Egypt, 2013

It gives me

pleasure to congratulate Mr. John Ashe and his friendly

country, Antigua and Barbuda, upon his assumption

of the presidency of the General Assembly at its sixty-

eighth session. I take this opportunity to express my

sincere appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Vuk

Jeremi. of Serbia, for his efforts during the previous

session.

I reiterate our support to the Secretary-General as

he strives to realize the purposes and principles of the

Charter. I also welcome the choice of “The post-2015

development agenda: setting the stage” as the main

theme of this session, considering the high priority that

the United Nations and the peoples of the world accord

to the achievement of development in all its dimensions.

Allow me to deviate from customary practice for

a debate in the General Assembly by conveying to

the Assembly a message that comes not only from the

President of Egypt, Mr. Adly Mansour, but from the

people of my country — the Egyptians who laid the

foundations of human civilization and have recently

inspired peoples around the world.

Egypt holds a unique position in the history of

humankind, past and present. Its status, role and influence

derive essentially from its culture and civilization. It

would have been a historical inconsistency had the will

of the Egyptians remained shackled at the dawn of a

new century, and had our youth remained deprived of

the right to design their own destiny and future. It was

therefore natural for our people to take to the streets on

25 January 2011 to declare their determination to build

a democratic and modern State in which their children

could enjoy freedom, dignity and social justice.

This is the Egypt that millions of my countrymen

and women chose then — the same Egypt they yearned

for on 30 June 2013. In doing so, they showed the world

that the will of the people cannot be broken and that it

can grant authority, just as it can remove it from the

hands of those who abuse it.

The Egyptians have an ambitious vision for the

future that can be achieved by working systematically

in a reasonable time frame. Its success is based on a

society that is open to all peaceful political currents,

that pluralistically embraces the diversity of all its

members, and that inclusively ensures the equal rights

and duties of all citizens through the rule of law and

equality before justice. The principles and practices of

this vision are consistent with the fundamental rules

that govern democratic practices throughout the world,

in particular respect for peaceful dialogue, the rejection

of violence, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

Our conviction that Egyptians have the right to

fulfil such a vision underpins the road map that Egypt

has been implementing since 3 July. That road map

includes a national agenda to build the institutions of a

democratic State in a specific time frame. All Egyptians

are invited to participate in all phases of the political

process, as long as they are committed to renouncing

violence and terrorism or incitement thereto.

Work is under way, in line with the road map, on

several tracks. To date, it has succeeded in establishing

the principles of justice, freedom and democracy as

bases for governance. Work is under way on the new

constitution, to be followed by parliamentary elections

and presidential elections, bringing the transitional

phase to an end by next spring. We are determined to

fully implement the road map. This requires us to give

the utmost priority to preserving security, enforcing

the law and countering any attempts to intimidate

or humiliate us or hinder our efforts. Some parts of

Egypt were recently hit by desperate terrorist attacks.

Among their victims were Egyptians from all walks of

life — men and women, young and old, Muslims and

non-Muslims. Those hideous acts of terrorism sought

to undermine the democratic process and to destroy

our economy. I would like to emphasize and reiterate

in the strongest terms our full confidence that the brave

Egyptian people, who succeeded in imposing their

will, can eradicate terrorism within the framework of

the rule of law. I trust that the international community

will stand firmly with the Egyptian people in the fight

against those who commit or advocate for violence, and

will accept no attempt to justify or tolerate it.

I take this opportunity to convey my deep

condolences to the Government and the people of

Kenya and Pakistan on the loss of innocent lives as a

result of the latest terrorist attack.

The message I am carrying from Egyptians,

particularly our youth, who are joining me here today

and representing their ancient country, would not be

complete without mentioning Egypt’s aspirations to

enjoy more democratic international relations and

stronger ties of cooperation between our people and

the rest of the world. Those relations should be based

on the principles of independence, mutual respect

and non-interference in the internal affairs of other

countries and on a foreign policy founded on equality

and a constructive, civilized vision for the future.

Egypt’s foreign policy is now a reflection of the will

of our people, and it is formulated in line with our

national interests and security with no regard to any

other consideration.

We fully recognize that Egypt’s national security

is linked to the security and concerns of our Arab

nation. Given its geographical location, history and

identity, Egypt is committed to continuing to defend

the interests of its African continent, to address the

issues of importance to the Islamic world, to spread

the Islamic values of moderation and tolerance, and to

promote dialogue among divine religions. Egypt also

remains committed to tackling the challenges facing

the South at a time when the world is witnessing an

imbalance of power.

I would now like to briefly highlight Egypt’s

position on several issues of high priority in our foreign

policy.

In Syria, the tragedy has now extended to the resort

to chemical weapons. We strongly condemn their use

and support the agreement reached between the Russian

Federation and the United States, as well as Security

Council resolution 2118 (2013). While the humanitarian

crisis resulting from the fighting continues to intensify,

the Syrian State itself is on the verge of disintegration.

It is imperative to reach a political solution as soon

as possible that would establish the freedom, dignity

and democracy to which the people of Syria aspire

and preserve the unity of the State. We hope that can

be achieved through the holding of the “Geneva II”

conference, so that a transitional authority can be put in

place to end the civil war and the foreign interventions

that we have long warned against.

