Morocco, 1982

It gives me great pleasure, Mr. President, to

extend to you, on behalf of the delegation of the

Kingdom of Morocco and in my own capacity, our

congratulations on your election as President of

this session of the Assembly. There is no doubt

that your diplomatic career and your knowledge of

both inter-national and United Nations affairs

will assist you in bearing the considerable

responsibility that is now yours. The delegation

of Morocco assures you of its full co-operation

in making your presidency a success, particularly

because of the relations of friend-ship and

co-operation our two countries enjoy. It also

gives me pleasure to commend your predecessor,

Mr. Kittani, for his untiring efforts during an

eventful year in which he evinced admirable

foresight and patience, which was very much

appreciated.

111. I should like to avail myself of this

opportunity to extend my cordial congratulations

to Mr. Perez de Cuellar on his election as

Secretary-General. I am sure that his

considerable experience in international affairs

and the respect and confidence he enjoys among

the world community qualify him to work

creatively and positively in the defence of

international peace and ensure the triumph of the

purposes and principles of the Charter of the

United Nations. I wish also to congratulate his

predecessor, Mr. Waldheim, on his action and

efforts at a time characterized by tension and

danger.

112. It is traditional in this Hall at the

beginning of each session of the General Assembly

for our common hopes and aspirations for the

strengthening of peace and understanding, the

triumph of justice and right and the emergence of

an era of prosperity and well-being for mankind

to be expressed. It is regrettable to note at the

beginning of this debate that hotbeds of tension

are still giving rise to serious threats to

international peace and security and that the

international situation is deteriorating because

of the new obstacles which have recently almost

shattered our hope of establishing genuine and

comprehensive detente.

113. This state of affairs will persist as long

as there are those who wilfully violate the

principles of the Charter and flout international

law, infringing the dignity of man and his b8sic

rights; as long as colonialism, racial

discrimination and the deterioration of the

international economic situation, which results

in increasing impoverishment of the world

population, continue. In addition to this, the

arms race and its attendant dangers threaten the

achievements of mankind.

114. Because it is a member of the Arab world,

the Islamic group and the African continent, and

because of its geographical situation at the

crossroads of three civilizations, Morocco

attributes great importance to what happens in

all these areas.

115. The question of the Middle East, and

especially the Palestinian question, occupies a

place of the highest priority among the concerns

of my country. For more than 30 years the

Palestinian people have suffered exile and

deprivation and have been the victim of war and

destruction. In spite of the voices raised every

year from this rostrum condemning I3raeli

practices and demanding that the Palestinian

people regain their inalienable rights, despite

the resolutions adopted by the Assembly and the

Security Council in support of the rights of that

militant people, Israel is persisting in its

expansionist and repressive acts with all the

means at its disposal, including the use of

internationally banned weapons, in order to

continue to occupy the Arab territories and

annihilate the Palestinian people, in an attempt

to eliminate them, suppress them and liquidate

their leaders in the form of the PLO.

116. Although the United Nations archives are

filed with reports on massacres and

assassinations carried out by Israel against the

Palestinian people for more than 30 years, the

tragedy and suffering resulting from the Israeli

invasion of Lebanon and t:-'e massacres of the

Palestinian and Lebanese peoples are beyond all

bounds and beyond imagination.

117. The abominable massacre planned by the

Israeli army of occupation in the camps of Sabra

and Shatila claimed more than 4,000 victims among

innocent Palestinians, including women, children

and old people. It reminds us of a similar

massacre carried out by Meacham Begin in the

Palestinian village of Deir Yassin in 1947, and

it transcends in atrocity and the manner in which

it was committed the deeds of the Nazis during

the Second World War.

