A/43/PV.14 General Assembly

The Assembly will now hear an address by the Prime Minister of the People's Derrocra tic Republic of Yemen. Mr. Yassin Saeed Noman, Prime Minister of the People's Democratic Republic of Yemen, was escorted to the rostrum.

I have great pleasure in welcoming the Prime Minister of the People's DelOOcratic Republic of Yemen, Mr. Yassin saeed Noman, and inviting him to address the General Assembly. Mr. NOMAN (Democratic Yemen) (interpret~tion from Arabic): It is a pleasure for me to participate in a session held amidst such special international circumstances, in which concerted efforts are being made in the quest for peace, and tireless, unrelenting wor~ is being done in addressing the countless international and regional issues and laying the foundations for constructive and fruitful co-operation among the peoples and countries of the world. Such circumstances have become possible thanks to the new international climate based on conciliation and deriving from the improvement in SOviet-American relations and the positive results of summit meetings, particularly the recent ~scow summit. That summit created a climate of detente, opened new horizons for a just and comprehensive peace and provided the conditions necessary for tackling numerous regional and international rluestions. In these special circumstances, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate you, Sir, on the confidence placed in you and on your well-deserved election to the presidency of this session of the General Assenbly. we are confident that you are amply qualified to lead us to success in handling the issues under consideration during this session. This is a good opportunity to convey our deep gratitude to Mr. Peter Florin, Deputy Foreign Minister of the German Democratic Republic, who catducted the deliberations of the forty-second session of the General Assemly with competence and ability that showed how deserving he was of the cCll'\fidenc~ of the international colIIlIuni ty • It would be remiss of me not to express to the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, our deep appreciation of his coot1nuing efforts to consolida te the roleo£ the United Nations in addressing many regional and international questions. These efforts translate the will of the international oonnunity, which defines the ways and means for finding just solutions to those questions. we take note vi th great pleasure of the tangible progress achieved in th is direction • Our participation in this session of the General Assembly coincides with the celebration by our people in Yemen of the twenty-fi fth ann iversary of the Ma tional Liberatien Revolution of 14 October, under the leader eh ip of the Hational Fron t for . the Liberation of Southern Yemen. This part of the Yemeni homeland re_ined under British occupation for 129 years, years of backwardnass, throughout which it was divided into more than 23 sultanates, emirates and sheikhdoms, which separated our ci tizens and impeded our growth and development. Ever since we won our independence 21 years ago, we have been trying to ach ieve balanced urban and rural developaeni: and build an independent national economy free from foreign hegemony. We wanted to build an eCalomy that catered to \1".he mater lal and spir itual needs of our cl tizens, after the unification of all emirates and sheikhcJoms Wlder the administration of one central GoVernment. (Mr. Noman, Democratic Yemen) Desp! te the scarcity of resources, the backwardness of the infrastructures of the national economr that we inherited, and the acute internal and external difficulties that we faced from the very day of our independence, our country was able to stand on its own two feet. We were able to endure our plight thcmks to the steadfastness and solidarity of our people, who believed in the justice of their national and social cause, under the leadership of the Yemeni Socialist Party. As a result, we have succeeded in consolidating our political independence and have come a loog way a100g the road of our independent: social and economic developnent. We have sought to imprOl1e the standards of living of our people, increase their participation in the practical political life of the country and enhance their contribution to building their new society. Within the national Yemen! framework we have worked tirelessly with our brethren in t.he northern part of the homeland to create the objective bases on which the desired state of unity of a unified Yemen will be built. we have achieved tangible progress in this direction following the signature of the , historic agreement of Santa on 4 May 1988. Under this agre&ment we agreed to joint oil investment in the border area between nor th and south Yemen, namely, in the area between the governorates of Shabwa and Ma'reh. we have also agreed to freedom of movement for all citizens of the Yemeni homeland with identity cards. we believe that the Ban 'a agreement has opened wide hor izoos for further tangible practical steps which can lay the bases for the reunification of the Yemeni homeland through peaceful and democratic 1IIeans. On the regional level, we are wor:king to develop brotherly relations with the countr ies of the region on