Oman, 2007

At the outset, it gives me pleasure to extend to the President

and his friendly country, the former Yugoslav Republic

of Macedonia, my country’s warmest congratulations

on Mr. Kerim’s assumption of the presidency of the

General Assembly at its sixty-second session. We are

confident that his vast diplomatic experience will help

us to achieve desired objectives and will steer the

Assembly to a successful conclusion. Let me also pay

tribute to his predecessor, Sheikha Haya Al-Khalifa,

from the sisterly Kingdom of Bahrain, for the optimal

manner in which she so ably and wisely conducted the

work of the General Assembly at its sixty-first session.

I would also like to take this opportunity to

congratulate Mr. Ban Ki-moon on his appointment as

Secretary-General of the United Nations. We are

confident that he will render valuable services to this

Organization, with his vast experience in both political

and diplomatic fields. I assure him of my delegation’s

readiness to offer all the necessary assistance to help

him discharge his responsibilities. We wish him every

success. I would like also to commend Mr. Kofi Annan

for all the efforts he made to promote the work of this

Organization during his tenure as Secretary-General.

The annual session of the General Assembly

provides us with the opportunity to address various

regional and international issues and to express our

concerns and interests. I would like to point out here

that the efforts exerted by the United Nations have

helped us to understand the process of addressing many

international problems, including the important

question of the Middle East.

Despite the fact that efforts made to address the

situations in Palestine, Iraq, Darfur, Somalia and other

areas have so far failed to provide conclusive solutions,

they are nevertheless positive indications demonstrating

the willingness and determination of the international

community to shoulder its responsibilities in order to end

the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of establishing a

Palestinian State living in peace side by side with the

State of Israel.

The withdrawal of Israel from the Palestinian

territories occupied since 1967, the establishment of

the State of Palestine and the withdrawal of Israel from

the Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanese Shaba’a farms

will promote security and stability in the Middle East

region. This will encourage the development of

cooperation among the countries and peoples of the

region. We sense that there are positive trends and new

convictions among Israeli political leaders, and in

Israeli society at large, on the need to reach a peaceful

solution based on the relevant resolutions of the United

Nations, in order to put an end to decades of conflict in

the Middle East region.

It is necessary to point out here that Arab States

have on many occasions stressed their conviction that

the achievement of a just and equitable peace with

Israel depends on the withdrawal of Israel to the

borders of 1967. Establishing such a peace is the Arab

States’ strategic choice.

We call upon the international community,

especially the major Powers, to promote this positive

conviction within Israel and the Arab States in the

interest of achieving peace.

Iraqi blood continues to be spilled. We believe

that the extension of the new responsibilities of the

United Nations in Iraq, in accordance with Security

Council resolution 1770 (2007), is a positive step that

commands our full support. In this respect, we urge our

brothers in Iraq, especially the Iraqi Government, to

move from a stage of discord to a stage of problem-

solving in the national interest of Iraq.

We are optimistic about the sincere efforts

exerted by the Sudanese Government and the African

Union to reach a political settlement among the various

Sudanese parties in Darfur. We support the tripartite

agreement signed by that Government, the United

Nations and the African Union, on providing support to

African forces and on deploying more troops in Darfur

to restore security and achieve success in the

negotiations between the Sudanese Government and

the opposition groups in Darfur.

Somalia is still suffering the consequences of a

civil war that has claimed the lives of thousands of

people and displaced hundreds of thousands more. We

believe that accord among the different Somali factions

is the only way out. We also believe that the

international community has a major responsibility to

help Somalia restore its unity and security. To

guarantee the effectiveness of the assistance given by

the international community, we urge all tribes and

factions in Somalia to be decisive and to help those

who are trying to help them.

We have always welcomed the continued

cooperation between the friendly Islamic Republic of

Iran and the International Atomic and Energy Agency

(IAEA). There are hopes and opportunities that augur

well for a peaceful solution guaranteeing the right of

Iran to benefit from peaceful nuclear technology and

assuages the concerns of the international community.

We as human beings are all partners on this

planet and we have to work together to build it and

develop and preserve its resources. Therefore, it is

important for the international community to observe

the extraordinary weather conditions such as

hurricanes, floods and the erosion and loss of arable

land that are taking place in different continents. These

phenomena have inflicted human and economic losses,

displaced hundreds of thousands of people from their

homes and have damaged the necessary sources of

health and livelihood, in addition to other essential

services.

In this context, we commend the vital role played

by the United Nations and recognize its efforts in

organizing the High-level Event on Climate Change

that was held on 24 September. We also urge the

international community to develop specific measures

and identify steps and solutions to face these

challenges.

More than ever before, the international

community is called upon to commission

environmental and scientific studies to face the dangers

posed by such phenomena, in order to maintain

ecological balance and diversity, which both are

necessary if life is to continue on this planet. Hence,

we must harness the new technological and electronic

developments in order to combat pollution and

preserve the environment and biological diversity. In

that regard, we welcome and are pleased to be among

the many States that have endorsed the special

initiative on the Millennium Development Goals with

regard to the call for action that was adopted recently.

We also welcome the convening of the high-level

dialogue on cooperation between religions and

cultures, scheduled to be held during this session in

October. We hope that the meeting will succeed in

adopting a futuristic view that focuses on the positive

aspects, based on understanding between religions and

cultures. Such understanding must be based on mutual

respect for all religious beliefs and cultures.

In closing, we wish this session every success and

we hope that we may be able to leave it with a vision

that defines the road for the future in the service of

mankind with renewed commitments among Member

States to United Nations resolutions and to respect for

the provisions of the Charter.