Oman, 1999

Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure at the outset to offer

you my warmest congratulations on your election as

President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fourth

session. Your election to this high post reflects the value

the international community attaches to the role played by

your friendly country. We are confident of the friendly

relations between our two countries. We also know that

your expertise and commitment to international issues will

enrich the discussions of this session of the General

Assembly. My delegation pledges its full cooperation and

support to you to make your presidency a success.

I also take this opportunity to express my warmest

thanks and appreciation to our colleague Mr. Didier

Opertti, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Uruguay, for his

great efforts as President at the previous session. I would

also like to salute Secretary-General Kofi Annan for his

great efforts in enhancing the administration and

performance of the United Nations and its mission to

serve international peace and security.

The Sultanate of Oman welcomes the admission at

this session of the Republic of Kiribati, the Republic of

Nauru and the Kingdom of Tonga to the membership of

the United Nations. We are confident that their

membership will reflect positively on the United Nations

and will help us further consolidate our efforts as an

international community to achieve the progress and

prosperity we all aspire to, in a way that promotes the

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noble goals for which this important international forum

was created.

The unanimous decision to hold the millennium

summit during the fifty-fifth session of the General

Assembly is clear proof of the importance of that last

summit of this century. This is an essential and important

step that will enable our leaders to issue a declaration that

may be considered a plan of action. That declaration could

reformulate a new concept for economic success and

development for all peoples.

As we approach the next century with confidence, we

must focus our attention on restructuring the work of

international organizations in order to enrich and develop

the work of the United Nations and its relevant agencies,

such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund

and other international and regional institutions, so that they

are able to function effectively for the future welfare and

prosperity of humanity.

We recognize the importance of the effective

management of these international institutions through the

generous and special financial and technical contributions

of developed nations and institutions. These contributions

must always meet the needs and priorities of reforming the

economies of developing nations, which form the largest

part of the global market and which provide a large part of

the world's natural resources and raw materials. The

development of these economies will undoubtedly bring

about a more stable world economy.

We call for the establishment of balanced rules and

regulations between the developed nations of the North and

the developing nations of the South in order to effect a

qualitative change in their relations. While bold change and

real sacrifices are needed to restructure the economies of

the developing world so that they can meet the

requirements of the global free market, there is a greater

need for the economically developed nations to take bold

and decisive steps in cancelling more debts, restructuring

the costs of manufactured goods and establishing a new

economic mechanism to provide loans and to re-regulate

the size of industries and lower global rates of inflation. We

also call for the establishment of an international reporting

system that will draw up periodic regional plans to enable

all regions to achieve the economic advances necessary to

overcome their economic difficulties.

We look with admiration and great interest to the

European Union's experience of economic integration as a

pilot project that aims at serving the economic prosperity of

the peoples of the European continent, the integration of

their cultural heritage and the elimination of their social

and political differences. Indeed, such a qualitative leap

in European society would undoubtedly contribute to a

more stable and balanced world, especially if it were

based on moral norms of international transparency. It

would surely be an excellent model which could be

emulated in other parts of the world in keeping with the

specific requirements of these regions and in a way that

responds to their traditions, their heritage and the

particularities of their culture. We believe that economic

development and trade are a bridge for communication

between civilizations.

Therefore, negotiations leading to the admission of

the rest of the developing countries to the World Trade

Organization (WTO) must be fair and just. Such

negotiations must recognize the importance of giving

developing nations an opportunity to see their trade and

their infant industries grow and an opportunity also to

consolidate their competitive edge, in the context of a

general commitment to the free market principles of

supply and demand.

Our world needs to rid the large markets of the

developed nations of dumping policies, market constraints

and other obstacles to free trade: free trade should not be

a way to destroy the economies of the developing

countries. A realistic balance between the interests of the

developed and the developing nations should be the aim

of the forthcoming WTO Ministerial-level conference in

Seattle. Such a balance should draw on the world's

experience since the end of the cold war and the

emergence of the new world order.

In the present international climate, the United

Nations bears the huge responsibility of creating the right

social and economic circumstances for better, more

harmonious coexistence and for peace and stability. That

responsibility creates an urgent need for more consultation

and dialogue between Member States, especially at the

regional level, towards restructuring United Nations

bodies and expanding the membership of the Security

Council.

We must encourage serious, realistic and flexible

thinking about the Council's role, responsibilities and

mandates in the service of international peace and security

to enable the Council to be more receptive and

realistically responsive to cultural and educational

pluralism and to the various political schools of thought

in human society. Expanded membership would also

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enhance the role of the new forces that are currently

becoming more important through their influence on

international events.

Since the end of the cold war, we have heard the calls

for democracy, free trade and the free market economy as

ways of establishing greater harmony among humankind.

We believe that the road towards this objective must begin

with dialogue between civilizations on an international

platform of cultural norms, and based on the sound

principles of balanced political relations, interests and

mutual benefit in keeping with the needs of every culture

and civilization. The new ideas emanating from this

dialogue could be used as a new moral gateway to relations

between people in the new millennium and as a bond of

trust and fruitful cooperation between all cultures and

civilizations. It would certainly create a new and common

harmony in all patterns of life.