the basis of mutual respect for sovereignty and ~dependence, and non-interference in tt;ee internal affairs of others. we are seeking to expand the spheres of co-operation allOng us in a manner that serves the (Hr. Noman, Democratic Yemen) common irlterests of our peoples, promtes peace and stability in the area and helps to avert present risks so that our peoples can at last enjoy prosperity and progress. We have achieved auspicious progress in this direction by creating the best cooditions for building the economy internally and cootributing to the prol'lDtion of joint Arab endeavours, side by side with our brothere in the Arab countries. By so doing we hope to serve our national causes, foremost among which ranks the recovery of the national inalienable rights of the Arab Palestinian people. This coIl'lllon approach will also enable us to face challenges to and frustrate the conspiracies hatched against our peoples. Wi thin the framework, pr inciples and objectives of our foreign policy we continue to prol'lDte and develop our relations with other countries of the world in the political, economic and social fields. Through continuing efforts we are trying to expand the activities of our country in international forums, particularly within the framework of the R)vement of Non-Aligned Countries, which is the common denominator for us and the majority of the countries of the world. This year has witnessed many salient events and developments, inclUding the cease-fire recently agreed to between the two neighbouring countries, Iraq and Iran. We support that decision whole-heartedly, just QS we have always supported Security Council resolution 598 (1987). (!!!.: Noman, Democratic Yemen) Tile war, it .is known, did not pose a danger for the belligerent parties aloneJ it threatened our region in its entirety. The continued hostilities exacerbated tension and presaged disasters, inflicting instability on the region and bringing turmoil to the international situation. Now that the war is over, everyone Is called upon to strive for the success of the negotiations, and to build a solid foundation for a permanent peace. we want this call to be construed as a call to the peoples and countries of the region, Which bear full responsibility for the maintenance of its peace and security. We hope that the direct negotiations between Iran and Iraq will lead to a just and comprehensive peace agreement, and end the conflict between them by addressing its underlying causes through constructive meaningful dialogue. That would eliminate ,the dangers facing our , entire region and spare the two neighbouring peoples ~urther -lOS~~s in life and • property. It would also frustrate the sinister plans hatched ~gainst our people to undermine the peace and stability of the region, and ultimately pa:ve the way to the rebuilding of what the war has destroyed. While we conmend the climate of detente on the international scene which has created conditions favourable for the reaching of agreements o~ many. regional and international problems, we appeal to the international conmunity to concentrate on the dangers that would result from any further exacerbation of the situation in the Middle East region. The continued Israeli occupation of the Arab Palestinian territories is a time bonb that may explode at any minute, and as such it is a threat to security and stability locally, regionallyand internationally. Responsibility for this state of affairs rests with Israel's arrogance, its continued policy of aggression, its defiance of international law, norms and humanitarian principles, and its rejection of all international efforts aimed at achieving permanent, just and comprehensive peace in the region. There is no need (Hr. Noman, Democratic Yemen) to recall that peace irt the regioo can be reached only by addressing the crux of the problem - that is the need for realization of the legitimate rights of the Pal~stinian people. In saluting the Arab Palestinian masses in their heroic uprising t.n the face of the brutal acts of oppression perpetrated by the Israeli occup.1tion authorities, we rene'to\' our ool1lltitment to stand side by side with our Palestinian brothers in their struggle under the leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PID), their sole, legitimate representative. we reiterate our continued support for the courageous and hl.!roic popular uprising. Furthermore, we believe that a just solution of the Palestinian question can be brought about only on the bas is set for th by the in terna tional oo:mmunity, namely, recovery of the leqi timate ri gh ts of the Palestinian people, foremost among which are their rights to return, to self-determination and to the establishment of their own independent State on their national soil. In order tQ find a just, permanent and comprehensive solution of the Middle East question, we believe we must undertake urgent and necessary steps to convene the International Conference on Peace in the Middle East, under the auspices of the United Nations, with the participation of all the parties concerned, including the PLO, the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people, as well as the permanent members of the security. Council. While speak.ing