Saudi Arabia, 2000

It

gives me pleasure at the outset of the fifty-fifth session

of the General Assembly of the United Nations to

convey to His Excellency our sincerest congratulation

for his election to the presidency of this session. His

election to this important position reflects the respect

of the international community for him personally, as

well as the appreciation of the Member States for the

positive role played by his country, Finland, in the

international arena. I am confident that his presidency

of this session will contribute effectively to our efforts

to achieve the objectives towards which the

international community aspires under the present,

delicate international circumstances.

I also wish to take this opportunity to express our

appreciation to his predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab,

Foreign Minister of Namibia and president of the

previous session of the United Nations General

Assembly, who managed the affairs of the session with

great competence and experience and who deserves our

compliments and appreciation.

I am also pleased to express my thanks and

appreciation to His Excellency, the Secretary-General

of the United Nations Mr. Kofi Annan, for his

continuous and tireless efforts to achieve peace and

enhance security and stability in our contemporary

world, as well as for the competence and ability he has

demonstrated in leading the affairs of this

Organization, relying on his rich and exceptional

experience in the international arena. In particular, I

wish to commend His Excellency for his sincere and

extensive efforts in organizing the Millennium Summit,

which, God willing, will contribute to achieving

fruitful results with positive effect on our peoples and

nations while ushering in a new century full of

challenges and opportunities.

On this occasion, I wish to welcome the Republic

of Tuvalu to the membership of the United Nations,

hoping that its membership will enhance the

effectiveness of the Organization and its noble

objectives.

The present session of the General Assembly has

followed immediately the Millennium Summit, a

unique historical event. World leaders met in a

dignified gathering that exemplified the unity of the

human race and their collective endeavour to live in

peace, security and prosperity. That Summit

represented a valuable opportunity to reflect on and to

discuss whatever might lead to a better life for

humanity. The world leaders pledged in the final

Declaration of the Summit to exert all possible efforts

to achieve peace, security and disarmament and

eradicate poverty and disease. They affirmed the

sovereign equality of nations, respect for their

territorial integrity and political independence, and

non-interference in the internal affairs of States. The

Summit also provided a valuable opportunity to

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evaluate the course of this Organization throughout its

history, which has been full of opportunities and

challenges, so as to enable it to achieve its declared

principles and purposes.

In this regard, a thorough and candid evaluation

of the role of the United Nations was presented by His

Royal Highness Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz, the

Crown Prince and the head of the Saudi delegation to

the Millennium Summit. He discussed the challenges

and problems that have impeded the United Nations

from achieving the goals and objectives to which the

human community aspires.

His Royal Highness presented a number of ideas

and notions that represent a valuable contribution to

efforts aimed at promoting and vitalizing the role of the

United Nations. He mentioned the importance of

linkage between modernizing the Organization's

mechanisms and the nature of the issues it confronts.

The effects of these reforms should consider the

viability and performance of United Nations bodies in

a way that enables the United Nations it to fulfil its

required role in dealing effectively with the new

developments in modern international relations.

One of the most apparent features of the new

world order is the emerging phenomenon of

globalization, which, as a developed framework for

international relations, has occupied a large portion of

the current political thought of nations. We view

globalization as a phenomenon that should reflect the

natural closeness between nations aimed at achieving

social justice, overall development, equality among

nations, and broadening the scope of cooperation in a

manner that serves the issues of peace and security and

stability throughout the world. However, and I read

here from a statement by His Royal Highness Prince

Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz at the Millennium Summit:

“We hope that the United Nations will

support us in standing against a globalization that

results in the hegemony of the strong over the

weak, increases the causes of the oppression and

exploitation of nations, and fosters injustice and

inequality in international relations. We

particularly warn of the ramifications of

unbridled globalization and its use as an umbrella

to violate the sovereignty of States and interfere

with their internal affairs under a variety of

pretexts especially from the angle of human

rights issues.”