We support this human endeavour in the context of

General Assembly resolution 53/22 proclaiming the year

2001 as the United Nations Year of Dialogue among

Civilizations. We support any regional or multilateral action

that seeks to solve the political disputes still outstanding

between States, especially between neighbouring States,

which share common interests along with a common

border.

The Sultanate of Oman believes deeply in the

importance of quiet and meaningful dialogue between all

States and between all parties. Oman works alongside its

brothers in the Gulf Cooperation Council to consolidate a

positive climate and extend our common ground with

neighbouring countries. We do so in order to ensure that

common principles and rules are adopted and accepted to

form the basis for bilateral or collective dialogue on

outstanding problems.

Iraq is still subject to the sanctions regime imposed by

the Security Council in the aftermath of Iraq's invasion of

Kuwait in August 1990. Although the Security Council,

through the United Nations Special Commission

(UNSCOM), has tried to enforce its resolutions on the

destruction of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction over the

last eight years, it has not yet been able to agree on a

unanimous policy towards Iraq. Consequently, the Iraqi

people are suffering greatly from the continuing sanctions.

Although the oil—for—food programme has been

implemented, it cannot satisfactorily meet the basic

humanitarian needs of the Iraqi people. In this context,

many international organizations and agencies working in

the field of health and other humanitarian services have

expressed their fears about the dire effects that threaten

the future of the Iraqi people.

The Council of the League of Arab States, in its

consultative session of 24 January 1999, adopted a call

for the economic sanctions imposed on Iraq to be lifted.

The Council appealed to all Arab Governments to make

every possible effort towards this end through cooperation

with the United Nations.

The Sultanate of Oman emphasizes the importance

of lifting the economic sanctions in order to end the

suffering of the Iraqi people. We call on the Security

Council to put its differences aside and adopt a positive

and unanimous policy towards Iraq. We also call on the

Iraqi Government to cooperate positively and fully with

the United Nations in implementing the remaining

resolutions, especially those relating to Kuwaiti prisoners

of war and missing persons.

The early signs of the long-awaited peace in the

Middle East, to which its people have long aspired,

fortunately coincide with the end of the century and the

beginning of the third millennium. All parties, especially

the Israeli Government, must take this opportunity to

write a new history based on coexistence and cooperation

among the peoples of the region, a region that so urgently

needs to enjoy the fruits of stability and development.

The establishment of an independent Palestinian

State will undoubtedly be an important pillar for the

conclusion of a comprehensive and just peace in the

Middle East. It will also serve as a real tool for the

development of cooperation and coexistence between the

Arab States and Israel.

We call on the Israeli Government to respond

quickly and implement the various obligations and

agreements concluded since Madrid. We also call upon

the Israeli Government to implement Security Council

resolutions on Lebanon: resolutions 425 (1978) and 426

(1978). We call upon Israel to resume negotiations on the

Syrian track at the point where they left off and to make

every effort to withdraw from occupied Syrian territory to

the established border of 4 June 1967.

Mutual security requirements between the Arabs and

Israelis on both sides of the border are of prime

importance. The legitimacy of such requirements justifies

negotiations on the basis of the principle of land for

peace. Israel must feel secure and comfortable about the

general Arab attitude towards peace.

25

Peace agreements signed with Egypt and Jordan have

offered the clearest proof of the Arabs' commitment to

peace and their absolute willingness to participate, along

with Israel, in the establishment of a secure, peaceful and

developed Middle East. Arab positions across a range of

international activities and forums have demonstrated the

seriousness of their desire to live in peace and security with

Israel.

We are about to enter a new century. We feel hopeful

and ambitious for a future in which the security and

stability of human life will improve. However, a number of

conflicts and hotbeds of tension continue to cause concern

for the international community.

In Africa, conflicts and confrontations among countries

remain the biggest source of suffering for the African

people. Therefore, the United Nations is required to exert

greater efforts in support of the Organization of African

Unity in its endeavour to mediate in the various conflicts,

including those between Ethiopia and Eritrea, in the Great

Lakes region, in West Africa and in Somalia. We hope that

Africa will thus be able to free itself from the vestiges of

the past and enter a new era of freedom, economic

development and security for its people and for the world

at large.

The giant continent, Asia, continues to offer the most

dynamic current force for human development. Despite the

successes achieved by the Asian people in various spheres

of life, unrest, civil wars and sources of instability are still

abundant.

The Muslim Asian country of Afghanistan still suffers

from deep and complex internal conflicts. Therefore we

sincerely hope that all the Afghan leaders will take

advantage of past lessons and use the world community's

desire to help them to end their crisis and to give the

Afghan people the opportunity to heal their painful wounds.