of the Middle Fast, I find it opportune to rene'to\' our appeal to our brothers in Lebanon to resort to reason and reach an immediate agreement that will end the political vacuum there, guarantee Lebanon's unity, independence and sovereignty, provide security and stability to the Lebanese people, and pool all efforts to ~t art end to the Israeli. occupation of southern Lebanon •• • Mr. Mortensen (Denmark), Vice-President, took the Chair. (~ Noman, Democratic Yemen) There are a180 indications on the "orbon of the success of international effor ts ai_d at findln9 a political solution to the pcoble. of western Sahara in conformity wl th Uni ted Nation. resolutions. si.ilar efforts are being _de to sol-"e the question of Cyprus in a way that. will guarantee ita tern itor lal integrity, independence and non-aligned status. We welcoae and support all such effor ts. We also welcome what has been achieved in the context of the Geneva <l9ree_nt on the political settle_nt in Afghanistan, and the steps so far taken in that direction. we eaU upon all parties concerned to redouble their efforts to inaplement this agreeMnt, to Ol'erCOIlle all atu-pta to obstruct it, and to give impetus to the Pl'OO8S8 of national reconciliation in Afghanistan so that the Afghan people can start enjoyin9 stability and prQ8~rity. Furtherll1Ore, we applaud the efforts to reach a just political Bettlement on the situation In Itupu::hea so that peace and stability can be adlieved in SoUth-East Asia. we also welco. all serious attellpts to reunify the two Iorus by peaceful and dellOCt,atic lIleans, and we support the efforts lllade by the Denocratic Republic of Korea to this end. we a180 call for concerted international efforta to support the Central ArDerican peace plan. We deem it necessary to eliminate all obst.acles being put in its way. we also believe it necessary to en!!! all desiCJl\s and acts of aggressi~ aimed at undermining the sCNereignty of Nicaragua and its national Government, which is the only way to guarantee the prolllOtion of peace and stability in the regian. Ni th respect to southern Afr iea, we hope that the agreement reached in Geneva will prCNe to be a step towards the independence of Namibia. Ira this regard, we believe that responsibility for Nal1ibia and it!; people lies with the United Nations. Hence, we renew the call to impleaent security Council resolution (Ht. Noun, t'le8OC£6cie Yellen) 435 (1978), since it represents the internationally agreed framework for the independence of the Territory, and we confirll the need for the full participation of the South West Africa People 'a organization (SWAPO) in any endeavour to that end. we believe that the international co_unity must imp)se mandatory sanctions on the SOUth African racist reghe to deter it and to ensure that it wUl respect and collpoly with the international will. The jnternational conlllunity must br ing more pressure to bear 00- the racist regiWJe to obtain the release of Nelson Mandela, the ~r08inent Afr iean hero. While reviewing the imp:)rtilnt achieve_nu of 1588, we cannot but: give due credit to the re$ults of the Moscow sWlllit meeting between the leaders of the United States and the SOviet Union. That su_it meeting has made it possible to exchan90 the instruments of r~tifieation of the most important bilateral agreement ever reached in the field of diearu_nt. There is no doubt that this agreement, together wi th other bilateral accords concluded between the two countries on variou~ levels, has had extremely favourable results on their bilateral relations and on the international situation and co-operation in 92neral. we are confident that the results of the Moscow summit meeting will be the beginning of a continuing process of giving priority to dialogue and co~peration in international relations and enhancing spheres of mumal co-operation a'nd conmon inte~ests. Here we should like to pay a tribute to the positive initiatives of the Soviet Union and to e~pc:ess our hope th41t what has been l1chieved thus far will oontr ibute to t,le adoption of fruitful and effective measures to curb the arms race - particularly the nuclear arms race - and Ultimately end it. It is our sincere hope that it will prove pess ible to reach an early agreement on a 50 per cen t reduction in the strategic nuclear arlMments of both countries, prevent the arms race in outer space, eli..!nate all weapons of mass des truction and conclude a conven tion to ban (Mr. Noman, Democratic Yemen) the production and use of chellical weapons. We cannot overemphasize the importance of reaching an agreement on a comprehensive nuclear test ban. On the regional level, we believe that urgent measures must be taken to eliminate the dangers posed by Israeli nuclear armaments and the nuclear capability of the racist South African regime. We deem it extremely urgent to oppose in no uncertain terms the dumping of nuclear waste in deV\!loping countr ies and to call on the internatietial community to address this problem and the dangerous risks inherent therein. . -- , _. (Mr. Noma", Democratic Yemen) . .' we also hope that the recent imprOllement in international relations will spill over to give impetus to the international efforts efforts aimed at the convening