Oman, 2009

Allow

me at the outset, Mr. Ali Abdussalam Treki, to

congratulate you and your fraternal country, the Great

Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, on your

election as President of the General Assembly at its

sixty-fourth session. We are confident that your

experience and knowledge of the role and influence of

the United Nations in international relations will play a

great part in the success of the work of this session. I

also take this opportunity to express our thanks to your

predecessor, His Excellency Father Miguel d’Escoto

Brockmann of friendly Nicaragua, for his excellent

efforts in guiding the work of the previous session. I

wish also to express our appreciation to Secretary-

General Ban Ki-moon for his tireless efforts to enhance

the effectiveness of the Organization’s machinery. We

wish him every success.

There is no doubt that the United Nations has

achieved much during its more than 60 years of joint

international action. Its achievements have made a

positive contribution to the maintenance of

international peace and security. The Organization has

provided technical assistance to developing countries

in their socio-economic development projects, and has

helped to reach consensus on many political issues and

conflicts, contributing to the development of

international peacekeeping mechanisms.

And yet the Palestinian issue remains unresolved

despite all the efforts of Arab countries and the

international community. We believe that the Arab

Peace Initiative and international peace efforts are the

most appropriate way to settle the Arab-Israeli conflict

on the basis of an end to occupation, the return of Arab

lands occupied since 1967, the establishment of an

independent Palestinian State on the West Bank and

Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital and the

removal of all the illegal and illegitimate Israeli

settlements. This would indeed help to achieve

peaceful coexistence and positive cooperation between

Arab States and Israel, and would contribute greatly to

opening new horizons of cooperation, progress and

development in the region and the world at large. Peace

based on those principles would be one of the most

important achievements of the people of the region and

would pave the way towards ending regional crises and

eradicating the root causes of terrorism.

We thus call on Israel to seize the historic

Initiative and join the efforts to establish a just and

comprehensive peace in the Middle East, one that

would bring security and peaceful coexistence to all

the States and peoples of the region. Squandering this

historic opportunity would constitute a grave loss for

the Israeli people, and we would all regret it.

We welcome the recent positive developments in

Iraq. We hope that such developments will continue in

order to achieve security and stability in that country,

contribute to the success of the comprehensive national

reconciliation efforts and help establish positive,

cooperative relations with neighbouring countries,

allowing Iraq to resume its distinct positive role in the

region at all levels.

We look forward to positive results from the

Darfur peace talks, to be held in Doha, Qatar, between

the Sudanese Government and the Darfur opposition.

We hope that the parties concerned can build a

framework for a political agreement that would help

realize security, stability and development in Darfur.

We also welcome the policies of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh

Ahmed, President of the Transitional Federal

Government of brotherly Somalia, and his efforts to

achieve peace in his country. We urge all of our

brethren and all factions in Somalia to renounce

violence and embrace dialogue. We support international

efforts to combat piracy and armed robbery against

commercial ships off the coast of the Horn of Africa.

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We welcome the continued cooperation between

the friendly Islamic Republic of Iran, the international

community and the International Atomic Energy

Agency. In this respect, we see some positive signs that

could lead to a sound diplomatic solution.

There is no doubt that the efforts exerted by the

rich industrialized nations to restore stability and

balance to the international capital markets have begun

to bear fruit. This could lead to the recovery of the

world economy. We believe more international effort is

needed to reach consensus in the Doha Round of trade

negotiations, taking into account the interests of all

States, including the developing countries. In light of

the serious shortages of food, water and medicine from

which many countries are suffering, we urge the rich

industrialized countries to increase investment in

agriculture research, food security and the supply of

water and medicine, for these have a direct impact on

humankind.

It is also our hope that the Climate Change

Conference to be held in Copenhagen at the end of the

year will adopt a long-term plan to protect the

environment and reduce harmful carbon dioxide

emissions.

In conclusion, I would like to express our deep

thanks and gratitude to the President of the General

Assembly for his efforts in leading the work of this

session. We urge all Member States to take the

necessary practical measures to help us reach

consensus on all the issues on our agenda.