Oman, 2000

I wish to extend to you,

Mr. President, my sincere congratulations on your

election to the presidency of the fifty-fifth session of

the General Assembly, the Millennium Assembly. We

are confident that your expertise and knowledge of

international issues are an outstanding asset that will

enrich the deliberations of this session and help the

Assembly reach a successful conclusion. We assure

you of our readiness to cooperate with you in fulfilling

the objectives to which we all aspire.

I wish to extend our gratitude and appreciation to

your predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, Minister for

Foreign Affairs of the friendly Republic of Namibia,

for the successful manner in which he steered the work

of the previous session. That session was marked by a

genuine desire to enhance and reinvigorate the work of

the General Assembly.

I would also like to take this opportunity to

express our warmest appreciation to Mr. Kofi Annan,

Secretary-General of the United Nations, for his

strenuous efforts and commendable endeavours to

promote the role of the United Nations and the

development of its organs, in order to cope with

expectations attached to the Organization in the third

millennium.

The Sultanate of Oman welcomes the accession

of the Republic of Tuvalu to United Nations

membership. We hope that its membership will enrich

the efforts of the international community to reach the

noble goals of this important international forum in a

manner that satisfies the hopes and aspirations of all

peoples of the world.

Our heads of State and Government have already

described our main concerns and preoccupations during

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the Millennium Summit. They perceptively identified a

number of lofty values and principles that will guide

present and future generations towards secure and

stable living conditions based on cooperation and

peace. If this goal is to be achieved, we must remain

fully committed to it.

We bid farewell to a century, the memory of

which includes a host of calamities and human

suffering, due to both natural and man-made causes.

That century was also marked by many bold and

visionary initiatives that greatly benefited humanity.

This stage of the third millennium is

characterized by great technological progress that has

opened vast horizons for development and prosperity.

Yet the emerging international order, commonly called

globalization, has created and increased economic,

social and political disparities at both the international

and national levels. Globalization presents many

concerns and challenges to developing countries,

sometimes with unpredictable results. This is a real

hindrance to the growth and progress of developing

countries, limiting the effectiveness of their economic

integration into a globalized economy.

We in the Sultanate of Oman support

globalization. However, present indications and

approaches, stemming from the World Trade

Organization, point toward wealthy countries banding

together with the aim of using that Organization as a

tool to advance their own interests, to open the markets

of developing countries for their own trade and to

deplete natural resources of developing countries,

regardless of any negative economic and social impact.

One of the most important factors that led to the

failure of the Seattle Conference to achieve its

expected conclusions was the aggregation of about 20

countries within the Organization attempting to impose

their philosophies on the entire world. This conduct is

based on an old doctrine of discriminatory policies and

selectivity, which insinuates the presence of hidden

disputes among various countries. If the World Trade

Organization were to be transformed into a wrestling

arena, globalization and free trade would not then be

able to meet the needs of developing countries.

Furthermore, if developing countries are to

survive and to uphold the basic rights of their citizens,

they must obtain their fair share of the fruits of

globalization. It is necessary to enact laws and

regulations and to honour agreements in an equal

manner that applies to all, because the dominance of

minority law contradicts the principles of good

governance. Therefore, it is incumbent upon us to

devise new measures to assure the utilization of ever-

growing technological progress so as to achieve

prosperity and development for all.

The international economy continues to prosper

after the setback of the 1997-1998 recession, following

the economic crash of emerging markets. We need to

redouble our efforts in order to avoid recurrence of

this. When the G-8 countries met in Okinawa, Japan,

they were obliged to consider the problems of the

developing countries. The financial assistance offered

by the G-8 was itself vivid proof that advanced

information technologies are designed in such a

manner that they can be monopolized by some and not

accessed by others, except with great difficulty and at

colossal cost. However, we still welcome some of the

decisions of the Okinawa Summit, particularly the

financial assistance pledged to combat certain

debilitating diseases.