of the international conference en the Indian Ocean as a necessary step towards the implementation of the Declaration of the Indian Q:ean as a ZOne of Peace. It is natural that we should pin our hopes on the impeOll'ement of international relations which has crNted favourable candL tioas in which to addreRs the numerous regional and international political problems. we foe our part will spare no effort to contribute, side by side with o'theE' JDenOers of the international communlty, to the creation of favourable circumstances for further conciliation and co-operation al'lOng the peoples of the wor Id so as to imprOll'e and enhance the quality of life for all. we whole-haarte&j( support the sincere efforts made to strengthen the role of the United Nations Gjd its various bodies, thus enabling it to fulfil its task and realize our peoples' aspirations to stability and security. We likewise hope that adequate attention will be given to international eCQ"lomic problems and to finding just solutions to them, thus supporting our c:ountr iea' developnent efforts and fulfilling our peoples' aspirations to independent economic and social progress. Fa 11 ing to address the trend of international emnomic, fiscal and monetary relations and make them more just and equitable by rec:ogni2ing the developing countries as active partners in the international arena will exacerbate the crisis in the international economic order and widen the gap between the developed industrial countries and the developing ones. This gap is bound to widen fur ther and fur ther as a result of the restrictive attitude of s~me developed countries in the tradin<J, monetary, financing and developnental spheres. The unfair conditions imposed by the international financial institutions add insult to injury, thus causing political and social instability in the developing countries, exacerbating the stagnation of (Mr. Noman, Democratic Ye_n) their economies or the decrease of their growth rates. This beCOlles COIIIIOnpl~ce in the llajc..r ity of developing countr ies .. in particular the lust developed amng them which already suffer froll scarce natural and financial resources, It is not strange then that the exacerbation of the suffer ing of the developing countries and their: inability to •.ay their foreign debt have created a real er is is that has become known as the foreign debt er isis. This er: is is should be addressed by finding objective and CCIIllprehensive solutions that take into consideration the inter€lSts of all parties concerned free from narrow, selfish CQ'lcerns. This grim picture of the international eoonomic situation requires, first and foremost, the revitalization of international negotiations for the establishment of a new inter national economic order. The international col'll1lunity, which is enjoying the breeze of international poll tical detente, can reflect the same atmosphere in the field of international economic relations. This does not require planning strategies and new instruments inasnuch as it requires a si~cere desire and defin! te resolve to, implement economic' strategies and instruments in the economic field that have already been agreed uPQ'l. More impor.tant still is our co-operation for the realization of the desired objectives of our peoples. Will we not proceed in the march of prevailing optimism? We hope so. Otherwise all that we have so far achieved will rellBin incomplete. The PRPSIDENT: On behalf of the General Assembly, I wish to thank the Prime Minister_of the People's Del1Dcratic Republic ~f Yemen for the important statement he has just made. Mr. Vassin 5aeed Noman, Prime Minister of the People's Democratic RepubliC of Yemen, was escorted fr~ the rostrum. Mr. FALL (SenecJA1) (1nterpcetation frOll Pnndlh The delegation of senegal Is pleased to extend to the President, throu9h ., its warMSt congratulations, to wish' bUt ~rlery success in the important uak conferred upon him and to assure him, in this COftteKt, of its complete co-operation and total support. His election to the presidency of the forty-third session of our Assembly is an eloquent tribute s".1eMly paid by the Mellbers of the united HlItions to his great country as well as to him on the outstanding intellectual and IIOral qualities he possesses.. Hls high sense of responsibility, his faith in the united N!ltions and his vast exper ience in the field of internadonal affflirs undoubtedly gu;uantee that the work of the present session will meet with success. Mr. Peter Florin, who preceded hill in his office, concllcted our debates successfully throughout his term of. office, so rich in events. We should 1ike here to reiterate our gratitude to h11l. I should like also to pay a tr ibute to the 8ecretary-General., Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, a man of courage and conviction, a staunch fighter for peace and co-operation among peoples, who deserves our appreciation and ol!r aa"pport for the continuation and ccmpleticn of the remarkaDle task to which he has totally dedicated himself and whose encouraging results in many ways dellOnstrate the timeliness and impact of the noble ideals of our organization, as well as a positive perception of his role 1n the field of international peace, security