefore, the

Quartet — sponsor of the road map — must shoulder

its international responsibilities in that regard.

One might well wonder how peace can be

achieved between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples

when the Israeli Government has decided in principle

to expel President Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the

Palestinian Authority and elected leader of the

Palestinian people. One might also ask whether the

Government of Israel, a Member State of the United

Nations, is honouring its commitments under the

Charter. The United Nations must intervene to put an

end to that Israeli policy. Israel must respond to the

international community’s demands and must comply

with international resolutions. It must respond

positively to international efforts aimed at

implementation of the road map, which provides both

parties with international guarantees aimed at

achieving peace based on the establishment of an

independent, sovereign Palestinian State on all

Palestinian territories occupied by Israel since 1967.

Such a solution would give the States in the region a

historic opportunity to build a new Middle East. In that

connection, we must warn that failure to commit to the

establishment of a Palestinian State in conformity with

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the road map would create a crisis with catastrophic

results.

My country shares with many other Member

States the view that peace in the Middle East region

will not be true and lasting unless our approach is just

and comprehensive. In that connection, the Sultanate of

Oman reaffirms its support for Lebanon’s right to

restore the remaining Sheba’a farms and the Syrian

Arab Republic’s right to recover the Syrian Golan,

occupied on 4 June 1967.

The war against Iraq in the first half of this year

was only one link in the chain of wars that have been

endured by the Middle East region. That war created a

new reality, characterized mainly by the collapse of the

former regime, the creation of a huge political and

security vacuum and deterioration in basic services for

Iraqi society. The continued lack of security in Iraq and

the resulting loss of lives — in addition to the

destruction of the United Nations Office and the

escalation in assassinations — certainly do not help

Iraq in this phase of re-establishing the Government

and rebuilding the country.

Prompted by our concern about the situation in

Iraq, we believe that efforts are needed to enable the

Iraqis to assume full responsibility for managing their

country. Iraq has an abundance of national experts in

every field. These qualified Iraqi cadres are capable of

leading the process of restoring security and of

rebuilding and fully developing their country. Iraq also

possesses enormous economic and human resources

that could help it to regain its strength and to play its

regional and international roles. Undoubtedly, an active

role for the United Nations and its specialized agencies

will help us to attain our common objective: unity and

territorial integrity for Iraq and prosperity and security

for all its people.

Committed to Iraq’s sovereignty, territorial

integrity and unity, we welcomed the formation of the

transitional Governing Council. We believe it essential

to deal with that political institution so that we begin to

build the right foundations for post-war Iraq —

including the provision of basic services and the

creation of a political climate conducive to the

establishment of a stable political system that will

respond to the Iraqi people’s wishes — as a prelude to

beginning the reconstruction phase.

Stability and the consolidation of security are

requirements of all peoples throughout the world. We

in the Sultanate of Oman — like all other countries in

the Middle East — have been following with interest

and optimism the official contacts taking place in

various conflict areas. We hope that the contacts and

discussions between the United Arab Emirates and the

Islamic Republic of Iran concerning the islands

belonging to the United Arab Emirates will enable the

two countries to arrive at an effective mechanism to

settle their dispute. In addition, we appreciate the

initiatives by India and Pakistan aimed at starting a

dialogue between them. Moreover, my country hopes

that the two Koreas and other concerned parties will be

able to reach an agreement that addresses the various

outstanding issues through constructive dialogue and

adherence to international conventions and resolutions.

We hope that that part of the world will ultimately

achieve peace and coexistence.

We also pay tribute to the peaceful efforts to

solve the conflicts in Africa, and call on the

international community to assist in developing a fair

system to improve economic conditions and a

mechanism to relieve the onerous burden of debt on

African countries.

International policies have in recent years led to

the emergence of various types of terrorist acts. All of

us must pause and deeply focus on this phenomenon,

which targets people’s security and safety. We believe

that it has become essential to study in a

comprehensive and cooperative manner the root causes

underlying this phenomenon. Although we fully

support international efforts to combat terrorism by all

available means, we must allocate part of the massive

financial resources devoted to combating terrorism to

help the least developed countries that may be fertile

ground for terrorist activities.

There is no doubt that United Nations efforts in

the field of disarmament are leading nowhere. They

will remain an exercise in futility so long as Member

States cannot count on an effective system of collective

security safeguards. Without such a system,

responsibility for assessments of the level and quality

of weapons needed will be subjective and fall solely to

individual Governments. This would open the door

wide to further arms races, and hinder progress towards

disarmament or the reduction of armaments.

While supporting the efforts to limit armaments,

the Sultanate of Oman affirms the need to take

practical measures in accordance with the International

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Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regime of mutual

guarantees. My country signed a safeguards agreement

with the IAEA on 28 June 2001 at the headquarters of

the Agency in Vienna.

