Jordan, 1992

It gives me

great pleasure to extend to you, on behalf of my country. Sir, warm

congratulations on your election to the post of President of the forty-seventh

session of the General Assembly. You represent a friendly nation with which

my country has ties of friendship and cooperation. Your wealth of experience

and competence will help bring our work to a successful conclusion and achieve

the desired results.

It also gives me great pleasure to extend our thanks and appreciation to

your predecessor, Mr. Samir Shihabi, who, with his abundant skill, experience

and patience, was able to conduct the business of our past session with

particular success.

May I also have the pleasure, at the beginning of my statement, to

express my sincere thanks and deep gratitude to Mr. Boutros Boutros-Ghali, the

Secretary-General, for his unremitting efforts to enhance the role of the

United Nations and its Secretariat and make it more effective in the service

of international peace and security, as well as in facing up to the challenges

and addressing the issues that have arisen with the end of the cold-war era. I

would also like to commend his well thought-out and comprehensive report on

the work of the Organization which indicates the new and auspicious direction

of the United Nations under his guidance.

The forty-seventh session is convened at a time when several new States

have been admitted to membership of the United Nations, thereby enhancing the

universality of this Organization. I welcome all of them and look forward to

their contribution in the pursuit of the objectives and principles of the

United Nations Charter.

Given its awareness of the interdependent character of the world we live

in and its belief in dialogue, diplomacy and negotiations as the ideal and,

indeed, the only means of resolving international disputes, my country looks

forward to cooperation with all Members of the United Nations with a view to

moving human society to yet higher levels of progress, stability and growth.

Over the past few years, the world has undergone many historic and

unprecedented changes which have tended to encourage democratization and the

promotion of freedoms, the rule of law, respect for human rights and the

pursuit of progress and development. While the end of the ideological

confrontation between East and West has brought about a new state of

international harmony at a certain level, yet it seems that the conflict was a

lid that covered a great deal of smouldering embers under the ashes. The

confrontation had hardly ended when certain primitive tendencies reared their

heads. Some of those tendencies are tribal, some are ethnic and others are

religious. None of them augurs well for a very rosy future for many regions

of the world. This is a situation that calls for collective action under the

auspices of this Organization to rationalize the transition, and thereby, to

contain those tensions, in their various forms, within acceptable humanitarian

contexts.

Our world is now going through a phase of transition from one era to

another, where the changes are taking place at an astonishingly rapid pace

that has left behind many cultural, social and political principles that many

groups in human society continue to hang on to as if they were eternal. This

makes it imperative that we act to create a mechanism to facilitate and manage

the transition, which is, perhaps, the most difficult period in the lives of

communities as well as in the lives of the individuals.

There is enough wisdom in this world and in the Secretariat of this

Organization in particular, to make us in Jordan look forward to a better

future. Jordan does not accept the argument that modern technology, which has

compressed the world into a global village, has led to the opposite of what

was expected of it. We do not subscribe to the view of those who maintain

that it has led to ideological ossification and has bred an attitude of

indifference to the pains, hopes and aspirations of others.

Proceeding from this, Jordan, a State that may be small in size but big

in leadership, wishes to share with you a futuristic vision of a world that

now stands at the threshold of the twenty-first century. We feel that we may

be justified in this by the fact that we are a State that, since its

inception, has committed itself to the straight path of justice and pursued a

policy that eschewed violence and extremism. It has always maintained a

rational, moderate, middle-of-the-road approach in dealing with both its

domestic and its foreign affairs. Hence, Jordan has in effect become an oasis

of stability in a turbulent region where emotionalism, extremism and

ideological as well as physical violence are still rampant. Perhaps the most

significant outcome of this policy has been the establishment in my country of

a solid democratic system based on political pluralism.

Jordan, which believes in collective action and in the United Nations

principles, as well as in a world of peace, security and stability, takes

pride in the confidence placed in it in being called upon to contribute troops

to the peace-keeping forces in a number of areas of tension in the world: in

Croatia and Cambodia, in addition to observers in Angola and Somalia. My

country thus believes in the need to support the United Nations to enable it

to carry out effectively the essential functions set forth in the Charter,

namely, the promotion of peace and security all over the world and the

provision of the means for the welfare and progress of its peoples.

