Mauritania, 1969

163. May I, Mr. President, express the satisfaction

felt in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania at the expression

of confidence and admiration that the entire membership

of the United Nations has extended to Miss Brooks,

representative of Liberia, by electing her to the Presidency

of the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly?

That honour, which is highly appreciated by all Africans, is

above all a well-deserved tribute to the outstanding qualities

that are known to all who have had the privilege of

observing how Miss Brooks has discharged her important duties.

164. Her election to this high office also testifies to the

deep respect that the international community feels for the

oldest republic of Africa, its great people and its

distinguished President. Her brilliant and well-deserved success

will contribute to the rehabilitation of African women by

highlighting the decisive part that they can play, with

dignity and efficiency, in the task of building and consolidating

African nations and societies. This is an important

factor, and Miss Brooks, through her sense of proportion

and her great human qualities, has contributed greatly to its

emergence and acceptance. My delegation conveys to her its

warmest congratulations, and wishes to assure her of its full

and loyal co-operation.

165. My delegation also wishes to associate itself with the

unanimous tribute paid from this rostrum to the courage

and devotion displayed by the President of the twenty-third

session, His Excellency Mr. Emilio Arenales, in braving the

great suffering of a disease which in the end removed him

prematurely from our midst. My delegation pays a respectful

tribute to the memory of this great son of Latin

America, and wishes to convey to the people and to the

Republic of Guatemala our brotherly feelings of deep

sadness at the loss of his outstanding personality.

166. The twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly is

meeting at a moment particularly fraught with danger for

world peace and security. After its 24 years of existence

our Organization has not yet succeeded in converting into

reality the noble ideals that presided at its establishment

and are enshrined in the Charter.

167. The worsening of the international situation, touched

on by U Thant in the introduction to his annual report on

the work of the Organization [A/7601/Add.1], is a

disturbing development, viewed with deep concern by

peoples and nations.

168. What President Pazhwak, at the time of his election

as President of the General Assembly for its twenty-first

session, described as the “forces of evil“ defiantly continue

their sinister activities in disregard of the fundamental

principles of the Charter of our Organization.

169. Senseless colonial wars are still being waged in

various parts of Africa and Asia, continents which international

imperialism chooses as the site of its centres of

struggle for influence and as hotbeds of war.

170. The major part of southern Africa is bent under the

yoke of violence by a coalition of contemptibly selfish

interests which binds the supporters of the system of

apartheid of Pretoria and Salisbury and the decadent

colonialists of Portugal with a whole powerful group of

selfish and short-sighted interests to which most of the

Western countries, and particularly the members of NATO,

are directly committed.

171. Zionist troops, with unconcealed approval from

certain quarters, continue to occupy with impunity vast

territories of countries victims of a dastardly aggression that

has been condemned with indignation by all those who, in

the interests of the maintenance of peace and understanding

among peoples, want the continuation of the

United Nations and hence the translation into reality of the

principles of peace, justice, equality, territorial integrity of

States, non-interference in their domestic affairs and

absolute respect for their sovereignty — the fundamental

principles that are the framework and the very essence of

the world Organization.

172. The greatest Power in the world today obstinately

continues to wage unsuccessfully an unjust war, thereby

imposing great hardship and considerable material loss upon

an entire people whose only crime is a wish to exercise, in

the freedom and respect to which it is entitled from all, the

tight to choose its own destiny in all freedom, without any

foreign intervention.

173. The principle of the universality of the Organization

is still deliberately and flagrantly violated by the refusal to

restore the legitimate rights of one of the greatest Powers of

our time.

174. The division of the Korean people is being continued

under the shadow of the tragic and dangerous fiction

represented by the so-called Commission for the Unification

and Rehabilitation of Korea and by the use of the

United Nations flag as a cover for the maintenance of

foreign troops in that divided country against the will of

the majority of its inhabitants.

175. In other areas of the world, peoples are being

deprived of their sacred right freely to choose their own

destinies and to develop in accordance with their own

aspirations and convictions.

