Sudan, 2000

It gives me

great pleasure at the outset to convey to Mr. Harri

Holkeri on behalf of my delegation our congratulations

on his election as President for this session. Aware of

his well-known diplomatic experience and skill, we are

confident that he will lead the work of this session to

success. I should also like to express our appreciation

and admiration for the role played by his predecessor,

Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, Foreign Minister of Namibia,

during his presidency of the previous session, and for

his co-chairmanship of the Millennium Summit.

In this respect, I commend the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, for his remarkable efforts in preparing

for the Millennium Summit and the Millennium

Assembly.

On behalf of my delegation, I also welcome the

State of Tuvalu as a new Member of our Organization.

Last week, the Millennium Summit endorsed a

historical declaration that laid out a strategy for

meeting the challenges of the twenty-first century.

Today I should like to stress that it is our duty to

concentrate, during this Millennium Assembly and

through its different forums, on translating that vision

into decisions and resolutions to achieve and

23

consolidate international peace and security, total

disarmament of weapons of mass destruction,

resolution of environmental problems, combating

international terrorism and organized international

crime, prevention of conflicts before they erupt and

resolution of the problems of poverty and socio-

economic backwardness. If we succeed during this

session, we can then say that we have contributed to

creating circumstances conducive to the achievement

of human security and have liberated mankind from

fear and want.

On the other hand, we believe that this

Millennium Assembly should give equal importance to

the reform of the institutions of the United Nations, as

they represent the mechanisms through which the

international community coordinates the

implementation of plans for achieving international

peace and security, comprehensive sustainable

development and prosperity for mankind.

At the apex of these institutions stands the

Security Council. All countries continue to call for its

reform by expanding its permanent and non-permanent

membership, in order to make it more representative of

the current membership of the United Nations. They

also call for reform of the Council's working methods

and decision-making mechanisms, in order to render it

more democratic and transparent.

We share the Secretary-General's view, expressed

in his report to the Millennium Summit, that the main

challenge we face today is how to transform

globalization into a positive power that benefits all the

peoples of the world. The great scientific and

technological achievements of the last millennium

constitute the common heritage of mankind. We call on

the international community to work out the necessary

guarantees to prevent these achievements from being

turned into a monopoly of knowledge or cultural and

intellectual domination or from being used as a means

to achieve political and economic hegemony or widen

the scientific and technological gap between countries

of the North and countries of the South. While we

welcome protection of these scientific and

technological achievements as elements of intellectual

property, we call upon our development partners to

make this great wealth available to all humanity and to

enable the developing countries to use such innovations

in overcoming the chronic problems of production,

food, health, education and the environment.

The right to development is a basic human right.

In order to guarantee that right it is imperative that we

establish a democratic, just and transparent world

economic order that ensures fair terms of trade between

poor and rich countries, increases the level of official

development assistance to poor countries and alleviates

the debt burden crushing those countries. This is the

only viable means to enable the developing countries to

benefit from the aspects and opportunities that

globalization and the revolution in information

technology offer — benefits that are still monopolized

by a very small minority of the population of our

globe.

In this regard, Sudan looks forward to the United

Nations financing for development event and the Third

United Nations Conference on the Least Developed

Countries, which are scheduled to take place next year.

We sincerely hope that their results will receive the

effective implementation they deserve by all United

Nations agencies.

This year the General Assembly convened two

special sessions to follow up the results of the Beijing

World Conference on Women and the Copenhagen

World Summit for Social Development. Despite the

remarkable achievements realized by national

Governments and the international community in

implementation of the commitments contained in the

documents resulting from those gatherings, the

majority of those commitments were not realized, for

several reasons, foremost being the failure to fulfil the

financial commitments undertaken in Beijing and

Copenhagen and the excessive debt burden and debt

service commitments of the developing and least

developed countries.

We also call for more support for efforts made by

developing countries to eradicate ever-increasing

poverty and all pandemic and epidemic diseases such

as malaria and HIV/AIDS, especially in Africa.