113. This butchery shows beyond doubt that the

real aim of Israel is not security, as it claims,

but the total physical elimination of the

militant Palestinian people and expansion at the

expense of the Arab nation. Morocco pays its

tribute to the memory of the martyred victims of

Israeli terrorism and expresses its gratitude and

appreciation to those that have condemned and

denounced this atrocious massacre and taken the

side of right and justice. All the States of the

world have expressed their individual

condemnation of that massacre and the

international community has denounced it

collectively. The General Assembly, at its

seventh emergency special session, adopted

resolution ES-7/9 on 24 September 1982 condemning

the criminal massacre and reaffirming Security

Council resolutions 508 (1982) and 509 (1982)

demanding that Israel with-draw all its military

forces to the internationally recognized

boundaries of Lebanon.

119. In the face of this human tragedy it is more

necessary than ever for the General Assembly to

take all the measures called for, including the

imposition of sanctions, to compel Israel to put

an end to its aggression against the Palestinian

people, to withdraw forthwith and unconditionally

from the territory of Lebanon and to comply with

the resolutions of the Security Council.

120. Morocco, a sister State of Lebanon, takes

this opportunity to reaffirm its full solidarity

with Lebanon in its time of trial and to assure

the Lebanese Government of its support for the

measures necessary to guarantee the unity,

independence and sovereignty of Lebanon.

121. The two parts of the Twelfth Arab Summit

Conference were held in Fez, Morocco, under the

leadership of His Majesty King Hassan 11. My

country thus had the honour of acting as host to

this historic conference which restored unity to

the Arab ranks and placed Arab solidarity on firm

foundations.

122. The Arab Summit Conference was convened in

extremely delicate circumstances for the causes

of Palestine and the Middle East, and the Arab

heads of State shouldered their historic

responsibility and agreed to the plan designed to

enable the Arabs to regain their rights. They did

so because of their conviction that the Arab

nation can achieve its aims and overcome the

consequences of the Israeli aggression.

123. The Arab nations, out of their concern to

use all ways and means at their disposal to

re-establish in the Middle East peace based on

justice and to contribute to the efforts exerted

by all the .peace:. loving forces in the world,

in the vanguard of which is the United Nations,

and on the basis of international law, the Arab

peace plan, with the following elements: first,

Israel's withdrawal from all the territories it

has occupied since 1%7, including Jerusalem;

secondly, the right of the Palestinian people to

self-determination, to the exercise of its

inalienable rights under the leadership of the

PLO, its sole legitimate representative, and to

the establishment of an independent State on its

land; thirdly, the establishment by the Security

Council of guarantees for peace among the States

of the region.

124. A study of those principles should convince

the Assembly and the world public that the Arab

nation desires peace based on justice and a

solution to the Middle East problem that

guarantees to the Palestinian people its right to

self-determination and to establish its own

independent State and that makes it possible for

all the States of the region to live in peace,

with Security Council guarantees.

125. Morocco, whoís Sovereign. His Majesty King

Hassan 11, presided over the Twelfth Arab Summit

Conference, calls upon all peace-loving States,

andespecially the great Powers, permanent members

of the Security Council, to support right and

justice, to study the Arab peace plan carefully

and to adopt the principles contained in that

plan as the basis for the solution of the Middle

East and Palestine problems. We hope that there

will be a favourable reaction t9 this Arab

initiative and that it will usher in a new era

.that will restore peace and stability to the

Middle East region and bring to an end the state

of war which has afflicted the people of the

region for so long.

126. The favourable reaction and the broad

support with which the Arab peace plan has met on

the inter-national scene is encouraging. We hope

that all States especially the great Powers

permanent members of the Security Council, will

support the plan and that the high-level

committee set up by the summit conference will be

able to establish contacts with the permanent

members of the Security Council and to achieve

positive results.