In East Asia, we call on all parties in the Korean

peninsula to work towards ending the conflict and the

achievement of peace. Then the Korean people in North

and South Korea can express their desire for a secure and

peaceful future.

We have a deep sense of pain for the human tragedy

in the Balkans. Reckless policies led to instability, a huge

waste of resources, the flight of defenceless people and loss

of life and destruction of property. We are thankful for the

timely intervention by the North Atlantic Treaty

Organization in Kosovo, especially after the failure to carry

out the Rambouillet Agreement, to put an end to the pain

and suffering of the provinces' inhabitants.

As we praise the human role assumed by the world

community in helping the displaced and the refugees in

the Balkans, we hope that those great efforts will continue

and thus conclude this noble task. We also appreciate the

efforts of the Secretary-General to restore peace and

stability to the region.

The world still faces the nuclear threat as a result of

the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology and the

efforts of many States outside what is known as the

nuclear club to acquire the technology for this dreadful

weapon. The States seeking these weapons still feel

threatened politically and militarily and are worried about

their security, sovereignty and future capabilities.

Making a realistic and careful assessment of this

situation would definitely lead us to conclude that there

must have been fundamental and legitimate reasons why

such countries would choose to spend large amounts of

money to secure such weapons at a time when these

assets could have been spent on the economic and social

development of their people. Among the principal and

legitimate reasons for this choice is that the major States

which already possess nuclear weapons and technology

did not do enough to guarantee the non-proliferation of

this technology.

The phenomenon that the major Powers alone can

shape choices about peace and war in areas of the

developing world may be one of the strongest reasons for

the sudden eruption of conflagrations in such areas.

Therefore nuclear States, especially the permanent

members of the Security Council, should undertake the

necessary measures that will guarantee the security of

non-nuclear States and deter the use or threat of use of

nuclear weapons. The United Nations, through the

Security Council, must adopt binding resolutions in

accordance with the Charter to protect the world from the

threat of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass

destruction. The arms control conference which is still

debating secondary issues of technical dimensions must

therefore seek to reach positive conclusions as soon as

possible.

At the last session we expressed our concern over

what had befallen the economies of the Asian countries.

We also expressed our faith in the ability of these

countries to overcome the economic crisis and the crash

that hit the financial markets.

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Today we witness an encouraging recovery in the

Asian economies — a result of the determination of these

countries, especially the States of the Association of South-

East Asian Nations (ASEAN), to protect their economies

through exemplary solidarity.

We would like to applaud the important role played by

those States which provided financial assistance. We pay

tribute to the role played by the world financial institutions,

especially the World Bank and the International Monetary

Fund. They halted the danger of deterioration in the world

economy and restored confidence in Asian markets.

However, these two institutions should review their

conditions for providing loans to developing nations to help

their economies. In most cases, these conditions fail to

achieve their planned and targeted goals primarily because

of the enormous social and political problems which they

create.

The Earth Summit for the environment and

development, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 1992, set an

agenda for the twenty-first century that is now viewed as

the basis upon which international partnership and

collective responsibility can work to put an end to poverty,

hunger, ill health and the deterioration of ecosystems, and

to achieve sustainable development the only way for

humanity to ensure progress and prosperity for present and

future generations.

My country takes a comprehensive view of

environmental issues. We believe that the protection of the

environment is a responsibility for everyone to share. In

this context, my country devotes a great segment of its

resources to continuing to implement the Rio agenda and

effective and objective participation in environmental and

development forums on many international, regional and

national levels. We also continue to enact and update

environmental laws in order to assure adaptation to the best

standards of environmental protection against the dangers

of pollution and to guarantee the implementation of the

international and regional environmental agreements that

my country has signed.

My country looks forward to joining the World Trade

Organization (WTO) soon. We hope to participate in the

work of the Organization as a fully fledged member and to

play our role effectively. We thank all our trade partners

which have expressed encouragement and understanding for

our application for membership. We are determined to work

hand—in—hand with all members to consolidate the

multilateral trade system and help it flourish.

Next November the American city of Seattle will

host the third ministerial conference of the World Trade

Organization. The Sultanate of Oman attaches special

importance to this conference because it will be a prelude

to the new phase of multilateral trade negotiations, the

Millennium Round, which should contribute to opening

the way for free and prosperous global trade.

Probably one of the most important issues facing

developing countries is the issue of the liberalization of

the service sector. Although its liberalization may have

some benefits for developing countries in terms of the

flow of foreign capital, technology and modern

administrative and technical expertise, it will inevitably be

accompanied by huge challenges. This is particularly true

in the light of open competition from the service sector in

developed nations. Oman expects the world community to

take measures that would help developing nations develop

their service sectors in order to guarantee them a

comparable and viable share in the global services

market.

We appreciate the admirable international efforts and

good intentions to establish an original global legislative

structure as a basis for international relations in different

areas. However, we always return to the clear truth that

in the Charter of the United Nations are enshrined the

purposes and principles that we must all work to preserve

in the interest of the future security and wellbeing of all

humanity.