Egypt, 2003



At the outset, Sir, I should like to convey to you, both

personally and in your capacity as a representative of

your country, Saint Lucia, my sincere congratulations

on your election to the presidency of the General

Assembly at its fifty-eighth session. I am confident that

you will lead its work with efficiency and skill. I

should also like to take this opportunity to pay tribute

to your predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan of the Czech

Republic, for his remarkable and effective contribution

to the results achieved during the last session, results

we value and seek to deepen further.

We meet today at a critical juncture in world

history. More than ever before, we need to chart and

define clearly the path we wish to take to avert the

confusion of concepts and the undermining of

established principles. Doubts have been raised about

the United Nations and its role; attempts have been

made to circumvent it and ignore the fact that it was

born out of the world's tragic experience in the first

half of the previous century. From that experience, the

world drew the necessary lessons concerning the need

for collective action to solve problems, to prevent wars

and to enable peoples to rule themselves and to

cooperate for a better future.

I believe that the time is now past for such

doubts. Everyone has come to realize the importance of

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taking action through the Organization in a spirit of

cooperation and solidarity. That is the only way to save

the world from new divisions and scourges. That new

development places new responsibilities on us all to

cooperate within the United Nations in a spirit that

seeks unity rather than division, cooperation rather than

conflict, real solutions to problems rather than ways of

addressing them without justice and respect for the

Charter, thus lacking legitimacy and effectiveness.

Commitment to the Charter and to international

law is the safety valve for the international community.

The role of the United Nations cannot be reduced to the

role of the Security Council alone and to the questions

that it can or cannot address. In our opinion, the United

Nations is much larger than that; its contributions

embrace all the elements of the wide-ranging and

complex international agenda.

In that regard, we reiterate that challenges such as

terrorism and illicit drugs, diseases, disarmament,

protection of the environment, AIDS and achieving

sustainable development can be met only through

coordinated action in which all States, large and small,

act within an international framework that enjoys

legitimacy and is conducive to the attainment of

common objectives.

In that connection, I should like to pay tribute to

the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, for his

distinguished role and his continuing efforts in

strengthening the purposes and principles of the United

Nations to enable the Organization to shoulder its

responsibilities and to achieve its goals. Kofi Annan

played a significant role in returning the Organization

to the centre of events. In the course of United Nations

efforts to carry out its noble principles, many of its

staff members lose their lives. In the recent tragic

events in Baghdad, Egypt lost two of its and brave

nationals who had been working ably in the service of

the Organization's principles.

Tragic events have struck many countries and

peoples. Foremost among them were the events of 11

September 2001, which afflicted the friendly people of

the United States of America events that we fully

condemn and deplore. In the midst of the agony and

anxiety generated by such events, inescapable

conclusions have been reached: we must unite in

combating terrorism on realistic, sound and legitimate

bases; we must avoid confusing terrorism with certain

legitimate acts that are inspired by the wish to break

the shackles of occupation, domination and injustice;

and we must understand that the desire to combat

terrorism must not become the only yardstick for

judgement.

Experience has proven that in combating

terrorism we must not fail to see that it is not a product

of one of the world's major cultures. We must not

ignore the fact that terrorism is not confined to a

certain region and that the fight against it must not be

restricted to the perspective of security or politics

alone. Terrorism is by nature a multifaceted

phenomenon. As such, it must be dealt with in a

comprehensive manner that encompasses its political,

economic, security, legal and psychological aspects, as

well as the conditions exploited by some to justify it.

The United Nations has proven its ability to

coordinate international efforts and to achieve tangible

results in this field. Egypt has participated seriously in

all activities aimed at strengthening international

efforts against terrorism. This has been Egypt's

objective all along. In 1995, Egypt launched President

Hosni Mubarak's initiative to convene a high-level

international conference under United Nations auspices

to consider ways and means to combat terrorism. This

initiative gave expression to Egypt's keen interest in

supporting the international efforts aimed at reaching a

clear and precise understanding of the fight against

terrorism, including through special negotiations on the

comprehensive convention to combat international

terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The

Egyptian initiative must not be construed as a chance

for protracted polemics or disagreement that clouds our

objective. On the contrary, it is a call to frame a

document that expresses the international political will

and reflects the international resolve to eradicate the

scourge of terrorism, to restore peace and security,

along with justice and stability, and to clarify the

responsibilities of each and every member of the

international community.

