A/37/PV.73 General Assembly

I wish to announce that this meeting will be suspended while the consultations now under way continue. The meeting was suspended at 11.10 a.m. and resumed at 12.10 f).m.

The consultations are still going on, and all the parties concerned have requested that the debate and the voting on the amendments, the sub-amendments and the draft resoiution be postponed until Monday afternoon, 22 November. If the Assembly agree') to such a postponement, this item will be taken up as the first item at Monday afternoon's meeting.

I wish to inform you, Mr. President, that the situation has now changed. A compromise has been reached and my delegation feels that the Assembly could proceed to the vote now.

It may be that a compromise has been reached in regard to the sub-amendment to the Iraqi amendment, but I was informed by the sponsors of the draft resolution and by the delegations of Argentina, Brazil and India, who have introduced the amendments contained in document A/37/L.35/ Rev.1, that consultations were still going on.

It is indeed true that about an .hour ago there was under consideration the possibility that we might postpone the voting until Monday, but consultations are still in progress and I am not aware that we have actually' reached any final decision on that point. In the course of the last half-hour or so, we helve been having further consulta- tions not only among the sponsors of the amend- ments contained in document A/37/L.35/Rev.l, but also with the delegation of Iraq and others concerned. The sponW>fS of the amendment in document A/37/ L.35/Rev.1 would be quite willing-in fact, we would suggest-that the Assembly should proceed to the vote today.

I was told by the sponsors of the draft resolution and the other interested parties that there was a possibility that a consensus draft resolution might emerge if further time were given for consultations and the item were put on the agenda of Monday afternoon's meeting, as the first item, and the voting took place then. NEW YORK 7. I am, 'Jf course, in the hands of the General Assembly. Does it wish to consider the draft resolu- tion and the amendments and sub-amendments now, or does it wish to give more time to the interested parties to attempt to work out a cunsensus draft resolution? 8. Mr. AL-QAYSI (Iraq): I do not wish to complicate your task, Mr. President. It is true that it was intimated to you that there might be a desire to postpone the voting on the amendments in order to give certain delegations the opportunity to consult and perhaps reach a consensus draft resolution. After that, how- ever, consultations went on, and a definitive conclu- sion was reached-that is, that there was a possibility of such a draft resolution being put forward this morning. All the necessary consultations had taken place on the amendments proposed }-\y the delegation of Brazil, and it therefore seemed possible that the voting could take place, if not this morning, then definitely this afte:noon. 9. My delegation therefore cannot understand why the Assembly should have to decide whether the voting should be postponed until ~fonday. The pur- pose of the intimation to you that the voting might have to be postponed has now been achieved: the consultations have resulted in an agreement on a series of amendments.

If there is no objection, I shall again suspend the meeting so that consulta- tions may take place with the sponsors of the texts before th~ Assembly. When the meeting resumes, the Assembly will proceed to the vote, if it so wishes.

I call on the representative of the United States, who wishes to introduce a sub- amendment [A/37/L.37] to the amendments of Iraq [A/37/L.34].

The United States wishes to propose a sub-amendment to the amendments proposed by Iraq, which deals with the very serious matter of attacks on installations that are peacefully engaged in the conduct of nuclear activities. 13. We propose that the General Assembly should state an important buth in a comprehensive manner- namely, that any attack on a peaceful nuclear instal- lation in violation of the Charter of the United Nations constitutes a serious threat to the role and activities of IAEA and to the development and promotion of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. 14. Last week, the Assembly adopted a resolution concerning Israel's attack on the Baghdad reactor A/37/PV.73 2E. Operative paragraph 2 would try to achieve both purposes at the same time: on the one hand, it would now stress the Agency's fundamental promotional purpose-promoting the use of nuclear energy-and also, by the way, the consequent need to strengthen technical assistance to developing countries; on the other hand, it would rer ,est that the effectiveness of the Agency's regulator;: function-which has so ."ar been successful, as stated by the report itself and confirmed by the Director General-be ensured. 27. Our amendment ~o the third preambular para- graph has also been revised so that the first part of the paragraph reads: 28. The delegations sponsoring the amendments have in mind full respect for and allegiance to the spirit and language of the IAEA statute and wish to avoid the addition of elements deriving from perceptions and interests which aim at a virtual revision of the statute. rr~ulatory, defined in a balanced and appropriate manner. 21. Th~re has always been an attempt by some quarters to adulterate the role of the Agency by in- sisting that its principal function-indeed, almost its sole purpose-is to serve as a sort of international police force to prevent the horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons. I stress "horizontal" because its , vertical aspect, which is the one that poses the greatest . threat to mankind, seems to be beyond the reach of that •'police force". 22. Those attempts are not confined to IAEA itst:'lf but also were made, rather successfully, in the pre!>ara- tion of the earlier draft resolution on the Agency's report. Document A/37/L.29 is a very good example. The purpose of the amendments introduced by Brazil, India and f.rgentina in document A/37/L.35/Rev.l is