The United Nations call for a civilized dialogue

and declaring 2001 a year for Dialogue among

Civilizations comes at an appropriate time as a

civilized response to those who propagate the themes

and doctrines of conflict and inevitable clash of

civilizations. A dialogue among civilizations

represents, in fact, a constructive beginning towards

achieving globalization in its positive sense and its

human aspect, something to which all peoples and

nations aspire. A dialogue among civilizations would

contribute to strengthening the values and principles of

understanding and cooperation among cultures and

civilizations. It will further promote respect for other

religious beliefs and the cultural legacies of other

nations in a way that consolidates the principles of

peaceful coexistence and proliferates the culture of

peace and tolerance.

Deviation from the values and principles of

justice, equality and non-compliance with the rules of

international legitimacy in resolving differences and

disputes through peaceful means has led to the

proliferation of wars and armed conflicts in many parts

of the world. This has caused painful humanitarian

suffering that continues to arouse the conscience of the

world community. In our region, Israel continues to

take intransigent positions and to reject the

requirements for peace. This became evident during the

recent talks at Camp David where the Israeli side

insisted on maintaining positions that are diametrically

opposed to the principles of peace that were agreed to

in Madrid and to what was stated in United Nations

resolutions with respect to the status of Al-Quds Al-

Sharif. Both the final communiqué of the Al-Quds

Committee, which convened recently in Agadir,

Morocco, and the resolution of the Council of the Arab

League, adopted at its 114th session, reaffirmed the

unshakeable Arab and Islamic positions with respect to

the issue of Al-Quds Al-Sharif. It also reaffirmed the

impossibility of attaining a durable and comprehensive

peace without reaching a just solution to this problem

in a way that preserves Arab and Muslim rights, in

accordance with United Nations resolutions, and that

respects complete Palestinian sovereignty over Al-

Quds Al-Sharif.

Israel is making a big mistake if it believes that

the peace process can proceed without total respect for

the legitimate rights of the Palestinians to return to

their homeland and establish their own independent

State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. Al-Quds

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Al-Sharif is an integral part of the occupied territories

and is subject to Security Council resolution 242

(1967). Moreover, a comprehensive peace cannot be

achieved without Israeli withdrawal from the occupied

Syrian Golan to the 4 June 1967 line.

We continue to feel for the suffering of the

fraternal Iraqi people as a result of the continuing

refusal of their Government to abide fully by United

Nations resolutions, which would allow for the lifting

of the sanctions. In reiterating its concern over the

suffering of the Iraqi people, the Government of the

Kingdom of Saudi Arabia proposed an initiative that

would allow Iraq to import all the materials and goods

it needed — except those that fall within the context of

military items that threaten Iraq's neighbours. If such

an initiative had been accepted, the needs of the Iraqi

people would have been met and their suffering

alleviated. However, the Iraqi Government was swift in

rejecting this gesture, and thus it has prolonged the

suffering of the Iraqi people. We once again express the

hope that the Iraqi Government will act quickly to

comply with Security Council resolution 1284 (1999)

and the mandate of the United Nations Monitoring,

Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC)

and of other international committees concerned with

the release and repatriation of all Kuwaiti and Saudi

prisoners, as well as with the return of Kuwaiti

property. We once again reiterate the need to respect

Iraq's independence, unity and territorial integrity.

We also strongly desire the removal of the causes

of tension in the Gulf region. Accordingly, we hope

that the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran

will cooperate with the efforts of the tripartite

committee, which has been entrusted with creating a

conducive climate for direct negotiations between the

United Arab Emirates and the Islamic Republic of Iran

in order to reach an amicable and acceptable solution

to the issue of the three islands.

As regards Somalia, my country welcomed the

outcome of the national reconciliation conference,

which took place in the town of Arta in Djibouti and

which included the election of President Abdikassin

Salad Hassan. We hope that the other Somali factions

will join the reconciliation efforts aimed at promoting

national accord and at achieving unity and stability in

Somalia.

In Afghanistan fierce fighting continues and is

denying Afghanistan and its people the fruits of

liberation from foreign occupation.