176. On the socio-economic plane, we are all aware of the

dangerous imbalance created by the widening gap which

divides the world into well-endowed and under-developed

countries. The absence in the developed countries of the

indispensable political will to change this deplorable state

of affairs, which was already noted during the proceedings

of the second session of the United Nations Conference on

Trade and Development, was once again emphasized by

the Secretary-General in the introduction to his annual

report on the work of the Organization.

177. These are matters of serious concern for the people

and Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, as

indeed they are for all peoples and Governments that care

for peace and justice and are genuinely interested in the

consolidation of international security.

178. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, as a small

country of the under-developed world, has every reason to

be deeply conscious of the need to maintain peace, stability

and harmony among peoples. It is our realization of this

profound truth that has led us to make the basic choice in

favour of non-alignment, the corner-stone of the foreign

policy defined by the Mauritanian People’s Party and

applied by the Government of the Islamic Republic of

Mauritania. It was this policy that our Head of State set

forth in the following terms in a report on the state of the

nation submitted to our National Assembly on 28 November 1968:

“Determined fully to play the role devolving upon it in

Africa, refusing to follow a policy of hegemony in any

form, our country is continuing its march as part of the

international community with the firm determination to

strive to bring about in this troubled world the rule of

peace, concord and unity among peoples.”

179. As we see it, this policy of non-alignment which the

Islamic Republic of Mauritania follows both in the African

continent and outside Africa in no way precludes fruitful

consultations and co-operation between our country and

any State, whether a neighbour of the Islamic Republic of

Mauritania or not. Such consultations and such co-operation,

in a climate of mutual trust, can lead to agreements

concluded with due regard for the interests of each of the

parties, or to the emergence of a mutual stand based on a

common destiny or on any other valid and legitimate

grounds. Our country will loyally observe such commitments,

and in so doing will prove faithful to itself and to

the sense of dignity and honour that is characteristic of our

people. This constitutes beyond question an important and

stable factor in the pursuit and maintenance of peace and in

the struggle against under-development.

180. The Government and the responsible political leaders

of our country will never lose sight of the duty imposed

upon them by the geographical position of Mauritania and

by the cultural and ethnical composition of its population.

This fundamental idea has been repeated more than once

by the Head of our State, who, in addressing the third

congress of the Mauritanian People’s Party in January 1968, said:

“Mauritania is by vocation a worker for African unity.

It links white with black Africa, and is both African and

Arab. Its twin histories and cultures have never faced it

with a choice but have always united to uphold it.”

181. This statement clearly indicates that our chief ambition

has always been to represent an element of stability

and concord in our geographical region, and thus to

contribute to the maintenance of peace and understanding

among its peoples. The attainment of these objectives,

which are consistently and resolutely pursued by the

Government and people of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania,

will serve, we are convinced, the genuine interests of

the African continent.

182. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania, as a militant

member of the Organization of African Unity, fully

supports all our brother countries in Africa in the face of all

the difficulties which they may encounter on their way to

the consolidation of their independence and unity.

183. I have already had an opportunity to state from this

rostrum [1690th meeting] what my Government and

people think about the painful conflict that has been raging

in Nigeria for over two years. I should like now once again

to emphasize that we in Mauritania are convinced that the

interests of all Nigerians and of Africa as a whole lies above

everything else in the preservation and maintenance of

Nigeria’s territorial integrity. Starting from this fundamental

premise, we consider that the parties to this

fratricidal war have a duty to seek, through negotiation, the

best means of ensuring that all the communities constituting

the people of Nigeria feel secure and fully enjoy all

rights and opportunities for development compatible with

respect for the territorial integrity of the country.

184. it is our duty in this Organization to denounce the

activities of those who, by means of violence and a certain

propaganda of incitement, are still trying to dismember the

Federation of Nigeria.

