Saudi Arabia, 2003

It gives me great pleasure to convey to you,

Sir, and to your friendly country, Saint Lucia, our

congratulations on your election as President of the

General Assembly. I would like to express my

appreciation to you personally and my full confidence

in your ability to effectively conduct the work of the

Assembly at this session.

I would also like to express our gratitude to your

predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan, who led the work of the

Assembly at its last session with wisdom and expertise.

I also wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute

to the Secretary-General and to express the gratitude of

the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for his continuous and

tireless efforts to establish peace and security in the

world, strengthen the role of the Organization, increase

its efficiency, preserve its credibility and enhance its

effectiveness.

It is saddening and distressful that this session is

convening while the echo of the horrendous attack

against the United Nations offices in Baghdad that took

the life, among others, of one of its prominent and

towering figures, Mr. Sergio Vieira de Mello is still

resonating in our hearts. I avail myself of this

opportunity to convey to the Secretary-General, to the

staff of the Secretariat and to the families of the

victims of this tragic incident my sincere and deepest

condolences. I would also like to express the hope that

neither this incident nor the most recent one that took

place a few days ago will impede the efforts aimed at

promoting the role of the United Nations in

consolidating stability and prosperity in Iraq.

The hideous attack on the United Nations offices

in Baghdad represents a challenge that can be dealt

with and contained, and the necessary security

conditions to minimize such occurrences in the future

can be established. However, our Organization is, at

this juncture, facing other challenges that are more

serious than what happened in Baghdad, challenges

related to its raison d''tre and to the principles and

foundations stipulated in its Charter. These principles

were not heeded and the responsibility for this is ours.

This has in many instances impeded its effectiveness

and credibility.

Nevertheless, its ability to exist and perform and

the contributions it has provided and continues to

provide in various humanitarian, cultural and social

fields through its specialized agencies are sufficient to

encourage support for the Organization and provide it

with every assistance it needs.

In the comprehensive speech he gave at the outset

of this session, the Secretary-General referred with

clarity and transparency to the growing trend towards

unilateral action outside the realm of international

legitimacy in dealing with current problems such as

terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction. This expanding trend to resort to unilateral

action on the basis of the right to self-defence could

undermine the principle of collective security on which

the Charter was founded. We stressed this in the

Millennium Declaration that was issued by the General

Assembly three years ago.

Nevertheless, we have to admit that not

confronting such actions effectively and with

seriousness and steadfastness when faced with dangers

and threats such as those that emanated from the

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regime of Saddam Hussein, have led, it seems, to

confusion. This confusion has provided the advocates

of collective action and the defenders of unilateral

action with parallel arguments that each group is now

using against the other. Whoever wants to criticize the

policy of unilateral action will find no difficulty

proving that such a policy could only exacerbate and

increase problems.

On the other hand, those who criticize the

international community for being lax in acting

collectively to confront such problems that threaten

security and stability will also come up with arguments

to prove that such reluctance and negligence in facing

challenges is behind the eruption of the major crises of

our contemporary history.

It was therefore natural that, due to such

divergence in views, a situation was reached wherein

the focus turned to debate and theorization rather than

to dealing directly with current problems and deciding

on practical measures to resolve them. This is exactly

what happened with respect to Iraq immediately before

the war.

International terrorism, in all its manifestations

and forms, represents a very dangerous challenge to

our international Organization and to the international

community at large. It deserves our condemnation

which must be resolute, categorical and unequivocal.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has expressed this

position at different forums and international

gatherings.

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has

suffered and continues to suffer from acts of terror, has

launched a relentless war against terrorism, enacted

regulations that punish perpetrators, inciters and

sympathizers with terrorist activities and has

introduced counter-terrorism as one of the main

subjects in the curricula of its schools. It has also taken

a series of measures to close any loopholes in the way

charities collect money, in order to prevent funds from

being diverted for unlawful purposes.

However, regardless of its effectiveness, the

international effort directed against terrorism will not

eradicate this phenomenon without addressing its root

causes and the reasons for its spread.

The Palestinian issue, which has become a

constant item on the agenda of all the sessions of the

General Assembly over the past five decades, continues

to be a cause of instability and turmoil in the Middle

East region, whose nations yearn for peace, prosperity

and development. I don't think I need to go into the

details of this issue, of which you are completely

aware, but we should remember Israel's persistence in

its provocative policies and practices, which focus on

repression, persecution, political assassinations,

settlers' issues and the ominous fence. This is an

approach that has subverted all initiatives and

proposals aimed at solving the Palestinian issue,

including the Arab peace initiative and the road map.