The Pakistani-Indian conflict over Jammu and

Kashmir remains a source of tension between the two

neighbouring countries. We call on both sides to

exercise the utmost restraint and to solve the conflict

through negotiations, in accordance with United

Nations resolutions, which give the people of Jammu

and Kashmir the right to self-determination.

The continuation of these disputes and armed

conflicts — which have claimed the lives of millions,

depleted huge quantities of resources and caused

destruction and serious damage to the environment —

makes it incumbent upon the international community

to make every possible effort to put an end to these

conflicts and to find peaceful solutions to them. In this

regard, we look to the United Nations to make greater

efforts to reaffirm its role as a peacemaker and not just

a peacekeeper. It has become evident that working to

prevent conflicts from erupting is more effective and

less costly than concentrating on peacekeeping.

In this respect and in compliance with the

principle of resolving conflicts through peaceful

means, our region witnessed two important events that

marked a positive sign in relations between nations. In

June 2000, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the

Republic of Yemen signed the Jeddah agreement

establishing final and permanent, international land and

sea borders. This ended more than 60 years of border

disputes. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also

concluded an agreement with the State of Kuwait for

the demarcation of the shallow seas adjacent to the

former neutral zone between the two countries.

The issue of disarmament is of great concern to

my country, and we call for greater efforts in this area,

especially as regards weapons of mass destruction. The

presence of these weapons represents a great danger to

international peace and security. We hope that the

nuclear States will fulfil the pledges they made at the

2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on

the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and adhere

to the commitment to eradicate their nuclear arsenals.

In this context, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is

very concerned about Israel's refusal to accede to the

Non-Proliferation Treaty and about its decision to keep

its nuclear programme outside the scope of

international controls. Israel's refusal to adhere to the

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international will and to become part of this Treaty has

aborted all efforts exerted by the peoples and countries

of the Middle East to live in a region free from all

weapons of mass destruction. Israel is the only country

in the region that has yet to accede to the Non-

Proliferation Treaty, a fact that has disrupted the

balance of security and threatened peace in the region.

It is this imperative to stress the need to increase

the effectiveness of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by

making it universal and mandatory.

Cooperation on social and political issues has

become a necessity that cannot be avoided or

neglected. The economic and social problems of the

developing countries make it incumbent upon us all to

promote policies that can alleviate the effects of these

problems, which in most cases exacerbate tension

within and among nations. We believe that the

developed countries have an obligation to assist in

combating poverty, food scarcities, drought and

famine.

It is unrealistic to apply the concept of

globalization only as a means to liberalize the

markets — removing restrictions — without also

drafting a framework for action that stresses the need

to consider the economic situation in many of the

developing countries and to assist them in moving to a

stage where they can participate in development. It is

therefore important for the industrialized and

technically advanced countries to help those

developing nations without subjecting them to selective

policies in technology transfer. Moreover, globalization

should be a two-way street that requires the developed,

industrialized nations to liberalize their markets and

open them up to products from developing nations.

We are truly objective when dealing with

environmental issues. We support conducting serious

and informed studies based on evidence, studies that

take into consideration the process of development in

the developing countries. In this regard, we call upon

all States to abide by Agenda 21 and urge the

industrialized States to honour their international

commitments regarding the transfer of environmentally

friendly technology to the developing countries.

In conclusion, I would like to emphasise that we

are facing enormous challenges in the new era, which

makes it incumbent upon all of us to strive to achieve

the maximum possible level of cooperation and

solidarity. This is not confined to political and military

challenges, but also includes new waves of challenges

that result from the contemporary way of life with all

its problems and complications and cannot be solved or

managed except through organized collective efforts.

Our firm belief in the important role of the United

Nations in dealing with current issues and in

facilitating appropriate international cooperation to

address and contain these problems, makes us more

determined than ever to support this Organization and

help consolidate its constructive role.

It is my wish that we enter the new millennium

with stronger determination and commitment to our

collective goal to establish a secure world where values

triumph and justice, equality and peace prevail.

Allah says in the Holy Koran:

“Help ye one another in righteousness and piety

but help ye not one another in sin and rancour.”

(The Holy Koran, V:2)

May peace and the blessing of Allah be upon you,

Sir.