127. We should like to note also that Mr.

Reaganís plan for peace in the Middle East gives

cause for optimism. Morocco regards this plan as

a measure that opens new prospects for a solution

to the Middle East problem, and that places on

record the commitment of the President of the

United States of America to the principle of the

restoration to Arab sovereignty of the Arab

territories occupied by Israel in 1%7. At the

same time, we note that this plan omits basic

points essential to the process for the

establishment of peace in the Middle East. We

hope that during the forthcoming contacts between

the Arab countries and the United States of

America these gaps will be filled so that a just

and lasting peace can be achieved in the Middle

East and that region may once again be the cradle

of constructive coexistence and a centre for the

dissemination of creative thought.

128. In north-west Africa there is still

artificial tension resulting from a policy which

runs counter to the noble principles established

by the international community, which is based on

desperate attempts to undermine international law

and which resorts to hegemony as a means of

achieving selfish interests. The so-called

problem of Western Sahara serves as a pretext and

an instrument to that end. Morocco has always

made it clear that its desire to regain its

Saharan territory is based on solid historical

rights and legal ties, as well as international

law. After the Moroccan liberation army had

engaged in a heroic struggle against the

colonizers in Saharan territory, Morocco called

for the restoration of the land usurped at the

beginning of the colonial era of this century.

Because of the colonial authorities'

procrastination in returning this land to the

mother country, Morocco had recourse to juridical

bodies. It submitted the question to the United

Nations and to the International Court of

Justice. That resulted finally in the conclusion

of the Madrid Agreement, confirmed by the General

Assembly in 1975.

129. Morocco has clearly set forth here on

several occasions the political and historical

circumstances in which Moroccan territory had

been divided into various regions and subjected

to various colonial systems. It has also clearly

indicated that the restoration of the amputated

parts of its country was also -by the very nature

of things-carried out in various stages.

130. Because of Morocco's faithfulness to

inter-national legality, and because of its

desire to give that legality a new form that

would bode well for the future, His Majesty King

Hassan n, at the eighteenth ordinary session of

the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of

the OAU, which was held at Nairobi in June 1981,

stated that Morocco was prepared 10 hold a

referendum in the region of Western Sahara,

thereby opening the door to a final, peaceful

solution to this conflict. Morocco put forward

that initiative because it was convinced of its

inalienable right to the Territory and of the

fact that its children in the region of the

Sahara had chosen to remain forever an integral

part of the mother country.

131. His Majesty King Hassan's initiative was in

part. in response to the wishes of Morocco's

friends and also was intended clearly to show the

world public and to assure jt that the

inhabitants of the Sahara region wished to belong

to the mother country and, through a referendum,

to confirm what they had expressed on many

occasions and in many different ways: their

Moroccan identity, to which they are very

attached.

132. The whole world welcomed this initiative,

finding in it the ideal means for ending the

long-standing tension in that part of north-west

Africa. Morocco made every effort to give this

initiative the chance to bring about peace, and

to have it acted upon. Morocco, represented by

its sovereign, thus made an important

contribution to a settlement of the problem of

Western Sahara at Nairobi, in August 1981. The

African leaders laid the foundations for such a

settlement by establishing the OAU's

Implementation Committee 9 which was to concern

itself with the cease-fire and the referendum.

Morocco-thus made an effective contribution to

the success of that African meeting, whose goal

was to move the peace process forward to its

desired end. The Implementation Committee

continued working effectively to bring about the

implementation of the resolutions of the OAU

Assembly. especially since the adoption by the

General Assembly of its decision 36/406, the text

of which had been sponsored by Kenya, then

Chairman of the OAU Assembly, calling on the

United Nations to extend technical and financial

assistance in this field to the OAU.