Our world today is facing numerous challenges

regionally and internationally. There are challenges to

the logic of fairness, justice and peace and challenges

related to the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction and the slow pace of international action in

the field of nuclear disarmament. We are witnessing

tendencies to consecrate the right to possess, develop,

and modernize nuclear weapons. Some States still cling

to the obsolete doctrines of deterrence and attempt to

find justifications for the use of nuclear weapons.

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Therefore, it has become necessary to widen the

establishment of zones that are free of weapons of mass

destruction. In this regard, I recall Egypt's repeated

assertions, in all international forums, that rendering

the Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction,

particularly nuclear weapons, in a comprehensive

framework that applies to all without exception or

discrimination, is the only way to spare the region and

the world the dangers that threaten all our

achievements and all that we strive to achieve. It is

unacceptable that Israel's possession of such weapons

should remain a reality that some prefer to ignore or

should prevent the international community in Vienna,

New York or elsewhere from facing it fairly and

squarely.

The Middle East region continues to suffer from

the absence of peace. There were high hopes that the

historical reconciliation between the Palestinian and

Israeli peoples was within reach after the Oslo accords,

the parties' mutual recognition and the subsequent

agreements and negotiations. Yet the efforts failed

every time, seemingly because the Israeli party does

not yet fully share the conviction of all, expressed by

President George Bush and the Quartet, that the

solution lies in the establishment of an independent

Palestinian State, within the 1967 borders, that would

live side by side with Israel in peace and security.

The Palestinian people continue to be subjected

to oppression, provocation, and aggression. They

continue to languish under the oppression of a cruel

and unfair occupation that generates feelings of despair

and frustration and leads to a spiral of violence and

counter-violence whose victims are innocent civilians.

It is high time for the international community to

reiterate its call to the parties to return to the

negotiating table in order to implement the principles

of international legality and to achieve a just peace in

the entire Middle Eastern region on the basis of a

complete withdrawal to the 1967 borders and of respect

for rights. Egypt has continually made efforts to

achieve that objective in Palestine, the Govan and in

the occupied Lebanese territories, confident that the

logic of peace will prevail over the logic of aggression

and that the resolve of the people who yearn for a

peace that achieves security and opens the door for

development will prevail over those who continue to

harbour ambitions of expansion and aggression and

thus put the interests of their peoples in danger. They

will bear a heavy responsibility for that.

The situation in Iraq is cause for grave concern.

We reaffirm anew the need for respect for the

sovereignty, independence, and territorial integrity of

Iraq, as well as the need to create conditions conducive

to the earliest possible withdrawal of the occupying

forces and the assumption by the United Nations of a

central role in assisting the Iraqis in the political and

economic reconstruction of their State. Egypt affirms

its readiness to contribute to the reconstruction process,

in accordance with the wishes and needs of the Iraqi

people and in cooperation with the rest of the

international community, under the aegis of the United

Nations. We look forward to the day when the

aspirations of the Iraqi people are realised and when it

becomes an effective and free partner working with its

Arab brothers for a better future.

Egypt welcomes the recent agreement between

the government of the Sudan and the Sudanese

People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), an agreement

that paves the way for a consolidated effort towards a

better future for the people of a united Sudan and one

that ensures equality, security and prosperity for all its

citizens. Egypt calls upon the international community

to assist in securing the implementation of this

agreement. The profound and eternal ties and relations

between Egypt and the Sudan and our firm belief in the

commonality of the hopes we entertain and the threats

we face impel us to be in the vanguard of action for the

achievement of that lofty goal. It alone can guarantee

the maintenance of the interests of the Sudanese people

as a whole, as well as the interests of the Arab world

and the African continent.

Egypt believes that cooperation for development

is the cornerstone of multilateral international action.

The eradication of poverty is a moral, human, and

political responsibility shared by the countries of the

North and the South. It is the shortest route to

achieving international peace and security. A fair look

at the international economic situation must conclude

that it is impossible to accept the continuation of the

current imbalance in the distribution of wealth among

the peoples of the Earth. Equally impossible to accept

are the lack of democracy in international economic

decision-making, the grave fluctuations in the

efficiency of the work of the world financial markets,

the unfair trade practices against the interests of

developing countries and the policies that lead to

recurrent financial crises which eliminate, in a few

days, the achievements of decades of great sacrifice.

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We regret that the Cancun Conference was unable to

produce the desired and previously agreed outcome of

affording developing countries a real opportunity to

benefit from liberalization based on balanced trade.