I call on the representative of Iraq, who wishes to introduce a sub-amendment.

My delegation has listened very carefully to the sub-amendment of the United States [A/37/L.37] to my delegation's amend- ments [A/37/L.34]. I wish to point out, however, that the report of IAEA before us deals with the specific Israeli attack against the Iraqi nuclear facilities. It was the one and only attack; there is one threat only, and that is the Israeli threat to repeat such an attack. "Recognizing the importance of the work of and the relevance for the International Atomic Energy Agency ...".

The Assembly has spent a Against: Israel, United States ef America. Abstaining: Chile, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, Gabon, Honduras, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay. The sub-amendment was adopted by 116 votes to 2, with 11 abstentions.

I believe that, under the rules ofprocedure, the original amendment ofthe delegation of Iraq has now been disposed of. 47.. Mr. AL-QAYSI (Iraq): Mr. President, it is not the whole of the original :-.mendment of the delegation of Iraq that has been disposed of; it is only operative paragraph 3 in that amendment.

That is correct. For the sake of clarity, I shall read out operative paragraph 3 in the Iraqi amendment as it now stands-that is, the United States sub-amendment combined with the Iraqi sub-amendment. "3. Considers that Israel's threat to repeat its armed attack against nuclear facilities as well as any other military attack against peaceful nuclear facilities, in violation of the Charter of the United Nations, constitute, inter alia, a serious threat to the role and activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the development and further promotion ofnuclearenergy for peaceful purposes; '.~ 49. Following the proper procedure, the Assembly should first vote on the sub-amendment of the United States as now amended-that is, on document A/37/ L.37 as amended by the addition of the words on which a vote has just been taken. 50. I call on the representative of Iraq on a point of order. "Considers that Israel's threat to repeat its armed attack against nuclear facilities, as well as any other military attack against peaceful nuclear facili- ties, in violation ofthe Charterofthe United Nations, constitute, inter alia-"

Mr. President, my col- league Mr. AI-Zahawi read out the sub-amendment and I myself read it out. It does not contain the phrase "in violation of the Charter". You can check the tape, Mr. President, since everything here is recorded on tape.

I read out the text and I think it was clear what we were voting on, but we wiil have the full text typed out and come back to this. In the meantime, in order not to delay our work, the As- Demo~ratic Republic, Germany, Federal Republic of, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Hon- duras, Hungary, lceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Ivory Coast, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Lebanon, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Luxem- bourg, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mongolia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Syrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist 'Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Repub- lics, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia. Against: None. Abstaining: None. The amendmellt was adopted by 128 votes to none. 63. The PRESIDENT: The Assembly must next vote on the amendment in document A/37/L.34 as a whole. Operative paragraph 3 now reads as follows: "Considers that brael's.threat to repeat its armed attack against nuclear facilities as well as any other armed attack against such facilities constitute, inter alia, a serious threat to the role and the activities of the International Atomic Energy Agency in the development and further promotion of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes." 64. I call upon the representative of the United States who has asked to speak on a point of order.