We stress that the General Assembly, the Security Council and the

Secretariat under the leadership of the new Secretary-General, who is well

known for his patience, vision and extensive knowledge, together with the

political will of Member States and the yearning of peoples for a better

world, should combine to form the basis for effective measures in the field of

preventive diplomacy for peacemaking and peace-keeping and the process of

post-war peace building. The "Agenda for Peace" (A/47/277), prepared by the

Secretary-General, is indeed a very valuable contribution because of the

in-depth and comprehensive analysis it offers and the set of scenarios and

assumptions envisioned for United Nations work with a view to enhancing its

efficiency and revitalizing its various agencies and organizations with a view

to forging a new world of peace and prosperity.

Allow me, in dealing with the most important international issues, to

address the dispute in the Middle East region and its core issue, the

Palestine question. My country, Jordan, has indeed lived the tragedy of the

Palestinian people from the beginning and, with its limited resources, has

borne the brunt of its economic, social and political repercussions.

We have noticed recently that this problem has had its share of the

effects of the many political changes and international breakthroughs that

have been brought about by the end of the cold war era, in that the

Arab-Israeli conflict and the Palestine question have taken a positive turn in

line with those changes. This started with the Madrid Peace Conference.

Jordan has joined in this peace process because of its firm commitment to

the achievement of a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region, and

because of its belief in the justice of the Palestinian cause and in the right

of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including their right to

establish their own independent State on their native soil, as well as in the

right of every State in the region to live in peace and security within

recognized boundaries. Those premises and objectives of the peace process are

based on international resolutions, most importantly Security Council

resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), which affirm the land-for-peace

equation of returning the occupied territories, including Jordanian territory

and the Syrian Golan, in exchange for peace, and which also affirm the

necessity of Israeli withdrawal from Arab Al-Quds.

We in Jordan believe that peace is an objective that our generation ought

to pursue. We also believe that in order for peace to be real and lasting, it

must be based on international legality and must be just, comprehensive and,

thereby, acceptable to future generations. The peace we believe in is peace

that would be an incentive to all peoples of our region to move ahead on the

road of economic, social and cultural development in an atmosphere of

security, stability, freedom and democracy, and in the context of cooperation

and understanding, resulting in well-being and prosperity for the peoples of

the region as a whole. Justice, comprehensiveness and durability are the

bases on which peace in the Middle East should be established. These bases

are organically interrelated and inseparable.

It is regrettable, however, that while we are engaged in direct peace

negotiations with Israel, it persists in its acts of repression and oppression

of every type against the Palestinian people under its occupation. It is a

strange paradox indeed that while the parties to the conflict are negotiating

on the basis of international legality, Israel continues its illegal

practices, especially the building of new settlements and the beefing up of

existing ones.

It is true that the new Israeli Government has taken certain seemingly

positive actions with regard to its policies in the occupied territories.

Those actions are, however, inadequate. We, and the world as a whole, are

still waiting for Israel to translate its words into deeds. The

classification of settlements into security and political settlements is a

ploy that aims at breaking up into pieces the principle of legality, which is

indivisible. The release of some detainees while thousands of others languish

in jail, will not alter the degree of repression to which the Palestinian

people are being subjected.

If the Israeli Government truly wishes to be serious in its desire to

achieve peace and wants to demonstrate good will, it has first to commit

itself to the application of the Fourth Geneva Convention to the occupied

territories and to halt completely the building of settlements - all

settlements.

With regard to Lebanon, Israel continues to refuse to comply with

Security Council resolution 425 (1978), which calls for Israel's withdrawal

from southern Lebanon. Accordingly, we call for unconditional Israeli

withdrawal from all Lebanese territory and call for solidarity by the

international community with Lebanon to help the Lebanese Government in

rebuilding its economic and social structures and enabling its people to

achieve the security, welfare and prosperity they yearn for.

The various Security Council resolutions concerning Iraq have placed the

State of Iraq and its people in a situation different from that they were in

in 1990 and 1991. The suffering of the Iraqi people, which is known to all,

and the threat of dismemberment and instability not intended by the Security

Council resolutions make it imperative that we view Iraq in terms of that

new situation. Proceeding from this, Jordan which complies with Security

Council resolutions and looks forward to putting an end to the consequences of

the Gulf crisis by peaceful means wishes to emphasize its desire for action

to alleviate the suffering of the Iraqi people and to preserve the territorial

integrity of Iraq as an integral Gulf entity. It will not be in anyone's

interest, regionally or internationally, to partition Iraq or to prolong the

suffering of its people. Also, it will not be in anyone's interest that

security and stability should not prevail in the Gulf region.