The decision of the G-8 to invite the Group of 77,

for the first time, to its deliberations was not merely a

ceremonial event. It made the vast disparity that exists

between developed and developing countries all the

more tangible. The Okinawa Summit addressed the

problem of debt, which we believe should be totally

abolished, and reviewed the policies of the

International Monetary Fund and international financial

mechanisms. Among those policies, the fluctuation of

international currencies in particular has created

difficult economic conditions for developed countries,

let alone for countries with small economies that have

to trade their resources for hard currency.

The stumble of the Asian economies occurred

because of the power of the free market, and largely

because of currency instability. The prosperity

achieved by the Association of South-East Asian

Nations (ASEAN) during decades of dedicated work

evaporated. Developing countries therefore have every

right to take all necessary precautions against the

recurrence of a similar situation.

Together with a number of other countries, the

Sultanate of Oman has played a constructive role in

establishing and launching the Indian Ocean Rim

Association for Regional Cooperation. It has done so

because the countries of the Indian Ocean possess

natural resources and enjoy a geographic location

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between three continents and because it is convinced of

the importance of that region as a vital economic vein

for all its member States and their peoples. The

launching of this new Association to join the many

regional economic groupings that exist in the world

today is a manifestation of the firm desire of its

member States to promote such a grouping, which

enjoys huge potential and looks forward to creating a

huge market.

Based on my country's belief in the importance of

regional cooperation as a means to propel the wheels of

development and exchange expertise in different fields,

we are working on an agreement to establish a regional

cooperation group for fisheries in the Indian Ocean. We

hope that that initiative will soon see the light of day,

thereby bringing about many benefits in the service of

regional stability and development. In this context, we

look forward to a pragmatic translation of the

objectives of the General Assembly Declaration of the

Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace.

Since the dawn of the Omani renaissance, on 23

July 1970, we in the Sultanate of Oman have embraced

peace and dialogue as basic principles. We are

convinced that dialogue is the natural foundation upon

which all forms of conflict between States and peoples

can be resolved. Throughout history, mankind has

aspired to enhance confidence on the basis of agreed

creative ideas that deepen and widen common interests

and mutual benefits. We believe that dialogue, rather

than conflict and confrontation, will always remain the

surest path to security and stability.

The tripartite Camp David summit on the peace

process in the Middle East was an extremely

significant political step and a display of unique

courage by the summit participants. The summit

imposed upon itself the task of discussing and

negotiating the fundamental issues of a final settlement

in an unprecedented and distinguished manner,

particularly with regard to the future of Al-Quds Al-

Sharif. We express our admiration for, and appreciation

of, the historic role and great efforts made by the

President of the United States, Bill Clinton. Despite the

fact that the summit did not produce a final agreement

between Palestine and Israel, it nevertheless opened the

door for dialogue on the most complex issues.

Significant progress has been achieved on those issues,

and the summit established an important understanding

of the true scope of peace and the spiritual and

emotional sentiments attached to it. It is now vital to

conclude an agreement that will lay the cornerstone for

lasting peace.

In our view, there has been tangible and clear

progress regarding the positions and claims of each

party as well as their capability to complete the

negotiations. We are confident that the continuation of

negotiations and contacts between Palestinians and

Israelis, on all levels, is the proper and responsible way

to reach the desired objective of establishing a just,

comprehensive and lasting peace. We look forward

with confidence to a second round of negotiations

between the Palestinians and the Israelis, with the

continued sponsorship of the United States. Time has

bestowed upon all parties a historic opportunity to put

in place a solid foundation for peace.

We reiterate our full support to the Palestinian

people and their rights to self-determination on their

land and to establish an independent Palestinian State

with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. In order to

strengthen the pillars of peace and security in the

region, there is no other sovereignty possible in Al-

Quds Al-Sharif except that of the Palestinian State. We

expect the State of Israel to understand this fact, which

means that the sovereignty of the State of Palestine

over Al-Quds Al-Sharif would also allow Israelis full

freedom of access to worship and conduct their rituals

in peace and security.

