Republic of the Congo, 2001

The crash

of American Airlines flight 587 two days ago has once

again cast into mourning the city of New York, which

has already suffered so much. On behalf of the

delegation of the Congo, I offer my most sincere

condolences to the bereaved families.

I wish at the outset to congratulate you sincerely,

Sir, on your outstanding election to the presidency of

the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth session. The

trust that has been placed in you reflects the

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international community’s recognition of your qualities

as an experienced diplomat and is a tribute to your

country, the Republic of Korea, for the decisive role it

plays in maintaining peace and security throughout the

world. You may rest assured of the full cooperation of

the delegation of the Congo.

I express our gratitude to your predecessor,

Mr. Harri Holkeri, for the competence and deftness

with which he carried out his task.

I also take this opportunity once again to offer

our sincere congratulations to Secretary-General Kofi

Annan on his brilliant re-election and on his reception

of the Nobel Peace Prize, which is a crown on his

personal contribution and on that of our Organization.

We still have in our mind’s eye the terrifying and

unbearable images of the attacks perpetrated against

the United States on 11 September —acts of pure

barbarity, blind terrorism that we condemn absolutely,

as we do all other forms of violence, which must be

curbed and eradicated. In keeping with the commitment

undertaken at the Millennium Summit, we must be

especially vigilant and determined in the fight against

that evil, which has no place in the world today. The

Congo fully endorses all the relevant United Nations

resolutions aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of

the response of the international community to

terrorism, in particular Security Council resolutions

1368 (2001) and 1373 (2001).

The African continent, which has suffered for

many years from violence that has hampered its

development and integration into the world of today,

has clearly condemned such acts, which can lead only

to further destitution and poverty. That is why, at a

time when it is launching new initiatives to help it to

emerge from crisis and promote development, Africa is

dressing its wounds and appealing for various forms of

local, regional and international mediation. These

initiatives have already borne fruit.

With regard to the conflict in the Democratic

Republic of the Congo, which is of particular concern

to my country, we welcome the progress that has been

accomplished in implementing the Lusaka Agreement,

which is enabling the United Nations Organization

Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

(MONUC) to move on to phase III of its deployment.

In this context, we welcome the Security Council

meeting with the Political Committee of the Lusaka

Agreement. We invite all the parties to continue to

demonstrate their goodwill in carrying out the

commitments they have undertaken. We have great

hopes for the inter-Congolese dialogue, which is

scheduled to take place in South Africa.

After years of war and illegal exploitation of its

wealth, that brotherly country needs to return to peace,

national unity and political stability and to fully

recover its sovereignty so that it can achieve the

progress promised by its enormous potential. My

country, for its part, has always maintained good-

neighbourly relations with the other side of the Congo

River, and we will continue to contribute in every way

we can to ensure the peace and normalization that are

so greatly desired.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank

Mr. Kofi Annan and, through him, his Special

Representative, Mr. Namanga Ngongi, for the action

that has been carried out within the framework of

MONUC.

As for Burundi, we would like to pay tribute to

President Nelson Mandela for his mediation, which has

led to the formation of a government of national unity,

to which we wish every success. This process, which

should contribute to a return to lasting peace and

stability for that country, deserves the full support of

the international community.

In Angola, the consistent resort to terrorism and

other acts of sabotage by UNITA, in disregard of the

relevant Security Council resolutions, should lead us to

strengthen the sanctions against that organization,

which is responsible for the continuation of war in the

country. The Congo reaffirms its solidarity with the

people and the Government of Angola, who are sparing

no effort to restore peace and rebuild their country. The

international community must provide all necessary

assistance to Angola.

Given the continuing violence in the Middle East,

a return to the Oslo accords is urgently required if the

current deadlock is to be broken. We appeal to the

parties in conflict to show a willingness to move

forward so as to re-establish a dialogue, which remains

the only way to restore lasting peace in an area of the

world that has been troubled for far too long. We

therefore welcome the constructive proposals made by

the President of the United States of America, His

Excellency George W. Bush, on the coexistence of two

States, Israel and Palestine, within secure and

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recognized borders, as required by Security Council

resolutions.

Situations such as these are often and almost

systematically accompanied by the massive

displacement of populations, which causes

destabilization in neighbouring countries and worsens

domestic problems. Such is the case in my country,

which is currently hosting more than 200,000 refugees

mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo,

Angola, Rwanda and, more recently, the Central

African Republic. The situation is a great cause for

concern in a country that is only just emerging from

war itself and is thus confronted by many other

challenges. Given the seriousness of this situation, I

would like once again to repeat the appeal of my

Government for adequate assistance.