My country also believes that it is essential to

promote cooperation between States to reduce the

illegal trafficking of small arms and light weapons,

which are the reason for most of the conflicts in the

world. My country notes the efforts made by the United

Nations to achieve the elimination of all lethal weapons

from every corner of the earth and from outer space.

My country supports all these efforts and underlines

the responsibility of the international Organization for

establishing a world order that is more capable of

guaranteeing security for all States in a manner that

reflects the reality of life in the third millennium. It

should be consistent with partnership and with

responsibilities, which are essential for the success of

all efforts.

This session is being convened at a time of

continuous and intertwined development at the world

economic, financial and trade levels. Many economies

still suffer from economic stagnation and recession.

The Sultanate of Oman appreciates the continued

efforts of the International Bank, the International

Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization

(WTO) to achieve complementarity in their work so

that they may confront the challenges that the countries

of the world are now facing. These challenges include

economic growth, sustainable development, poverty

reduction and financial stability and balance.

Since its accession to the World Trade

Organization in October 2000, the Sultanate of Oman

has taken great strides towards implementing its

commitments to the Organization. The Sultanate has

introduced many amendments and improvements to its

systems, organizations and laws, and has enacted new

legislation in conformity with the requirements of the

World Trade Organization.

My country has also been following with great

interest the ongoing negotiations in the framework of

the World Trade Organization with a view to

overcoming the obstacles and difficulties impeding its

work. Here, we must point an important difference

between developing countries and developed countries,

in that the latter control the World Intellectual Property

Organization agreements and other conventions. Such

agreements should not be misused by multinational

corporations in a manner that adds to the burdens of the

least developed countries in the fields of

pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs and technology transfer,

which would only exacerbate the obstacles to trade

liberalization that the World Trade Organization is

trying to overcome. Although the WTO Council of

Ministers issued a separate statement on safeguards for

patented drugs, aimed at helping developing countries

to combat serious and contagious diseases, such a step

may not sufficiently protect least developed countries

from being forced to bear excessive costs.

The Sultanate of Oman has worked hard at the

regional level with its brothers and friends and through

regional economic groupings, to enhance the climate

for the liberalization of trade and the economy. In the

framework of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the

Sultanate participated in the establishment of the Gulf

Customs Union at the beginning of this year. In the

framework of the Arab League, we have also pushed

forward the deadline for the establishment of a free-

trade zone among the Arab States parties to the trade

zone agreement to the beginning of January 2005 when

full liberalization is expected to occur, opening the

door to the free trade of Arab products and paving the

way to an Arab common market.

At the local level, my country has continued its

efforts to enhance the role of the private sector in the

national economy, based on the market economy and

free competition and a favourable economic and trade

climate that aims at the achievement of a true

investment and trade partnership with all countries of

the world, in the hope that conditions will be conducive

to linking the economy of Oman to the world economy.

Recognizing that the protection of the

environment and its resources is a collective

responsibility, my country’s Government has been

active in stimulating the role of Omani society and its

effective contribution to this cause. Here, we to

reaffirm our commitment to the basic principles

adopted at the two earth summits, in Rio de Janeiro, in

1992, and in South Africa, in 2002. We believe that

these principles constitute a scientific framework that

will guarantee our world partnership and help us to

shoulder our collective responsibility for the protection

of the environment and its natural resources in the

service of sustainable development.

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We would like to express our gratitude and

appreciation for the efforts and endeavours of the

Secretary-General as reflected in his annual report, in

which he details the achievements of the United

Nations, as well as and the obstacles it faces, and sets

out the strategies for the future for this Organization,

which embodies the conscience and aspirations of the

world. We support the proposals in the Secretary-

General’s report on developing and restructuring the

organs of the United Nations to enable the

Organization to reflect current political reality.

The United Nations should remain a true

cornerstone of world policy and the main source of

international legitimacy, so that countries may appeal

to it for the prevention of wars and conflict. This is

only possible through the effective pursuit of

preventive diplomacy, the peaceful settlement of

disputes and the maintenance of peace, enhancing

world cooperation and dialogue among civilizations.

This involves working towards resolving the problems

of poverty and disease, protecting the environment,

combating terrorism and bridging the gap between the

rich countries of the North and the poor countries of

the South.

Relations between the United Nations and

regional organizations in the maintenance of

international peace and security should be strengthened

through the enhancement of weak regional structures to

enable them to archive collective security in a world

governed by technology and great population increases.

We believe that the United Nations represents

international legitimacy. It is the crucible in which all

regional and international efforts meld to realize the

hopes and aspirations of our peoples and to confront

the real challenges to peace, security and development

in all their aspects. This can enhance relations and

stability and spread a culture of peace and constructive

dialogue among present and future generations to

counter the logic of the threat of force or apprehensions

about the future.

We hope that this session will be a success so that

it may chart a vision for the future that points to ways

to serve humanity and renew the Member States’ trust

in the Organization, total commitment to the

implementation of its resolutions and respect for the

provisions of the Charter.