185. We venture to hope that all States Members of our

Organization will join their efforts to those of the Organization

of African Unity to help in bringing peace to that

country. It is gratifying to note the goodwill that the

Federal Government of Nigeria has always shown both in

the United Nations and in the Organization of African

Unity in connexion with the efforts constantly being

exerted to restore peace and to ensure the security of all

citizens. When the secessionists give up their mad attempt

at division, it will be possible for the Nigerian people, in a

climate of restored peace and unity, to choose the structure

that will best meet the wishes of all the component

elements of that great people.

186. On the question of decolonization, it is appalling to

observe that after 24 years of effort the United Nations has

still not succeeded in putting an end to colonialism. It

would not, however, be fair to ignore certain positive

results obtained by the Organization in this field by means

of those efforts.

187. In this connexion it is encouraging to note that

Spain, after permitting Equatorial Guinea to accede to

independence, has proceeded to restore the Ifni enclave to

Morocco. This evidence of Spanish goodwill entitles us to

hope that, as to that portion of the Sahara which is still

under colonial domination — a territory of particular interest

to my country — the administering Power will apply the

relevant decisions of this Organization. To do so would

strengthen still further the ties of friendship and co-operation

which unite the countries of that region, in particular

the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, to Spain and the

Spanish people, for whom we feel both admiration and esteem.

188. The people and Government of the Islamic Republic

of Mauritania, who are deeply anti-colonialist and

anti-imperialist, are witnessing with concern the state of

impotence in which the racist minorities who, like the

Zionist authorities of Tel Aviv, hold the abject doctrine of

apartheid are keeping our Organization.

189. The Mauritanian people, their Party and their Government

propose once again to reaffirm their active support

for their brother peoples resolutely struggling in Angola,

Mozambique, Guinea (Bissau), Zimbabwe, Namibia and

South Africa to regain their independence and enforce

respect for their dignity and their fundamental rights as free men.

190. Without the assistance extended by the supporters of

apartheid and by certain Western Powers, it would have

been much more difficult for the Portuguese oppressors to

continue to wage a criminal colonial war, which is too

remote and costly for a country whose scanty resources

rank it among the poorest in the world. We should like to

believe that in this year, when we are preparing to celebrate

the tenth anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of

Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, all Member

States of this Organization will bring their whole weight

to bear on the Lisbon authorities, so as to convert into

deeds the decisions whereby the Organization has unambiguously

recognized the inalienable right of the populations

under the Portuguese colonial yoke to self-determination

and independence.

191. The United Nations has considered year after year

the intolerable conditions imposed by the racist apartheid

authorities upon millions of Africans in Zimbabwe, Namibia

and South Africa. The grave responsibility resting on

the United Kingdom in Zimbabwe can in no way be

reduced by the sinister and illegal decisions taken by Smith

and the band of usurpers which he leads. The people and

Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania wish

once again to reaffirm their whole-hearted solidarity with

all those fighting for freedom in the dire struggle for the

liberation of the African man in Zimbabwe, Namibia and

South Africa.

192. The contents of the Lusaka Manifesto presented

by His Excellency Hajj Ahmad Ahidjo, President of the

the Federal Republic of the Cameroon and now President of

the Organization of African Unity, must be carefully

considered by every Member of the United Nations. Indeed,

it would be most detrimental to the authority of this

Organization and to the maintenance of peace if the

goodwill thus shown by a whole continent were to be ignored.

193. In the Middle East the Zionist authorities of Tel Aviv

continue to trample underfoot the fundamental principles

of the Charter and the decisions of the Organization. Their

forces continue to enjoy the fruits of their cowardly

aggression. Large parts of the territory of the United Arab

Republic, the Syrian Arab Republic and the Hashemite

Kingdom of Jordan continue to suffer under a barbarous

military occupation. The burning of the Al Aqsa Mosque,

which has aroused the indignation of nearly all peoples

throughout the world and the responsibility for which rests

squarely on the shoulders of the Zionist occupation

authorities, has reminded the world of the grievous threat

to the Holy Places of Islam, Christianity and Judaism which

is inherent in the illegal and totally invalid decision taken

by the Zionist authorities regarding the annexation of the

Arab part of the City of Jerusalem.