anl' co-operation. In the history of nations as well as of institutions, there are critical times when 'the future of mankind is decided. The present period seems to us to be one of those crucial moments which call I!pon our consciance, invite us to reflect an~, and encourag& us to redouble our political will, determination, lucidity and courage in our endeavours. It is in this spirit that my delegation would like to make its modest contr ibution to this joint reflection, the pr imary objective of which Rllst be the safeguardb~9 ~"d strengthening of international peace and security as well as the development of a space Eor active solidarity within oar global village. Four themes will sel.ve as points of reference with regard to our contr ibution; human rights on the occasion of the fortieth anniversar}" of the Universal Declaration of Human Rightsl peace in the wodd in connection wi th tile positive work done by the United Nations for the settlement of certain regional conflictsl development in a spirit of solidarity, in connection with the mid-term review of the United Nations Progranme of Action for African Recovery and Development 1986-1990,; and the strengthening of our Uni ted Nations through implementation of the recently adopted reforms. The celebra tion of the fortieth anniversary of the Un iversal Dec!ara tion of Human Rights certainly gives us an opportunity to rejoice at the important successes achieved by the Un! tad Nations in the promotion and protection of human rights and freedoms, and above all to consider what remains to be done ~n order to free mankind from all oppression. CQ'lcerning the balance sheet, suffice it to say that by proclaiming the Universal Declaration in 1948 and continuing to make appropriate efforts since then to transfcxm the principles in that document into internationally binding obligations within the framework of legal instruments at the global level for which it attempts to ensure respect by States, the tbited Nations has accomplished remarkable work, in keeping with the basic aspirations of our peoples. The historical importance ef that wcxk must be recognized. As a State that has made respect for human rights a cardinal principle of its politics both within its constitutional system and in its foreign policy, and a country whose resolute conmitlleat to the Principles and objecUves of the 1948 Declaration h~le won it many tributes, Senegal takes this oppoi:'tunity to reaffirm its resolute support for the work of the ~ited Nations to safe9\lard human rights. Just as dt the domestic le'lel it established a IlUltipartisan denocracy W06e multi faceted eXPression is a sign of its vitality and its deep roots in the thinking of t'-'e people) just as it contributed to the achievement of this in the Afr iean continent by playing an important part in developing and rati fying the African Charter of Human and Peoples' RightsJ and just as it is attempting to do in the United Nations COIIIIIission on Human Rights, in which the unanimous and consistent confidence of the international COIImunity has won it a continued presence over many decades and the active presidency of that Conmiesion on the ~ccasion of its fortieth anniversary, so l1y country will spare no effort in the oontinued quest for greater justice an.d equity in human relations at all levels. The quest continues because it is an effort that can know no respi te until the total eradication of all vestiges of arbitrary rule and brute force such as exist, in particular, in southern Africa and in Palestine, has been achieved. The situation in these regions and many others is a clear indication of the efforts (Mr. Fall ,senegal} tha~ remain to be made so that our world may come closer to the ideals for the attaill~nt of which in inter-State relations the Universal Declaration of Human Righ ts should be the instrument. This struggle for the universal enjoyment of human rights is continuing today in the sphere of the protection of a sound global environment. As a Sahelian muntry attacked by desertification, senegal is particularly sensitive to new threa ts that al ter the qual!ty of 11 fe on our planet and dangerously affect the fate of present and future generations. ''Z.'bat is why llrf country, like other African States, has asked the interncational community to draw up provisions without delay to prevent the developing countr ies from beCX)ming dumping grounds for industr ial waste from the developed countries. SUch action would be an important, practical oontr ibution to the defence of the rights of the weak and depr ived and to the struggle against the degradation of the ecology, which we sincerely believe must be a global struggle. The hopes aroused by the improved relations between the super-Power s - which we welcome as it could bring about the strengthening of international peace and secur ity - have not yet been translated into a new order in keeping with our expectations ~ in 0 ~'ler words, a real del1Dcra tiza tion of in terna tional rela Hons based on justice, equality of rights and the safeguarding of the interests of all the peoples of the world. Of course, the promise of the beginning of heal thier international relations exists, and with that promise the will has been