133. The Implementation Committee met again on 8

and 9 February 1982, to decide on a time-frame

for the cease-fire and referendum. In

co-operation with African leaders, Morocco worked

with sincerity to put the final touches on this

African effort, which would have ended one of the

disputes which have been the concern of the OAU

over the past years. Good will dictated that all

efforts made by the African leaders should be

given a chance to bear fruit, but there are those

who do not wish to find a solution to this

problem, and that fact led to the cancellation of

the initiative. When it became dear that there

was a serious turn of events which would lead to

the derailment of failure of hegemonies expansion

plans and confirm the inalienable rights of

Morocco through free consultation under United

Nations and OAU auspices, attempts were made to

abort that process and to undermine the

resolutions adopted at the OAU Assembly at

Nairobi. The well known plot thus took place at

Addis Ababa which immobilized the work of the OAU

and its activities halted when certain countries.

in secret collaboration with the OAU

administrative Secretary-General, tried to impose

a group of mercenaries as participants in the

thirty-eighth 'ordinary session of the Council of

Ministers of .the OAU. That wanton act was in

flagrant violation of the QAD Charter, which

stipulates in more than one place that membership

is confined to independent sovereign States. That

act was furthermore, a conspiracy to undermine

all the practical measures adopted by Africa to

solve the Saharan problem in a peaceful manner.

134. The leaders of the African nations

represented by the "wise men" the founders of the

OAU, opposed that conspiracy against legality,

and 19, delegations withdrew from the session of

the OAU Council of Ministers held at Addis Ababa

in February 1982, which is where the conspiracy

was acted out. That session was therefore illegal

because there was no quorum as required in the

OAU Charter.

135. To overcome this crisis, the African

continent was the scene of intense political

activity aimed at saving the OAU from collapse.

Some African leaders called for a special session

of the OAU Assembly to solve the problem; Morocco

was among the first to take such an initiative.

His Majesty King Hassan ,11 sent a letter to the

President of Kenya, Mr. Daniel Arap Moi, in

February this year, requesting that, ~ special

session be held to consider the existing' crisis

before it worsened. But the forces fighting

against legitimacy worked to preventthat meeting.

136. Once more, we see that enlightened

Africa, which has opted for legitimacy, has shown

itself to be above submitting to the policy of

fait accompli. It refused to attend the OAU

Assembly scheduled to be held at Tripoli unless

African legitimacy, in accordance with the OAU

charter, was restored to the OAU. The frustration

and failure of the session of the OAU Assembly at

Tripoli is a testimony to legitimacy and justice

and the failure of attempts to violate the

African Charter.

137. That failure caused the immobilization of

the work of the OAU at all levels-political,

economic, social, as well as in the field of

information; but we are convinced t.hat the

OAU-which is backed and supported by every

sincere African-will once. more play its

constructive role:, thanks to the efforts made by

the sincere sons of Africa, who value legitimacy

and higher African interests above all other

considerations and narrow selfish interests.

138. Morocco-which has played a pioneering role

in crystallizing the idea of African unity

through the African Charter, adopted in

Casablanca in '1961, and which is one of the

founders of the OAU-would very much like that

organization to continue. Morocco will thus do

its utmost to maintain and support the CAU so

that it may continue to play its vital and

effective role as an instrument of common African

action. Morocco is extremely concerned that

legitimacy be restored to the OAU and that the

organization's administrative bodies should

concern themselves with the implementation of

African resolution with integrity and neutrality,

free of any bias and without 'be'-coming involved

in current disputes among "certain member

countries.

139. The United Nations followed closely the

African meetings held last year to discuss the

question of Sahara. Its representatives gave to

the African leaders, useful help by describing

the experience of the United Nations in the

holding of referendums. They know the 'stages

that must be gone through In arriving at a

cease-fire and holding a referendum.

140. Morocco which has always proclaimed its

adherence to international legitimacy reaffirms

its commitment to the resolutions of the

eighteenth session of the OAU Assembly concerning

Sahara which were supported last year by the

General Assembly. It sees the way chosen by

Africa as the best means of ending the artificial

tensions in north-west Africa. Proceeding from

that .premise, Morocco appeals to all States to

work for the success of that African solution and

to frustrate an attempts to block and obstruct

it, so that the conflict can be ended and peace

and stability can be restored to this area.