We strongly support the position of the sisterly

Syrian Arab Republic concerning the restoration of its

land to the line of 4 June 1967. We encourage Israel to

resume negotiations on this important track in

accordance with legitimate international principles and

resolutions, particularly Security Council resolutions

242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and the principle of land for

peace. Israel should not feel exposed to security threats

in the future because a peace founded on those

principles, whether that peace be with Syria, Palestine

or Lebanon, will build an effective relationship and

partnership that will serve the purposes of security and

stability. This, by itself, is one of the most important

guarantees of mutual security and stability, especially

if it is based on economic development within the

context of globalization.

Despite all serious international and regional

efforts to alleviate the suffering of the brotherly people

of Iraq, the overall situation in Iraq continues to

deteriorate as a result of the economic embargo

imposed on that country over the last 10 years.

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Therefore, we call for the establishment of a

mechanism to end the siege and to lift the embargo that

has undoubtedly done great harm to the people of Iraq.

Despite the fact that sanctions regime were

intended as a political mechanism to guarantee that

Governments fulfil their commitments in accordance

with United Nations resolutions, that mechanism has

now become a weapon that harms the basic rights of

peoples and societies. This clearly contradicts the letter

and spirit of the Universal Declaration of Human

Rights. Accordingly, we call upon the Security Council

to adopt new policies and effective mechanisms that

will relieve the suffering imposed on States such as

Iraq, Libya and the Sudan.

The Security Council, in accordance with its

responsibilities as enshrined in the Charter, should play

a positive and unifying role in the maintenance of

international security and stability, with the aim of

developing new vision, for economic globalization.

The mechanisms available to the Security Council

with regard to Iraq are no longer positive tools. United

Nations inspectors have exerted substantial efforts to

eliminate weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and have

destroyed such known weapons. This could represent

sufficient grounds to review the situation once again

and determine how to end this tragedy. New

mechanisms could be established that would enable the

Security Council to continue monitoring Iraq's

implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions

once economic sanctions have been lifted.

We do not believe that it is justifiable to punish a

population simply on the basis of fear and suspicion.

The Security Council should protect the Iraqi people

from the deterioration of their living conditions. The

United Nations has a historic responsibility to

cooperate with Iraq in order to minimize the intense

suffering that could befall the people of Iraq in future.

We look forward to Iraq's positive cooperation in

clarifying the fate of the Kuwaitis who remain captive

inside Iraq.

We deeply appreciate the efforts made by the

Secretary-General in preparing his annual report. It is

important to be willing to adopt a new vision for the

restructuring of the United Nations, in particular the

Security Council, as its principal organ, whose primary

responsibility is the maintenance of international peace

and security. We should consider the expansion of its

membership to promote equitable representation, and

reassess United Nations activities in regions of conflict

and tension, ensuring that there is no interference in

States' internal affairs.

We fear that the United Nations could become a

direct participant in regional conflicts, which would

entail financial and moral obligations that it may not be

able to fulfil.

We have in the past emphasized the need for

international cooperation, which the United Nations

can foster in support of regional organizations to

achieve peace and development.

The problems of the African continent are

intensifying, and it is vital to uncover the causes of

these problems. It is incumbent upon the international

community to work together and redouble its efforts in

a positive and effective manner to resolve current

political and social problems as well as ameliorate

deteriorating health conditions. The United Nations

should elaborate a solid plan in which all States would

participate and contribute to the development of Africa

instead of fighting for control of its wealth.

We are facing real challenges, which we must be

prepared to confront with courage if we are to focus on

all aspects of development. We are in need of a new

century and a new millennium marked by a sound

balance between material values and humankind's

legacy of ethical and spiritual values. We are in need of

a world in which the strong sympathize with the weak

and help them out of their plight. We need a plan of

action to increase the standard of living of all peoples

throughout the world.