Sudan looks forward to participating effectively

in the World Conference against Racism to be held next

year in South Africa. We believe that this important

conference will help us tackle crucial issues very dear

to the human race. My country also intends to

participate in the special session of the General

Assembly to review the results and achievement of the

goals of the World Summit for Children.

Recently, the President of the Republic of Sudan

established an advisory body, attached to his office, in

24

charge of women's and children's affairs. This step is

yet further proof of the special importance that the

President attaches to the issues of women and children

and his incessant work to strengthen achievements in

this field.

We view with great interest the report (A/55/305)

of the Panel of Experts prepared by Mr. Brahimi on

peacekeeping operations, because of its importance and

the new ideas and proposals it contains on the

containment and prevention of conflicts and on

peacekeeping operations. Our delegation will certainly

participate in the discussion of this report in the

General Assembly and relevant Committees. In this

connection, we emphasize the need to set clear

mandates for peacekeeping operations, ensuring the

consent of the country receiving peacekeeping

operations and providing the necessary resources for

such operations in order to ensure their success and to

avoid any possible dangers and setbacks.

My delegation expresses its deep concern about

the difficulties facing the peace process in the Middle

East. In this respect, we reiterate the importance of

total Israeli withdrawal from all occupied Arab

territories in accordance with United Nations

resolutions, in order to enable the Palestinian people to

restore full sovereignty to their territories, to establish

their independent State with Holy Jerusalem as its

capital and to enable the Syrian Arab Republic to

reinstate sovereignty over the Golan Heights. We are

convinced that without implementation of these

resolutions, stability in this important region will never

be realized and will remain a mere dream. In this

context, we commend the resistance and heroic

struggle of the people of Lebanon in the liberation of

their territories.

The call to reform the international sanctions

regime is gaining more momentum within the Security

Council and other United Nations bodies, because the

negative effects of sanctions have compounded the

suffering of the peoples of the countries subjected to

them, in particular vulnerable groups such as children,

women and the elderly. The most horrible and dreadful

aspects of the negative impacts of sanctions are seen

among the Iraqi people. We add our voice to ongoing

efforts to lift these sanctions.

Sudan also reaffirms the importance of

maintaining the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq,

and rejects any measures taken outside the scope of

United Nations resolutions and international

legitimacy. At the same time, Sudan reaffirms the need

to respect and comply with all United Nations

resolutions and to respect the sovereignty of Kuwait,

and calls for a just and urgent solution to the issue of

Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti prisoners, through

cooperation and understanding between the parties

concerned. We believe that it is high time to lift all

sanctions imposed on the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya,

since it has complied with and fulfilled all its

obligations regarding the Lockerbie incident.

We view with satisfaction the recent positive

developments in the Horn of Africa, namely, the

ceasefire agreement reached between our two sisterly

neighbours, Eritrea and Ethiopia. We hope this

agreement will culminate in a lasting peace between

the two parties, and we should like to commend the

efforts deployed by President Bouteflika of Algeria

towards that end.

We should also like to hail and commend the

efforts of Djibouti and its President Ismail Omar

Guelleh to achieve national reconciliation and restore

stability to the Republic of Somalia. The Sudan,

represented by President Omer Hassan Ahmed

Al-Bashir, participated in the inauguration ceremony of

Abdihassim Salad Hassan as President of the Republic

of Somalia. We call on the United Nations and the

international community to support efforts to restore

peace, stability and security to Somalia under its

elected leadership.

While we fully understand the concerns of the

international community about the ongoing conflict in

the southern Sudan, we should like to recall that the

Sudan is waging a war imposed by a rebel movement

seeking to undermine its territorial integrity and the

safety and security of its people. We should also like to

recall that it was the Government of the Sudan that

initially invited the United Nations to undertake the

task of coordinating international humanitarian

assistance for citizens affected by this conflict.

Ten years have elapsed since the implementation

of the Agreement known as Operation Lifeline Sudan.