141. Morocco, as a part of the African continent,

attaches special importance to the events that

take place there. It works in co-operation with

its African brothers to support the independence

of the countries of the continent and ensure the

progress and development of their peoples, so

that the whole continent may enjoy well-being and

prosperity and play its role in building a world

society founded upon justice and peace.

142. In the southern part of this continent,

the brother people of Namibia is still suffering

under the yoke of an unjust racist regime and

waging a valiant war of liberation to restore its

usurped liberty, independence and territorial

integrity. Morocco, which has always supported

the just struggle of the Namibian people, hopes

that the day when independence is restored to

that people will soon be here. On this occasion,

we appeal to the contact group to redouble its

efforts and negotiations so that a final

settlement of the Namibian problem may be reached

in accordance with Security Council resolution

435 (1978).

143. The people of southern Africa are still

suffering from the tragedy of the regime of

racial discrimination imposed by the Government

of Pretoria, despite the many resolutions

1:ondemning that regime and denouncing apartheid

as a "crime against humanity" .

144~ Morocco reaffirms its support for the people

of South Africa, which must regain its dignity

and free-dom. It calls on those countries which

have relations with Pretoria to break off their

economic and military collaboration with it in

order to induce it to end that regime, which is a

challenge to the most basic legal and ethical

principles.

145. Morocco, which is pledged to defend all

struggles for liberation, reaffirms its

determination to defend all struggles for

liberation in Africa, in the south, the Horn of

Africa, Eritrea or elsewhere in the continent.

146. For more than two years a destructive war

has been raging between two neighbouring Islamic

countries, Iraq and the Islamic Republic .of

Iran. Those two countries were the cradles of

ancient civilizations that helped to develop the

thinking, science and progress of humanity. If is

regrettable that the war between those two

countries should still be going on despite all

the untiring efforts to bring it to an end. We

hope that it will soon be possible to reach a

settlement that win effect a cease-fire,

safe-guard the inalienable rights of the two

States, and restore stability and security to the

area, within the framework of Security Council

resolutions 514 (1982) of 12 July 1982 and 522

(1982) of 4 October 1982.

147. The initiative taken by our sister nation of

Iraq recently, which took the form of withdrawing

its army to the borders it had held before the

hostilities, is, we believe, a positive step

towards the restoration of peace and the

consolidation of relations of

good-neighbourliness. Iraq's response to all

mediation efforts to end this conflict deserves

our encouragement and praise. We also pin great

hopes to the efforts of the Peace Committee of

the Organization of the Islamic Conference,

presided over by Mr. Ahmed SekouToure, President

of Guinea, efforts directed to restoring peace

and security to that important part of the world.

148. In Afghanistan the people is still suffering

from the injustices of the invasion of that land

three years ago. It is still fighting to preserve

its Islamic faith and its identity as a Moslem

and non-aligned nation. Morocco, which is linked

with the Moslem people of Afghanistan by ties of

religion, culture and civilization, calls for the

withdrawal of an foreign forces from Afghan

territory, enabling the people to choose the

political system it desires in full freedom.

149. In Democratic Kampuchea, we note that the

Vietnamese army has not responded to the call of

the international community to withdraw from that

country so that its people can freely choose its

own political system. We still believe that the

Declaration and resolution adopted by the

International Conference on Kampuchea6 constitute

the basis for the best solution of this problem.

150. As for relations between the two parts of

Korea, we hope that (ne Governments of the North

and the South will resume a positive and

constructive dialogue with a view to bringing

about gradually the peaceful reunification of

Korea.

151. Morocco has always maintained good relations

with the States of the Mediterranean Basin, and

is striving to create favourable conditions for

that region to be transformed into a zone of

peace and co-operation, in accordance with

General Assembly resolution.36/l02. On that

basis, and within the frame-work of the efforts

of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in

Europe, Morocco has supported and still supports

the efforts made to strengthen peace and security

and ensure co-operation in the region.

