Kuwait, 2003

It gives me pleasure to

begin my statement by congratulating the President,

both personally and as representative of his country,

Saint Lucia, on his election as President of the General

Assembly at its fifty-eighth session. Given his skills

and experience, we are confident that he will

competently lead our deliberations as we consider the

pressing global issues that face the Organization at this

critical time. He may be assured of my delegation’s

readiness to fully cooperate with him in order to ensure

the successful fulfilment of his mandate. I wish also to

pay tribute to his predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan, for his

active and positive role and for his remarkable

contribution to the promotion of international

cooperation.

In addition, I wish to express once again our

appreciation and gratitude to the Secretary-General,

Mr. Kofi Annan, for his tireless efforts to bring peace

and stability to the various troubled regions throughout

the world. Mr. Annan deserves special tribute for his

extraordinary performance in maintaining the integrity

of the United Nations and its leading role in moving

the global agenda forward, despite the enormous

challenges and high risks facing the Organization and

its personnel. The terrorist attack against the United

Nations office in Baghdad last month, which claimed

the lives of the Special Representative of the Secretary-

General, Sergio Vieira de Mello, and of a number of his

colleagues, is yet further clear testimony of those

challenging difficulties and immense dangers. Another

similar terrorist attack occurred two days ago, and

again the target was the United Nations presence in

Iraq.

From this rostrum, I reiterate our condemnation

of that terrorist act and of all other similar acts that

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have occurred in the cities of Baghdad and Najaf.

Those attacks claimed the lives of highly respected

religious leaders and symbols and other innocent

victims. We believe that such acts are aimed not only at

the underpinnings of security, of stability and of the

people’s sense of confidence, but also at the noble

values that we all seek to restore and consolidate in

brotherly Iraq.

Perhaps the most appropriate and resolute

response to such criminal acts is a two-track approach.

The United Nations, together with the international

Powers interested in the Iraqi question who are also

seeking to establish security and stability in Iraq,

should stay the course and resolutely face the

continuing violence there. In the meantime, further

efforts should focus on enabling the Iraqi people to

consolidate national legitimacy and to develop national

institutions. In parallel, efforts for Iraq’s reconstruction

should be intensified in order to make up for many

long years of deprivation, oppression, destruction and

mismanagement painfully endured by the Iraqi people

under the now-defunct regime that was removed by

concerted international action anchored in Security

Council resolutions related to Iraq’s liberation.

Kuwait strongly condemns the inhuman crimes

and practices perpetrated by the previous regime in

Iraq. The most recent manifestation of those atrocities

was the discovery of numerous mass-grave sites in

various parts of the country. Those graves contained

the remains of thousands of innocent human beings —

particularly those of Kuwaitis and third-country

nationals — among which 33 were identified by

forensic experts as having been prisoners who were

executed by shooting in 1991 and 1992. That is further

proof of the regime’s brutality and of its total disregard

for international treaties and for the norms of

international humanitarian law. Above and beyond the

crimes themselves, for the past 13 years the regime

persistently denied any knowledge of those prisoners’

whereabouts. It also ignored relevant decisions of the

Security Council and of other international and

regional organizations calling for its cooperation in

disclosing the fate of those victims, only aggravating

their relatives’ anguish.

Having said that, I should like to add that Kuwait

will pursue its efforts, in coordination with the United

Nations, the International Committee of the Red Cross,

the Tripartite Commission, the interim Coalition

Authority and the citizens of Iraq, to determine the fate

of the remaining Kuwaiti and third-country prisoners

and detainees. Furthermore, we shall help in hunting

down the perpetrators in order to bring them to justice

for the crimes they committed against those innocent,

defenceless victims.

Responding to its national and legal obligations,

Kuwait joined the coalition forces in their endeavour to

enforce Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.

Thus, we provided all possible facilities within the

framework of that legal structure, which eventually led

to Iraq’s salvation from an oppressive, tyrannical

regime. Let me take this opportunity to say that we

welcome that regime’s removal from Iraq. We

congratulate the brotherly people of Iraq on their

liberation, and we wish them prosperity in a secure and

stable Iraq.

In addition, Kuwait welcomes the Security

Council’s adoption of resolutions 1483 (2003) and

1500 (2003), on Iraq. We also invite United Nations

Member States to join the ongoing international efforts

to restore security and stability to Iraq. That will help

the people of Iraq to rebuild their homeland and to re-

establish the political and constitutional institutions of

a national Government. In that regard, we emphasize

the central and significant role of the United Nations in

this political process.