194. The people and Government of the Islamic Republic

of Mauritania salute with admiration the heroic resistance

which the population of the occupied territories is offering

to the Zionist oppressors. The legitimate struggle for

liberation of the Palestinian people to recover its usurped

homeland enjoys the active support of all freedom- and

justice-loving peoples. To these fighters for freedom the

people and Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania

will give all the moral and material assistance within their means.

195. It is urgent to understand that, unless the relevant

decisions of the Security Council are speedily implemented

without any changes in the borders as they existed before

5 June 1967, the Organization will lose all possibility of

controlling the explosive situation at present prevailing in

that area and forfeit at the same time the confidence of

those peoples, the very source of its authority.

196. The extremely dangerous situation existing in the

Middle East must not cause us to forget the heroic struggle

which the people of Viet-Nam are waging with such

determination and success to ensure respect for their sacred

right freely to choose their own destiny. The announcement

concerning the cessation of the bombing of North

Viet-Nam, coinciding with the convening of the Paris

Conference, gave rise to hopes which may well be now

shattered by the hostile operations conducted by the

United States forces in Viet-Nam, combined with the

failure of the Paris negotiations to make any real progress.

Like many other countries, the Government of the Islamic

Republic of Mauritania considers that it would be both

unrealistic and unreasonable to try to take away from

Viet-Nam, at the conference table, that for which its heroic

people have made such heavy sacrifices during a war that

has lasted for over 20 years.

197. The Mauritanian people, its Party and Government

wish once more to reaffirm their admiration and their

support for that valiant people.

198. The forces of peace throughout the world and in the

United States itself must continue their struggle to restore

peace to Viet-Nam. That peace will only come when the

United States occupation forces are completely withdrawn

from the country and the parties accept the 10 point plan

of the Provisional Revolutionary Government of South

Viet-Nam. One thing is certain, however: the just cause of

those who are fighting imperialism in Viet-Nam will surely prevail.

199. Similarly, the cessation of all foreign interference in

the affairs of Korea is an important condition for the

maintenance of peace both in South-East Asia and throughout

the world. The people and Government of the Islamic

Republic of Mauritania consider that the Organization has a

duty to prevent the continued use of the United Nations

flag to disguise the presence of foreign occupation forces in

Korea. For peace to be restored in that troubled area it is

necessary that the Korean people be allowed to choose

their own destiny freely without foreign interference.

200. The problem of disarmament is urgent; this is

obvious to all Members of the Organization. The constant

increase both in quantity and in effectiveness of weapons of

mass destruction looms as a danger threatening not only the

development but even the survival of mankind. The

considerable sums spent on armaments make dangerous

inroads into the limited resources available to the developing

countries for the investments necessary to their economic

and social development. Further, the balance of

terror in which the world is now living should be replaced

by a genuine relaxation of international tensions conducive

to improved standards of international co-operation. The

Mauritanian delegation accordingly extends its full support

to all international efforts aimed at achieving a real general

and complete disarmament.

201. The people and Government of the Islamic Republic

of Mauritania do not, however, understand how anyone can

envisage genuine progress with disarmament in the absence

of a country of over 700 million people which has become

a nuclear Power. What real impact can the Treaty on the

Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons have on nuclear

disarmament so long as the People’s Republic of China is

not a party to it? The Mauritanian delegation welcomes the

measures suggested by the Soviet Union and the other

socialist countries for Strengthening international security,

such as the draft appeal [4/7654] proposed for adoption

by the General Assembly and the draft convention on the

prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling

of chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons and on

the destruction of such weapons, submitted for consideration

by Members of this Organization. Here again, despite

the efforts made by some Member States, the absence of

the People’s Republic of China from the Organization is a

fundamental obstacle to any attempt to achieve substantial

progress in the implementation of genuine disarmament

measures. Moreover, the People’s Republic of China, a

thermonuclear Power with a population of over 700 million

inhabitants, has gained for itself a place of the first

magnitude on the international scene. This illustrates — if

any illustration is required—how unreasonable and dangerous

it is to keep that great Power outside the Organization,

in flagrant violation of the principle of universality

enshrined in our Charter.