After the signing, at the end of 1999, of

agreements on the cessation of hostilities, the priority

tasks set out by President Denis Sassou Nguesso were

national reconciliation and relaunching the democratic

process, with a view to ensuring the reconstruction and

development of the Congo. Today, almost all of these

objectives are in the process of being achieved.

At the political level, we organized in

Brazzaville, from 14 March to 17 April 2001, a

national dialogue from which no one was barred, under

the auspices of an international mediator, His

Excellency El Hadj Omar Bongo, President of the

Gabonese Republic, to whom we would like once again

to express our deep gratitude. That dialogue has been

sanctioned by the signing of the convention for peace

and reconstruction in the Congo, as well as by the

adoption of a preliminary draft of the constitution. This

preliminary draft was approved by the National

Transitional Council — our transitional parliament —

on 2 September, and it will be submitted to a

referendum before the end of this year. In preparation

for the constitutional referendum and the general

elections, an administrative census has just been

carried out so as to draw up electoral lists.

I would also like to mention the efforts being

made by the Government within the context of

strengthening the consolidation of peace. These

include, in particular, the demobilization of over

25,000 militia members; the collection of 10,817

weapons and rounds of ammunition, of which 6,484

have already been destroyed, with the technical support

of the International Organization for Migration;

assistance for the reintegration of 6,844 former militia

members, with the United Nations helping with more

than 2,190 small-scale projects; and the large-scale

return of displaced persons and refugees to their

normal domicile.

Furthermore, the establishment of a high

commission responsible for reintegrating former

combatants, a Committee for the follow-up of the

convention on peace and reconstruction in the Congo,

and a national committee to eradicate poverty all form

part of this momentum for the consolidation of peace.

Our work will long continue to reflect the painful

background against which it is taking place — the

terrorist attacks. We have committed ourselves —

rightly, unanimously and resolutely — to fighting this

scourge. But this means that we must eradicate

anything that might be used as a pretext for acts of

blind destruction. To decrease tension throughout the

world is to deal with situations that can foster

terrorism. But we should remember that an apparently

local crisis can have repercussions very far away —

sometimes even at the global level. In this context,

globalization must not be seen solely in economic and

commercial terms. In reality, we are talking about the

daily existence of individuals, peoples and nations,

closely linked because of the rupture of borders.

The eleventh of September just gave us a painful

reminder that the world is one in its suffering, meaning

that we must also remain as one as we seek better

times. That is why we must reduce, as quickly as

possible, the gulf that separates the poorest among us

from the wealthiest.

The socio-economic tensions we see throughout

the world are also the result of extreme poverty in

developing countries. Over 1 billion men and women

are victims of malnutrition and do not even have access

to drinking water or minimal health services. Unless

we accelerate growth, poverty will continue to worsen.

We must all therefore mobilize generally in order to

urgently implement the strategies we ourselves have

adopted here, especially those adopted during the

Millennium Summit.

We should welcome the recent United Nations

initiative to set up a Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS

and to respond to the desire of developing countries to

have access to new therapies at a lower cost.

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With regard to the particular economic situation

in Africa, Congo expects that during this session the

international community will support the New

Partnership for Africa’s Development. As the

Assembly is aware, the New Partnership — which

harmonizes the concerns of the new African Union in

the areas of development and economic integration —

is the response that Africa unanimously intends to

present to the challenges of globalization.

It is also appropriate now to again look at the

essential instrument in that international struggle,

namely, the United Nations. The conferences and

special session organized by the United Nations this

year — on the least developed countries, AIDS, human

settlements, the illicit trade in light weapons in all its

aspects, racism and many other issues — once again

proves that our Organization remains a vital and

irreplaceable instrument at the service of humankind. It

is also in this framework that the fight against terrorism

must take place.

As we stated during the Millennium Summit last

year, we must, while relying on the United Nations,

work more resolutely and methodically to find

solutions to all those concerns. It is for this reason that

I would like, in conclusion, to reaffirm my country’s

commitment to the United Nations, which must remain

the preferred forum for international coordination and

dialogue among civilizations, for the maintenance of

international peace and security, for the peaceful

settlement of conflict, and for international economic

cooperation in the service of all.