152. It is a recognized fact that

international detente is linked to disarmament

and that the arms race is a serious threat to the

existence and the survival of man. It is the two

blocs that motivate the arms race, but it is the

developing countries that are the principal

victims, because it prejudices their economic and

social progress, increases their debt burden and

lessens their security.

153. It is regrettable that the international

efforts to change the situation have so far

produced no positive results. This is especially

true of the second special session of the General

Assembly devoted to disarmament, which failed to

achieve any concrete progress in this respect.

154. Morocco, associating itself with those

who work for disarmament at the regional or the

international level, appeals to the super-Powers,

which bear a

special responsibility for the maintenance of

peace, to redouble their efforts to reach

agreement on a comprehensive programme of

disarmament, with a carefully prepared timetable,

so that disarmament does not become a mere theory

which cannot be put into practice.

155. The utmost attention must be paid to

tackling the chronic injustice of the world

economic system particularly since the developing

countries are the most affected by this.

International economic institutions in all fields

and areas of competence recognize the urgent need

for a radical change in the world economic

system, especially following the sixth and

seventh special sessions of the General Assembly,

which stressed the inevitability of such change.

Certain achievements benefiting the third world

such as the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties

of States, the generalized system of preferences

and the Integrated Commodities Programme and

certain such concepts as the common economic

self-sufficiency of the developing countries and

the new international economic order, must have

positive effects on North-South relations. In

-order to make the establishment of the new

economic order possible, the third world States

have called for the beginning of a series of

negotiations on all aspects of international

co-operation for development, in accordance with

the programmes of action approved by the General

Assembly or recommended by various international

bodies, in particular UNCTAD, with a view to the

attainment of the objectives of the Third United

Nations Development Decade.

156. Experience has shown that partial

economic solutions in the narrow national context

and negotia-tions limited to specified sectors

are only palliatives. The real solution is to be

found in global negotiations leading to

collective solutions to world economic problems.

157. It is regrettable that the developed

countries remain deaf to the appeals of the

countries of the third world and that they have

strengthened their protectionist tariff and

non-tariff measures and reduced the level of

their external aid, which half had a serious

effect on the terms of trade, the balance of

payments and the employment situation. The

deterioration in the terms of trade and the

increase in indebtedness have shattered any hope

of achieving economic and social development in

the developing countries, in particular the least

developed countries.

158. The latest annual report of the World Bank

showed the weakness of the third world economies

and drew attention to the dangers facing the poor

countries, particularly as regards agricultural

production and food deficits. The rich countries

must therefore abandon their selfishness and

their narrow national interests and recognize the

interdependence of the economic progress of the

North and the need to speed up the economic,

social and technical development of the South,

because their common interests impose on all the

parties the joint responsibility for establishing

a new international economic order and building a

better world for all mankind.

159. The entire international community should

rejoice at the adoption of the United Nations

Convention on the Law of the Sea by the majority

of States Members. That Convention, which will be

signed officially in Jamaica in the first two

weeks of December, is the culmination df

tremendous efforts. We hope that certain Member

States will prove to be more flexible regarding

their objections so that "his Convention may come

into force after its signature and ratification.

This would make possible the establishment of a

new era of fruitful co-operation.

160. The Organization is a haven of peace and

security in a world swept by fierce winds of

conflict, war and violence, and in which there is

much under-development, poverty and injustice. It

is a source' of hope for the alleviation and

elimination of the evils of fear and underdevelopment.

Since its inception in 1945 the Organization has

made possible profound changes in the political

map of the world. It has supported weak,

conquered nations and helped them to achieve

independence; it has devoted its efforts to

conciliation and the settlement of conflicts. It

has also opened up new perspectives in the field

of international economic, scientific and

cultural co-operation.

161. Despite all this, an enormous task lies

ahead and demands our full support so that the

noble mission assigned to the United Nations

under the Charter may be fulfilled-that of

contributing to the prosperity and the well-being

of mankind as a whole and of spreading peace and

security throughout the world.