While we have great hopes that the consequences of the Gulf crisis will

be eliminated, we regret to see the beginnings of a new crisis: the dispute

that has erupted recently between the United Arab Emirates and the Islamic

Republic of Iran. The Islamic Republic of Iran is denying to the United Arab

Emirates its sovereign rights over the islands of Abu Mousa, Greater Tunb and

Lesser Tunb. Jordan would like to reiterate in this regard its principled

position of respect for the principle of the inadmissibility of the

acquisition of territory by force. We call on the Islamic Republic of Iran

and the United Arab Emirates to reach a peaceful solution through dialogue,

based on the principles of the United Nations Charter, in order to maintain

good neighbourliness and consolidate peace and security in the Gulf region.

The tragic situation of the Somali people poses a difficult challenge to

the United Nations and to the conscience of humanity. This challenge requires

an immediate and effective response. The images of death, starvation and

homelessness that fill our television screens cry out to the conscience of the

world to help put an end to them. My country's delegation, while appreciating

and commending the incessant efforts of the new Secretary-General on both the

political and the relief levels, emphasizes the need for prompt and effective

action by the United Nations and the international community to adopt an

integrated plan that would put an end to the tragedy of Somalia. Such a plan

should include a cease-fire, the implementation of an integral programme of

action to ensure the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies to the various

regions and moves to convene a conference on reconciliation, national unity

and transition to help rebuild the country's infrastructure. We must also

deal with the regional consequences of the crisis: the influx of Somali

refugees into neighbouring countries and the resulting instability this has

caused in the Horn of Africa.

The tragic situation in the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina continues

to deteriorate and is taking a sinister turn. To do nothing about it would

undermine the very concepts of democracy, civilized behaviour and collective

security. Reports continue to pour in, telling of continued violations of

international humanitarian law against the people of this young nation. Its

territory continues to be swallowed up bit by bit, and attempts are continuing

to change its demographic composition through ferocious and atrocious "ethnic

cleansing" campaigns. It is both painful and dangerous that all this should

continue despite the relevant Security Council resolutions. There is indeed

an urgent need to find a prompt and peaceful solution to the situation in

Bosnia and Herzegovina in conformity with the Charter of the United Nations

and the norms of international law. There is nothing that would justify in

any way failure by the United Nations and the international community to take

prompt and effective measures to put an end to aggression, to ensure the unity

and territorial integrity of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to preserve its political

independence and full sovereignty over its entire territory, and to annul all

the results and consequences of aggression. We trust that the peace process

led by the European Community and its member States, in cooperation with the

United Nations, to achieve a peaceful settlement in Bosnia and Herzegovina,

will give all these elements priority in its programme of work. I can only

express, in this regard, my country's high appreciation of the tireless

efforts made by the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the

Secretariat to make the peace process in Bosnia and Herzegovina a success and

to expand the relief operations which they are undertaking.

The principles which my country upholds and which govern its positions on

all international conflicts are based on the belief in the right of peoples to

self-determination, in the principle of non-interference in the internal

affairs of States and of rejection of occupation in any shape or form. It was

in this context that my country welcomed the process of reconciliation in

Cambodia on the basis of the Paris accords which were signed by all the

Cambodian parties. My country attaches great importance to the

implementation, by all parties, of those accords and the discharge of all the

commitments contained therein as those commitments constitute the guarantee

and the proper mechanism for a peaceful and comprehensive settlement that will

restore peace to this war-torn country within the framework of national

reconciliation in a united, independent and sovereign Cambodia.

As for the question of Korea, my country's delegation would like to voice

its complete satisfaction in regard to the progress of the dialogue and

high-level talks going on between the two Koreas and the resultant agreements

aimed at building mutual confidence between them and reuniting the Korean

peninsula in a framework of national unity.

With regard to the question of Cyprus, my country values the efforts of

the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who has maintained the good

offices which started in 1975. We follow with close interest and great

appreciation the ongoing talks under his auspices and with his encouragement

between the leaders of the Greek and Turkish communities with the aim of

achieving a peaceful settlement of this problem.