Instead, it made liberalization an obstacle to the efforts

of developing countries to promote growth and

development under difficult and complex

circumstances.

Egypt has welcomed the outcome of United

Nations conferences and summits, including the

Millennium Summit Declaration, and has called for full

implementation of the letter and spirit of the decisions

adopted. Hence, we view with satisfaction the decision

of the General Assembly at its last session to consider

in 2005 at a high level the implementation of the

outcomes of international summits and conferences.

Globalization, with the hope it brings for

international cooperation that benefits all, could turn, if

misused, into an attempt at domination, thereby

exacerbating the structural flaws in the international

system at both the economic and political levels.

Hence, there is a need for measures to increase the

effectiveness of international institutions and to

achieve good governance, which is as necessary on the

international level as it is on the national level, and to

create a favourable economic environment. There is

also a need to adopt a comprehensive package of

reforms that includes international finance and for

mutual respect among cultures and civilizations so that

dialogue and cooperation can benefit all and can

promote understanding between nations and peoples.

While urging the United Nations to continue its

efforts in the promotion of international cooperation

for development, Egypt stresses the importance of

taking the cultural diversity of societies into account. It

is also important to seek acceptance of the other as an

equal partner in discourse without the imposition of

certain models. At the same time, we reiterate that this

cooperation must be the fruit of a new philosophy that

posits the common destiny of mankind in a unified and

interactive manner, whereby if one part suffers, the rest

will subsequently suffer. The repercussions of the

economic and social problems in a given country or

continent can no longer be confined to a single place.

Rather, these repercussions now swiftly find their way

to the rest of the world.

The United Nations should place the situation in

Africa among its top priorities, in view of the political,

economic, social, and environmental challenges facing

it, as well as the outbreak of armed conflicts, spread of

deadly epidemics and plunder of the riches and

resources of peoples, whether directly or indirectly

through the imbalance in trade and economic relations.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development

(NEPAD) constitutes a new starting point to change the

standard of living in Africa. It is an initiative created

by the Africans themselves, based on their own vision

of their reality, needs and the great hopes of the

African peoples for a better future and their wish to be

partners with the world for the sake of development

and progress. Egypt reaffirms the need to implement

the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly last

year, which took NEPAD as a framework for

development in Africa. Egypt calls for the development

programmes of international organizations to be

adapted to the priorities set by NEPAD. Egypt urges

donor countries and economic organizations and

institutions to provide support to the African countries

for the implementation of NEPAD and the achievement

of its desired objectives.

African countries have already established within

the African Union the machinery required for the

implementation of the initiative. The international

community is called upon to help bridge the financial

gap that impedes the achievement of poverty reduction

in Africa. This should be done through a prompt and

comprehensive approach.

Egypt's belief in the centrality of the role of the

United Nations in the world, now and in the future,

impels it to reaffirm the urgent need to develop and

increase the Organization's effectiveness. This includes

the reform of its main organs, particularly the General

Assembly and the Security Council. We all agree that

there is a need for reform and that this reform is a long

process. Many of the steps towards reform have been

implemented. However, much remains to be done to

strengthen collective and international action through

the revitalization of the General Assembly and reform

of the working methods of the Security Council. All

States should be given ample opportunity to shoulder

the responsibilities of membership in the Council.

Therefore, we continue to support a

comprehensive approach to the reform of the Security

Council and believe that this process should be based

on two main guidelines: a commitment to the overall

concept of reform and the rejection of a policy of

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taking small steps in one direction or another. The

Open-ended Working Group of the General

Assembly the only open and transparent forum

available for the consideration of this important

subject should also continue its consideration of this

matter and abide by its mandate.

The dangers that beset us all make it imperative

for us to rally around the lofty principles established

under the Charter of our Organization. We must

translate our belief in those principles into continuous

work that transcends greedy ambitions, hatreds,

illusions and the desire for domination and hegemony.

Our work must proceed from a belief in the equal

rights and duties of peoples. Thus we will achieve the

hopes of the peoples of the Earth and spare them

hardship and suffering.

The path towards that objective lies in the

commitment to United Nations resolutions and the

cessation of attempts to ignore, circumvent or adapt

them to serve purposes incompatible with the Charter

and with law and justice. If we uphold those principles,

we will all be victors. The only vanquished ones will

be the forces of evil and aggression, which will be

defeated by our peoples' hopes for a more just and

secure world for all.