Immediately after the collapse of the former

regime in Iraq, Kuwait reached out to the brotherly

people of Iraq with a wide array of humanitarian

assistance. Our response came in the spirit of our

common Arab and Islamic heritage. Kuwait rushed

material and financial aid to several local and

international organizations, as well as to the United

Nations specialized agencies operating in Iraq. We also

contributed directly to the restoration of electrical

power, health care, educational services and water

supplies to various areas in the country. In addition,

Kuwait set up a humanitarian operations centre to

facilitate and coordinate relief aid activities and

international emergency relief efforts to deliver aid to

Iraq. Kuwait will continue its efforts to ensure the

delivery of all kinds of assistance, which we hope will

alleviate the suffering of the brotherly people of Iraq.

Now it is our fervent hope that Iraq will safely

cross the dire straits through which it is passing and

that it will recover its security and stability and will

safeguard its independence and territorial integrity. All

that will enable the people of Iraq to recommit their

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resources and energies to their country’s reconstruction

so that Iraq will reclaim its legitimate and natural

status in the region and in the world. Indeed, we are

fully confident that Iraq will overcome the challenges

of this critical stage of its history, because it is

endowed with enormous natural riches, a profound

cultural heritage and skilled human resources.

The Government and people of Kuwait will stand

with Iraq at this stage and we look forward to enjoying

good, brotherly relations with a free and united Iraq.

We hope that our bilateral relations will be

characterized by mutual trust, respect and good-

neighbourliness, and governed by established treaties

and United Nations resolutions. This will help us leave

the past behind and shift our focus onto building a

better future that will contribute to enhancing security

and stability in the region.

Since the tragic events of 11 September 2001 that

struck the United States, the phenomenon of terrorism

has dominated the global agenda. Kuwait strongly

condemned those terrorist acts and all similar crimes

committed in other countries. These are horrendous

acts of terrorism that have created new realities on the

international scene, including a universal conviction

that terrorism in its pernicious manifestations is

actually an evil not exclusively associated with one

nation, religion or culture. All of us also realize that

the fight against this evil is an international

responsibility to be borne by all Member States, not

just one State or a certain group of States. Therefore,

we maintain that the United Nations remains the most

appropriate forum for examining this issue and

developing the most effective means to combat and

eventually to stem it. To that end, the universal

signature, endorsement and enforcement by all Member

States of the 12 international agreements relating to

terrorism would represent a real breakthrough in

ensuring the deployment of the most effective means to

contain and eliminate this pandemic.

As Kuwait firmly reiterates its categorical

rejection of terrorism in all its forms and

manifestations, as well as its renunciation of all acts of

violence and extremism, it condemns the vicious

orchestrated campaign being waged against a sister

State — the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia — by some

American media agencies. Instead, we commend Saudi

Arabia for its concrete and significant contributions to

the global campaign against terrorism, bearing in mind

the fact that Saudi Arabia itself has been the target of

terrorists and has suffered as a result. Kuwait fully

endorses all measures taken by the Saudi Government

in its drive to eliminate terrorism and to consolidate

regional security and stability.

In the same context, Kuwait will maintain its

efforts, in coordination with the States of the region

and the United Nations, to fight terrorism and to

further strengthen the measures it has enforced in order

completely to fulfil its international obligations,

especially those set forth in Security Council resolution

1373 (2001).

Thirty-six years have passed since the oppressive

Israeli occupation of the land of the Palestinian people,

who continue to suffer an ongoing decline in their

economic and social living conditions as a result of

Israel’s policies and practices, which contravene

international and humanitarian laws and norms. Kuwait

is following with grave concern the recent escalation in

the occupied Palestinian territories. Despite the intense

international efforts led by the Quartet, which yielded

the road map for the settlement of the conflict within a

specific time frame with a view to the attainment by

the Palestinian people of their legitimate political

rights, Israel persists in its policy of backtracking on its

commitments. In fact, it deliberately undermines every

promising initiative while paying no heed to the

potential consequences of the perpetuation of the cycle

of violence, rising tension and instability throughout

the region. Against this backdrop, the question of

deploying an international monitoring force to ensure

scrupulous compliance with ceasefire arrangements is

more pressing than ever.