Jordan shares with the rest of the world the satisfaction felt at the

results of the referendum organized by the Government of South Africa in

March. Those results were a constructive prelude to end the policy of

apartheid in South Africa and augur well for the achievement by the

conflicting groups of a comprehensive political settlement in a democratic

system, which would put an end to minority rule. The agreement reached a few

days ago between Mr. Mandela and President De Klerk on the resumption of talks

following the deplorable violence of last June, renews hope that all parties

will cooperate in writing a new constitution and reaching an early political

solution, thus putting an end to the policy of apartheid and allowing

democracy to prevail.

My Government deplores the bloody events that took place recently in

Afghanistan and visited yet more suffering on the Afghani people. Therefore

Jordan, while wishing the Afghani Government success in consolidating security

and stability and in reconstructing the infrastructure devastated by the civil

war, supports that Government's request for assistance from the United Nations

and the international community.

The East-West bipolarity of the cold war era has disappeared with the end

of that war. There has surfaced, however, a new North-South bipolarity that

was overshadowed previously by the world's preoccupation with the ideological

conflict between East and West. We hope that efforts to deal with this

phenomenon, which is primarily economic and social, will take the form of a

positive and constructive dialogue for the benefit of all mankind. The

developing South needs the countries of the North; the industrialized North

cannot maintain its prosperity and stability without an independent and

developed South that would be free from hunger, poverty, and disease and

relieved of its heavy burden of debt. The planet on which we live, with all

the threats of ecological disruption facing it, cannot enjoy security and

safety without cooperation between North and South. Such cooperation is in

the interest of all humanity.

If we were to define the new role of the United Nations, it, undoubtedly/

would be humanitarian in nature and would aim at protecting and preserving

life on the planet, and raising the standard of living of all peoples through

the establishment of a new, balanced and equitable world economic order. Our

Organization must act to put an end to the historical contradiction that has

persisted for centuries between North and South so that the North may

discharge the main task of providing new bases and common grounds for a real

development of the regions of the South and thus remove the existing

distortions and inequalities.

It has become quite clear that a common effort for development is

essential to move the world gradually forward, if freedom and democracy are

really to gain acceptance and if we really want to respect human dignity and

eradicate underdevelopment and its concomitant social and health evils, which

have assumed terrifying proportions and frequency.

The environment is the common heritage of mankind. Thus, my country

believes that its preservation is our common responsibility. We also feel

that the developed countries, in accordance with the commitments they took

upon themselves at the Rio de Janeiro Conference, must help the developing

countries in solving their relevant problems, especially and principally, the

problem of poverty. We therefore support the establishment of the committee

on sustainable development and look forward to participating in it and in

shaping its structure and terms of reference.

If international peace and security are among the main goals the

international community strives to achieve, that makes it all the more

imperative for us to promote arms limitation, including the elimination of all

weapons of mass destruction. One must note in this regard the progress

achieved in the limitation of tactical nuclear weapons and the finalization

recently at Geneva of the draft Convention on the prohibition of chemical

weapons. As for conventional weapons, the General Assembly resolution adopted

at the forty-sixth session on the establishment of a non-discriminatory

register in which to record all international weapon transfers was a positive

step on the road to getting rid of armaments, provided it is applied with

complete impartiality and in an equitable manner that takes into consideration

the differences in the needs of countries for armaments. A verification

system should be developed, taking into account not only imported weapons but

also domestically produced weapons, especially in countries that are involved

in regional conflicts.

Jordan supports the use of science and technology for disarmament, the

development of verification systems, the efforts aimed at achieving a

comprehensive nuclear-test ban and the establishment of nuclear-free zones,

including the Middle East region. Jordan also calls upon all States that have

not done so, including Israel, to accede to the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and place all their nuclear facilities

under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards.

In conclusion, I should like to say that, now that the cold war has

ended, the world undoubtedly stands at the threshold of a new era, as we can

all see. This fact places on the United Nations the responsibility of

reinvigorating itself in order to keep pace with the requirements of this new

era in a fast-changing world, so that our efforts at the United Nations may

become a foundation for a better life. We are quite confident that the Member

States are all aware of their problems and the problems of the world and are,

therefore, prepared for cooperation and the use of good offices within a

democratic United Nations and the efforts of its evolving organs and agencies

that are guided by the vision and dedication of the Secretary-General.