The solutions that were presented on the

Palestinian issue were harmed mostly by the Security

Council's contradictions, especially among its

permanent members, in dealing with resolutions in this

regard. We see resolutions being adopted but remaining

mere ink on paper, and when the time comes for their

resolutions on implementation, the veto power is

invoked to abort implementation.

The only way out of this vicious circle, from our

perspective, is for the permanent members to pledge

not to use the veto power when dealing with

resolutions or measures aimed at implementing the

substance of resolutions previously adopted. This

matter may be one of the issues that the reform team

proposed by the Secretary-General should consider in

order to invigorate the role of the United Nations in

handling current issues and challenges.

The people of Iraq look to our Organization to

end the confusion, anarchy and chaos that resulted

from the collapse of the previous regime. The major

problem facing Iraq now is the absence of a clear

vision as for the future of Iraq and the fact that Iraq

cannot control its own destiny. Iraq faces a grave and

complicated internal situation, coupled with a delicate

and sensitive geographical location.

It is therefore of utmost necessity that we set a

clear timetable that would assure the Iraqis that they

are close to restoring their sovereignty and

independence through an accelerated political process

linked to specific commitments, whether with regard to

consolidating the power of the transitional Iraqi

Government or drafting a new Iraqi constitution that

would pave the way for the formation of a legitimate

national Iraqi Government under which all citizens

would enjoy equal rights and responsibilities.

Based on this premise, my country views the

Transitional Governing Council in Iraq as representing

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a positive step paving the way towards this goal. While

we give utmost importance to the role of the United

Nations in Iraq, we are hopeful that any debate on Iraq

will focus on determining its needs and finding

effective means to respond to them, including

contributions by all Member States to this noble effort,

namely the stability of Iraq.

That must be done speedily, efficiently and in a

way that would conform with the needs of Iraq. Iraq is

a country of pivotal importance, geographically and

historically, in our region. It possesses natural and

human resources that qualify it to take a prominent role

in the international community. All it needs from us is

an initial push to allow it to regain its sovereignty,

stability and growth.

The manifestations of the proliferation of

weapons of mass destruction are a cause of great

concern and tension in the Middle East. This means

that we must declare the Middle East and the Arab Gulf

region a zone free from weapons of mass destruction.

With regard to the need to increase the

effectiveness and universality of the Treaty on the Non-

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and its system of

safeguards, monitoring and inspection, we also believe

that certain standards and controls must be put in place

to assure progress in all fields of the elimination of

weapons of mass destruction. Based on this, we call

upon all countries that have yet to join the Non-

Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to take the necessary steps

to do so, especially Israel, and to submit their nuclear

sites and installations to the international safeguards

regime.

The international situation looks again as it used

to be during the time of polarisation, including

increasing tensions, crises and divisions that have

paralyzed the Security Council. Despite the fact that

we have entered the third millennium, we still lack the

needed commitment and collective political will to

translate our commitments into reality. International

peace and security are still but a hope and an aspiration

for many people and countries. Comprehensive

development is still a dream for many and a distant

objective we all hope to achieve.

In the Middle East, where countries suffer from

these symptoms, we see in the ideas presented by

President Bush, for the promotion of development in

the Middle East many positive signs, which

collectively present a model for fruitful cooperation

between rich nations and developing countries.

In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, His Royal

Highness the Crown Prince presented an initiative

aimed at reforming the situation in the Arab region in

the economic sphere, with structural reforms as well as

expansion of political participation at its core. If the

region succeeds in benefiting from these two

initiatives, its future will be promising.

The fact that there are still chronic issues on the

agenda of our Organization, like the Palestinian

problem, issues of comprehensive development and the

emergence of issues like Iraq makes it incumbent upon

us to embark on two parallel tracks: credibility in

upholding the principles of the Charter, and seriousness

in implementing United Nations resolutions. We must

not substitute futile and senseless arguments which

would be useless to us all for practical solutions.

Our deeply rooted belief in of the important role

that the United Nations can play in dealing with crises

and its efforts to avoid the horrors of war and to

provide means for international cooperation make us

more determined than ever to support this Organization

and consolidate its constructive role. We want the

United Nations to take a greater role in handling crises

before they occur through the implementation of what

is known as preventive diplomacy rather than through

pre-emptive wars, in order to preserve stability and

maintain international peace and security.