However, it has had to be reviewed because of repeated

violations of its terms by the rebel movement and some

other organizations participating in this process.

In this regard, it is my honour to express our deep

appreciation and gratitude to Secretary-General Kofi

Annan and to his Special Envoy, Ambassador Tom

25

Vraalsen, as well as to the personnel of the Office for

the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) for

the understanding they have shown regarding the

Government's demands for ensuring impartiality and

transparency, as well as for determining the obligations

of all parties to the agreement and ensuring the fair

allocation of humanitarian assistance among citizens

affected by the conflict on both sides. It is on the basis

of this understanding that the Government has

committed itself to ensure the safety and protection of

all relief agency personnel operating in the southern

Sudan.

We believe it is our duty to brief the Assembly on

the current humanitarian situation in the Bahr el Ghazal

area in the southern Sudan, where the rebel movement

has recently increased its violations of the partial

ceasefire. This has created obstacles and security

complications that impeded the delivery of

humanitarian relief to affected citizens in that area. We

therefore urge the Assembly to bring pressure to bear

on the rebel movement to stop using civilian

populations and locations, such as hospitals and

schools, as human shields and to fulfil its obligations

by halting all military operations in order to ensure

unhindered relief operations to all affected populations

and to avert a humanitarian tragedy similar to the one

endured by Bahr el Ghazal in the first quarter of 1998.

The Government of the Sudan has reaffirmed its

commitment to reach a just and lasting political

solution to the conflict in the southern Sudan based on

the Intergovernmental Authority on Development

(IGAD) initiative and to respond to other initiatives

intended to solve other problems. Nonetheless, these

peace efforts have not succeeded because of the

intransigence of the rebel movement, which continues

to renege on its obligations, undermining any

agreement reached.

This is clearly reflected in the position of the

rebel movement regarding the ceasefire, which it

continues to violate, as well as its continued rejection

of the call by the Government for a lasting,

comprehensive ceasefire — a call that has received

wide support from the international community, the

IGAD partners and several other United Nations

agencies, as well as regional and international

groupings.

President Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir

reaffirmed in his address to the Millennium Summit the

commitment of the Government of the Sudan to a just

and lasting political solution based on the following.

First, there should be an immediate and comprehensive

ceasefire in order to facilitate the delivery of

humanitarian assistance to the needy and to create a

conducive atmosphere and confidence-building

measures for the success of the peace efforts. Secondly,

there should be direct negotiations on the basis of

current peace initiatives, specifically, the IGAD

process, which provides a negotiating forum for the

Government and the rebel movement, as well as the

joint Egyptian/Libyan initiative, which is aimed at

achieving a comprehensive resolution to all of the

Sudan's problems with the participation of the

Government, the rebel movement and the opposition in

and outside the Sudan. Thirdly, a comprehensive

peaceful settlement should be reached in order to lay

the foundation for a fair distribution of power and

wealth, establish rights and duties based on citizenship

and guarantee total adherence to international standards

and instruments of democracy and human rights.

In addition to efforts being deployed to solve the

military conflict in the southern Sudan, the

Government continues to make efforts towards national

reconciliation through direct and indirect contacts with

opposition groups. Agreement has been reached to hold

a comprehensive national conference in which all

political and social denominations and factions will

take part in order to discuss national unity, freedom,

democracy and the system of government. The

conference is expected to agree on a national charter

that will provide the basis for a system of government

characterized by pluralism, freedoms and peaceful

transfer of power.

The Government has taken the initiative of

organizing a preparatory meeting for this conference in

Khartoum, and a national preparatory committee has

been formed. This will be followed by another

preparatory meeting to be held in Cairo to determine

the agenda, date and venue of the inclusive national

conference. It is my pleasure to commend the efforts of

the Governments of Egypt and the Libyan Arab

Jamahiriya in this regard.

While efforts for peace and reconciliation are

being pursued, the Government is undertaking the

necessary legal and administrative measures to

establish a democratic, pluralistic system that provides

all the necessary freedoms. The Government is also

preparing to hold parliamentary and presidential

26

elections, and has invited and welcomed the

participation of international and regional

organizations to supervise these elections.