I am finding it increasingly difficult to discover what side I am on. 66. When the President originally read out the amendment as sub-amended and sub-amended, he did In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Austlalia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, Canada, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Czechoslovakia, Democratic Yemen, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Finland, France, Gabon, Gambia, German Democratic Repub- lic, Germany, Federal Republic of, Ghana, Greece, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana,~Hcnduras, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Lao People's Demo- cratic Republic, Lebanon, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Mexico, Mon- golia, Morocco, Mozambique, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Saint Lucia, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Somalia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, ~yrian Arab Republic, Thailand, Togo, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United Republic of Cameroon, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Yemen, Yugoslavia, Zambia. d~legation is recorded on tape, and that is the best arbiter. We did not use the word "military". We did not use the words "in violation of the Charter". Mr. AI-Zahawi read out the sub-amendment and I repeated it. Now if it was understood differently, that is not the fault of the proposer of the sub- amendment. 73. I think we have already spent quite enough time on this matter. We are a democratic body; the result of the vote is there. We should be able to continue with our voting on the other proposals before us so that we can conclude our work on this item. Abstaining: Ecuador, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Paraguay. The amendments, as amended, were adopted by /22 votes to 2, with 4 abstentions.

The Assembly will now turn to the amendments presented·by Argentina, Brazil and India [A/37/L.35/Rev./].

I think we can solve the problem in the following manner. In regard to para- graph 3, the sub-amendment, as amended, was adopted. Paragraph 4 was also adopted. Therefore, the Assembly has to take a decision on document A/37/L.34 as a whole~ as amended. I shall now read out the complete and, I believe, correct text, as amended. Representatives will then have a chance to record their votes again. 75. With the Iraqi sub-amendment that has been adopted, operative paragraph 3 reads as follows: 78. The Assembly will first vote on the first amend- ment, which begins with the word "Recognizing". 79. I call on the representative of Brazil on a point of"order.

Mr. President, I do not think you referred to the oral amendment I made when I introduced the revised text ofthe amendments. With that oral amendment, the first phrase of the first amendment reads: "'Considers that Israel's threat to repeat its armed attack against nuclear faciEdes as well as any other armed attack against such facilities constitute, inter alia, a serious threat to the role and the activi- ties of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Against: Israel, United States of America. "Recognizing the importance of the work of and the relevance for the International Atomic Energy Agency." ., A recorded vote was taken. In favour: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Benin, Bhutan, Brazil, Burundi,.Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Congo, Cuba, Cyprus, Democratic Yemen, Dominican Repub- lic, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Fiji, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Liberia, Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Madagascar, Malawi, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Malta, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique,

The Assembly will now take a decision on the third amendment contained in document A/37/L.35/Rev.l. A recorded vote has been requested.

The delegation of Guatemala wishes to express its satisfaction with the work of IAEA and to congratulate it on its 25 years of fruitful work. 105. In the light of the views I have just expressed, the Ten abstained in the voting on the draft resolution, as amended. The Ten regret that it was not possible to achieve consensus on the resolution dealing with the report of IAEA, which has usually, in the past, been an uncontentious item. Finally, the Ten would like to stress their dissatisfaction with the manner in which the consideration of the draft resolution was carried out. We believe that it would have been possible to achieve a consensus resolution if sufficient time had been available.

My delegation holds that the principal purpose that should be served by the resolution just adopted is to be found in operative paragraphs 1 and 3 of the original draft [A/37/L.29]- that is, ta take note of the report of IAEA and r~­ quest the Secretary-General to transmit the records of the thirty-seventh session of the General Assembly relating to the Agency's activities to the Director General of IAEA. 107. My delegation does not believe that the General Assembly is the appropriate or relevant body to set the policy and direction of IAEA. That is within the competence of the General Conference of IAEA. Accordingly, we greatly regret the amendments sub- mitted by the delegations of Iraq and Brazil, because they enterer into matters of substance and politics. They have regrettably broken the consensus. 108. We voted against the second Brazil;an amend- ment because ofan implied weakening ofthe reference to safeguards in document A/37/L.29. We do not accept the comment of the representative of Brazil that a vote against his amendment is "a denunciation" of the Agency's statute. 120. Our vote does not indicate a weakening of our commitment to IAEA and its functions in the promo- tion of international co-operation for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and in averting the danger of the proliferation of nuclear weapons.