expressed in different regions to seek solutions to the various tensions, sources of friction and er lses that exist. Thus, the doors of peace have begun to open in Afghanistan, in Kampuchea, in the Gulf region, in Western Sahara and in South-West Africa. This process must be . encouraged and supper ted. But we must also work to prOllJ)te the emergence of cc:nditions that can lead to the extensi~ of this process to other areas of regional (X)nflict, beginning with the Middle Eaat. That is, in our hum19 opinim, the sense of the meElsage that the Norwegian Parliament addressed to our Assembly by awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the Un! ted Nations peace-keeping forceii. In the name of President Abdou Dioo£ and the Senegalese Government and people, I welcome this well-deserved tribute to the persevering efforts of our Organb:ation to eliminate hotbeds of tension, encourage the solution of conflicts by peaceful means and proltOte international peace and security•. foe Senegal, this a~ard is ~f special significance. My countr~· h"s always Q!lppor ted the peace-keeping oper atioRs decided upon by the Organization and has endeavoured to make a practical contribution to their success by sending contingents on many occasions. WQ sincerely hope that this great distinction will encourage all the menners of the international community to give their effective support to the United Nations peace-keeping forces, which have new, urgent end important tasks ahead of them. Deeply concerned by the vital issue of maintaining peace and seour ity in the world, the Non-Aligned Movement, a few days ago in Nicosia, assessed what had been accomplished and what i:emains to be accomplished and took decisions on hOlof the mjor problems of our day could be evalua ted and tackled. By rei tera ting the ir coalliitment to the establishment of genuine collective security, by demanding the strict rule of law and of justice and the cessallon of policies of oppression and domination, by proclaiming their will to stop being the arena and the prize of global confl'ontatim, the countries of the MoI7ement Made it a protagonist in the new, changing international relations. The Non-Aligned M;)vemenf: has had to call for increased respect for the purposes and principles of the united Nations Charter, because among its ranks are peoples still dominated and oppressed and regiC!l1s were there are hotbeds of conflict and tension. Thus, in southern Africa, after four decades, the question of apartheid still arises in the same terllS' the legitimate aspirations of a people are still stifled and its right to freedom and dignity violated. In that region a system survives WIder tolhich wery day people die Wlder barbarous repressionJ a system under which a peopll!l is subjected with impunity to the arbitrariness of racist repressionJ a system mder tilich the peoples of southern Afr iea are the victims of the outrageous belligerence of a racist totalitar ian order. (Mr. Pall, Senegal) In southern Africa we see the survival of a ,system that the international colftllunity has dedared to be & crime against mankind. Therefore, the international COIIIIWlity has the hiSltoric respcnsibility of ending that system. The only way to do that is through comprehensive, mandatory sanctions that measure up to the magnitude of the crime. '1\) delay such action in southern Africa can only result in the sacrifice of millions IIOre lives that could be saved. The outcome of the struggle bei.lg waged by the African Rational Congress of SOU th Afr iea (AMC), the Pan-Afr icanist Congress of Azania (PAC), the South West Afr iea People's Organization (SWAPO) and the front-line cOWltries will be linked in history with the picture of the ~st 30 years, in whidl many peoples who were previously oppressed have become free and independent. The same law of oppression, aggression, occupation and plunder continues to apply in P~liC!stine and the Middle East, where injustice must be redressed and national rights must be restored. The lessons to be learned from the historic resistance of the Palestinian people to occupation and oppression are Wlanblguous: there can be no lasting peace in the Middle East without the involvement of tho Palestinian people and its vanguard organization, the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) - no peace without them, nor, a fortiori, against them. The prollOtion of peace in the Middle East requires, first, working for the convening of an international conference under United Nations auspices. The representatives that the Palestinian people have chosen to express their views and aspirations must participate on an equal footing with all the other parties to the conflict. I am referring, of course, to the PaleStine Liberation Organization. As guarantor of the right of peoples to decide their own destinyp a right that it has mmde a universal principle, the international community must shoulder its full responsibilities in southern Africa and in Palestine. By clearly assuming its (Hr. Fall, 5enei!!) obligations and taking the decisions that the situation requires, it would meet the expectations of the peoples of thoae regions. There is overwhelming international solidarity in condenning oppression