In the economic field, the Government continues

to implement programmes of reform and liberalization

of the economy and is encouraging local and foreign

investment. In this context, it is my pleasure to inform

the Assembly that the Executive Board of the

International Monetary Fund decided at its meeting last

August in Washington to resume full cooperation with

the Sudan.

The Sudan has also managed to normalize its

relations with other international and regional financial

institutions, and hopes that the flow of foreign aid and

foreign direct investment to the Sudan will enable it to

overcome its economic difficulties and relieve its debt

burden. We have also started preparations to draw up a

development strategy for the coming decade, which

will concentrate on poverty alleviation and on

providing basic health services, education and rural

development. Revenues from the export of petroleum

will be earmarked for socio-economic development

programmes.

It has now been two years since the United States

military aggression on the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical

factory in the Sudan, which resulted in the total

destruction of an important medical facility that used to

produce more than half of the Sudan's needs for basic

and life-saving medicines. The debris of that factory

and the effects of the missile attack by the United

States still bear witness to what happens when the

military might of a super-Power is used irresponsibly.

It is ironic that the same super-Power that claims to be

a pioneer in protecting and safeguarding international

peace and security and the principles of international

law should resort to such an action. This gathering will

recall that immediately after that aggression, the Sudan

called on the Security Council to send a fact-finding

mission to verify United States allegations concerning

the factory and its financing. Yet despite the fact that

the whole world, and indeed several media

organizations inside the United States, have cast doubts

on United States allegations about the Al-Shifa factory,

the United States Administration continues to maintain

its position, contrary to all facts, thus insisting on

justifying a wrong that has deprived the people of the

Sudan, especially the vulnerable and children, of a

source of medicine at affordable prices — less than

half of what those medicines cost on the international

market.

Convinced that rights do not die, we shall

continue our efforts to urge the international

community, the Security Council and the General

Assembly to send a mission to verify United States

allegations, and we trust that our just cause has the

support of all peace-loving countries that guard these

noble principles. We wish here to call on the United

States Administration not to use its position in the

Security Council to block the sending of a fact-finding

mission that will show the world the truth and expose

the unwarranted aggression against a basic health

facility.

The peaceful settlement of disputes is a principal

objective and cardinal role of the United Nations. The

Sudan adheres to this objective and seeks to realize it

in the conduct of its foreign relations at all levels.

Based on this position, and in order to realize this

noble objective, the Sudan has continuously committed

itself to respect for the norms of international law as

the only way to settle disputes and to maintain

international peace and security.

The Sudan is today one of only 62 States that

have fully accepted the jurisdiction of the International

Court of Justice. Furthermore, the Sudan, during the

Millennium Summit, signed the 1998 Rome Statute of

the International Criminal Court and deposited its

instrument of ratification for the 1997 International

Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings.

By ratifying this treaty, the Sudan has become one of a

few countries that have completed the process of

ratification and adherence to all international

conventions to combat international terrorism. This is

indeed a source of pride to us. We believe the

Assembly will agree that this record qualifies the

Sudan to make all possible contributions to maintaining

peace and security through the highest specialized

institutions.

Since it became a Member of the United Nations

following its independence in 1956, the Sudan has

continued to work in collaboration with the other

Member States in order to develop and sustain

international cooperation to realize the objectives of

the Charter in all fields. The Sudan looks forward to

pursuing this role in another important forum as a non-

permanent member of the Security Council for the

period 2001-2002, for the first time in 28 years.

27

The candidature of Sudan has been endorsed and

supported by the African continent, represented in the

African Group in New York, as well as by the Council

of Ministers of the Organization of African Unity

(OAU) at the OAU summit in Togo last July. The

Sudan looks forward with confidence and optimism to

obtaining the support and endorsement of all United

Nations Members for its candidature in the elections

that will take place in the General Assembly in the

coming weeks.