While Kuwait renews its commitment to fully

supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people to

attain all their full legitimate political rights, including

the establishment of their independent State on their

national territory, with Jerusalem as its capital, we

demand that the Israeli Government commit itself to

implementing the resolution adopted last Friday by the

General Assembly at its tenth emergency special

session and reverse its decision to remove the President

of the Palestinian Authority. In the same context, we

demand that the Israeli Government fulfil its

obligations and pledges set out in relevant United

Nations resolutions, primarily Security Council

resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973); the land for

peace formula; the bilateral accords signed with the

Palestinian Authority in the context of the peace

32

process; and the road map in all its provisions and

requirements.

In addition, Israel must abandon forthwith its

policies of isolating local communities and denying

them food supplies, incursions, destruction of physical

infrastructures, demolition of homes and arbitrary

round-ups and arrests. Israel must also stop its

construction of the separation wall and of settlements.

It should also release all Palestinian detainees. Recent

developments on the ground prove that these policies

and practices will not fulfil Israel’s goals. Rather, they

will fuel the sentiments of hostility towards Israel.

They will also reinforce the sense of despair and

undermine the Palestinians’ prospects for living in

freedom and dignity, thus forcing them to pursue the

course of national struggle and resistance of

occupation. Furthermore, Israel must ultimately

withdraw from all the Arab territories it occupied in

1967 as a prerequisite for building the just, permanent

and comprehensive peace for which we all yearn.

At the regional level, and in line with Kuwait’s

compliance with the principles of the Charter of the

United Nations, especially Article 2, which stresses the

principle of peaceful settlement of disputes, we call on

the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab

Emirates to maintain their mutual visits and to deepen

bilateral talks with a view to resolving their dispute

over the three islands. It is our hope that the resolution

of the current dispute will strengthen relations between

the two countries and the consolidation of security and

stability in the region. In this regard, Kuwait, in its

forthcoming chairmanship of the Gulf Cooperation

Council, will spare no effort to strengthen all aspects of

political, security and economic cooperation among the

States of the region. Furthermore, Kuwait, in

cooperation and coordination with the United Nations

and the regional players, will explore the activation and

development of regional security arrangements with

interested countries of the region.

Today’s world is different in many ways from the

world of several years ago. The trade and economic

boundaries of States are rapidly disappearing. Cultural

interaction and relations among various societies is

expanding as a result of the immense achievements in

information and communications technologies.

However, such technologies have had some negative

implications that cannot be brushed aside. Thus, we are

now seeing an increasing marginalization of the

majority of the developing countries, whose economies

now suffer from a growing set of problems that

jeopardize their prospects for meaningful development.

In an attempt to face up to these challenges,

which hamper world economic growth, a series of

United Nations meetings were convened to address the

impediments to global economic growth. Thus, the

World Summit on Sustainable Development, held in

South Africa, and the International Conference on

Financing for Development, held in Mexico, developed

a framework of action for ensuring equity and fair

interdependence and cooperation between the North

and the South. Also, specific guidelines and obligations

were set for all stakeholders to achieve a more

equitable balance in economic relations. At this

juncture, we would therefore call on the developed

nations to meet their partnership obligations. These

include, inter alia, adequate flows of financial and

technical aid to the developing countries; the

alleviation of the debt burden and cancellation of the

debts of the least developed countries; the removal of

customs restrictions on flows of goods from the

developing countries into world markets; and an

exchange of information and expertise that would help

developing countries to build and modernize their

national institutions.

To this end, Kuwait, for its part, reaffirms its

commitment to continue to provide development and

financial assistance to developing countries. Our

channels will either include the United Nations

programmes, funds, agencies and other multilateral

organizations or the Kuwait Fund for Economic

Development, which has a sterling track record of

aiding and financing a wide range of development

projects and programmes in more than 100 developing

countries across the globe.

As we are still in the early years of a new century,

it is our hope that all of us will draw the right lessons

from our collective experiences of the past. Only

through common action can humankind face the

challenges of the present in order to fashion a better

future that offers future generations the hope of living

in freedom and dignity.

Let us join hands to fulfil our common vision of a

life in which law and order prevail — a life governed

by the values and principles of freedom, justice and

equality for all; a life that upholds the concept of

partnership and cooperation as the shortest path to

security, stability and peace in the world.