202. It is for this reason that the delegation of the Islamic

Republic of Mauritania wishes to reaffirm its belief that the

legitimate rights of the People’s Republic of China in the

United Nations must be restored without further delay. My

delegation rejects the “two Chinas” theory that some seek

to uphold in this Organization.

203. My delegation, in addressing this Assembly, cannot

fail to mention the concern it feels over the grave economic

and social problems that afflict the developing countries. It

is a matter for regret that in this matter, so vital to the

improvement of dealings among peoples and nations, the

co-operation of the wealthy countries should be so sorely lacking.

204. The disappointing results of the second session of the

United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and

the failure of the first United Nations Development Decade

testify to the absence of any political will to take the

necessary measures to bring about a genuine international

economic co-operation in the interests of all Member

States. Through the fluctuations in the prices of raw

materials and the constant increases in the prices of

manufactured goods, the already scandalous gap between

the industrialized countries and the others is constantly

widening. The Organization must redouble its efforts to

encourage competition among the greatest Powers in the

important and inspiring field of peaceful scientific research

devoted to the improvement of man’s lot. It has often been

pointed out from this rostrum that over $200,000 million is

spent each year on armaments, whereas the transfer of

7 capital from the wealthy to the poor countries amounts

only to about $10,000 million. This is a disgraceful

situation that should not be countenanced in our century.

205. The Islamic Republic of Mauritania is convinced that

no country will really be able to surmount under-development

without a determined awareness of the very real,

indeed gigantic, efforts and sacrifices required of every

nation and person. It is for this reason that we wish to say

from this rostrum how deeply conscious we are of the need

for bilateral and multilateral systems, but at the same time

how aware we are that we must rely primarily upon

ourselves before relying upon others. Mauritania accordingly

believes that the countries of the third world must not

slip into the easy-going and dangerous attitude of expecting

everything from outside assistance. Indeed, the industrialized

countries, in their own long-term interests and in

the interests of mankind as a whole, must organize and

develop a genuine international economic co-operation that

can be a factor for peace and understanding among peoples

and constitute a powerful element in the genuine implementation

of human rights for all men everywhere. But, as

we have already said, such co-operation must be paralleled

by our own awareness, efforts and sacrifices.

206. For the African continent, the people and Government

of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania see in the union

of countries around common objectives a powerful means

to bring about rapid progress in their economic growth. We

therefore consider useful all groupings at the level of

subregions, regions and whole continents. Such unions,

through the markets they form and the opportunity they

afford to Member States of harmonizing their development

plans, provide an appropriate and useful framework the

creation of which should be encouraged by the United

Nations. Such activities fit in perfectly with the work of

social and economic development performed by the Organization.

207. The admirable way in which the Secretary-General,

His Excellency U Thant, discharges his exalted and difficult

duties in the many and diverse fields of United Nations

activities is earning him the esteem and gratitude of all

peoples. The Mauritanian delegation would like once again

to assure him of the active support and the admiration of

the people and Government of Mauritania.

208. The thought of these conflicts and of these political

and economic difficulties which sometimes darken the

international horizon should not, however, make us forget

the positive role played by our Organization in the

restoration and maintenance of peace in the world.

209. In this year which has seen man accomplish the

incredible feat of walking on the moon, in this year of the

tenth anniversary of the Declaration on the Granting of

Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, we

express the sincere wish that every Member State shall work

to ensure respect for the principles enshrined in the Charter

and for the implementation of decisions taken by our

Organization. The somewhat waning confidence of the

peoples of the world in this Organization will thus flourish

once more for the greater well-being of mankind.