The Palestinian question remains the main source

of tension in our region. Palestine is still suffering

the effects of the ongoing Israeli occupation of Arab

territories and the intensification of settlement activities.

The hope for achieving a two-State solution was until

recently on the verge of fading away irrevocably.

Given that bleak scenario, we welcome and appreciate

the recent efforts of the United States to advance the

resumption of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The

commitment of both sides to engaging in a process of

time-bound negotiations is a significant development.

We should all support the ongoing negotiations so that

they may lead to the final settlement of the Palestinian

question, which has continued since the past century.

Egypt will continue to support the right of the

Palestinian people to self-determination and the

establishment of an independent and sovereign State,

with East Jerusalem as its capital, on all the territories

of the West Bank and Gaza and in accordance with the

Arab Peace Initiative and the relevant terms of reference.

I reiterate that the needs of the Gaza population must

be met. The failure to do so has become politically

and morally unacceptable. We therefore call on Israel

and the international community to shoulder their

responsibilities and ensure that the Palestinians in Gaza

have access to basic supplies. We are ready to cooperate

with the Palestinian authority and all concerned parties

to agree on appropriate arrangements that guarantee

the delivery of provisions in legal and transparent ways.

The Assembly will agree that a new Middle East

will not emerge until the right to equal security is

ensured and the threats posed by the existence in our

region of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass

destruction are eliminated. The situation threatens

the credibility of the non-proliferation regime and the

United Nations. For that reason, and to preserve that

credibility, I would like to introduce to the Assembly

today an initiative consisting of the following steps.

First, we must invite all countries of the Middle

East and the five permanent members of the Security

Council to deposit official letters with the Secretary-

General stating their support for declaring the Middle

East a region free from nuclear, chemical and biological

weapons of mass destruction.

Secondly, the countries of the region that have not

signed or ratified any of the international conventions

on weapons of mass destruction should commit, before

the end of 2013, to simultaneously signing and ratifying

the relevant conventions. They should also deposit

documentation of their accession to those conventions

with the Security Council. I invite the Secretary-

General to coordinate such steps so that they are carried

out simultaneously to ensure their success.

Those actions translate into the following. Israel

must accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation

of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear State, ratify the

Chemical Weapons Convention, and sign and ratify the

Biological Weapons Convention. Syria must ratify the

Biological Weapons Convention and take the remaining

steps it has pledged to take in relation to the Chemical

Weapons Convention. Egypt must ratify the Biological

Weapons Convention and sign and ratify the Chemical

Weapons Convention, provided that all countries of

the Middle East complete measures of accession to the

international conventions prohibiting weapons of mass

destruction and related arrangements and treaties.

Thirdly, we must pursue international efforts to

ensure that the delayed 2012 conference to establish a

Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction

is convened as soon as possible, preferably before the

end of 2013 and by the spring of 2014 at the latest.

Egypt’s roots go deep in Africa. We are proud of

the many positive changes that Africa has witnessed

and of the strides the continent has taken towards

democracy and development. Yet Africa remains in

need of concerted national, regional and international

efforts to enable the continent to resolve its conflicts

and challenges. Accordingly, Egypt will soon establish

an Egyptian agency for development partnership. Most

of its future resources will be directed to African

countries so that they can benefit from Egyptian

technical expertise and assets.

We cannot talk about democracy in current

international relations and the rule of law at the

international level unless comprehensive and

substantial reform of the United Nations takes place,

so that the Organization is better able to respond to

challenges and to meet the aspirations of peoples

worldwide. The only logical and sound way to achieve

that desired outcome is the reform and expansion of the

Security Council. Egypt therefore renews its call for

an end to the monopoly of permanent members over

the decision-making process in the Council and for

the rectification of the historical injustice inflicted on

Africa. The continent does not have a permanent seat

on the Council and is poorly represented in the category

of non-permanent members. Africa will not renounce

its demands to obtain the permanent membership it

deserves, as specified in the Ezulwini Consensus and

the Sirte Declaration.

In conclusion, I would like to highlight our

priority issues within the United Nations system. They

include strengthening the international human rights

framework, addressing the absence of democracy in

international relations, accelerating the achievement of

the Millennium Development Goals, realizing nuclear

disarmament and fighting corruption, including

recovering the assets stolen by key members of the

regimes recently brought down by our peoples. We

reiterate that we are determined to continue empowering

women nationally and internationally, to protecting

human rights, and to allowing our youth to contribute

effectively to the elaboration of Egypt’s vision for the

world and for its future.

I take this opportunity to welcome the appointment

a few months ago by the Secretary-General of a Special

Envoy on Youth who comes from the Arab world. We

must also exert concerted efforts at the international

level to combat terrorism and strengthen the capacity

of the United Nations to coordinate those efforts and

address the root causes of terrorism.

In conclusion, I truly hope that the message I have

delivered on behalf of the people and the President of

Egypt has been received by the Assembly today. I also

hope that the aspirations it identified will be realized so

that we may achieve progress, peace and development

and that next year we may reap the fruits of our labour.