and denouncing occupation, but it is sometimes difficult to organize it into the eollective response that such challenges demand. I have said that the doocs of peace are beginning to open in a nunber of conflicts, where hope of a speedy solution is emerging and becoming stronger. In IIOSt cases the principles applicable and the framework for a settlement have been unambiguously defined. In the process of applying those principles we must avoid viewing the problems through the distorting prism of" ideologies and partisan politics and must ensure that they are not narrowly dealt with in the restricted a1lbit of East-West relations. However, there are other hot-beds of tension that have defied our Organization's peace-nvaking efforts for many years. One is Cyprus, where the de facto situation continues to jeopardize its unity and territorial integrity. Senegal very lIUch hopes for the prompt success of the secretary-General's efforts for the restoration of sovereignty to that fr iendly country. Another example is another fdendly country, I.ebanon, wounded by a conbination of civil war, occupation of part of its territory and numerous acts of int:erfecence in its affairs, threatening its very existence. senegal calls for dialogue to begin soon to preserve its identity, territorial integrity, unity and independence. The Korean peninsula provides another example. We desire peaceful reunification through sincere, fraternal talks, taking into account the free will of the whole Korean people. (foIr. Fall, sen~) Despi te some hopes of peace, I cannot fa 11 to mention again this year the occupation, aggreSB ion and oppreSB ion exper ienced by cambodia, and I snUB t r epea t Senegal's appeal for the w.ithdrawal of fo~ei9n troops from Cambodia and the restoration of a genuine Cambodian Government led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk. My final example is Central America, where my country will continue to support the peace efforts of the Contadora Group to br in9 about a (X)litical settlement with absolute respect for the sovereignty of all the States of the region. Alongside the (X)litical challenges of preserving human rights and struggling for peace, which require the efforts of most of our States, we face the harmful effects of a continuing economic crisis, especially in the developing countries, which I do not need to elaborate now. Among the main problems that our countr iea still confront is the heavy burden of fcreign debt and the intolerable pressure of all kinds that results from it. The debt constitutes a major obstacle to lasting growth and de'w'elopnent in our countries because of its negative influence on our ability to import, invest and achieve our economic and social developnent goals. So far only partial, short-term and medium-term measures have been taken wi th regard to the debt, in a climate character ized above all by a decrease in fla.ls of resources towards the developing countries, high interest rates and an unprecedented decline in commodity prices. Faced with such a situation, the international oommunity must urgently adopt a new strategy based on growth and a sharing of responsibiU ties in order to achieve a lasting, comprehensive solution of the debt problem of the third-world countries, taking into account the guiding principles established in resolution 42/198 and the results of the seventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and DevGlopment (UNCTAD VII). (Hr. Fall, Senegal) In this regai'd, the Governments of the developed countries are becoming increasingly aware of the need to integrate dealing with the tragic economic situation of the developing countries into the strategy for global economic recovery. We COlll1lend unilateral decisions to alleviate or partially reduce the debt burden of the least favoured countries, propos~~s to refinance the debt in the form of bonds and to f:reate multilateral funds for the debt and so on. However, important as those measures may be as synbols of solidarity, they are not in themselves enough to improye the economic situation of the developing countries. More general measures must also be taken. In particular, the access of developing countries' exports to international markets must be facilitated by the elimination of protectionist barriers in the developed countries; equitable, remunerative prices must be fixed for the exports of developing countries; and there must be established a direct and clear link between payment of the foreign debt and factors that iniluence debt-servicing, such as export income, terms of trade, imports and the growth of gross national product. (Mr. Fall, senegal) Mother problem is that of the adjustment efforts by the devoloping countries. These adjustment progranllles, which everyone believes are useful, have begun, in certain countries, to have positive results. None the less, the prograll'l'ftes, because they focus on majer macro-eoonomlc balances, have given rise to very difficult situations - situations that are sometimes unacceptable from a social standp:>int. So that adjusblient efforts can goon, it is important for the international community to support the measures taken by the developing countries in order to alleviate the social oonsequences of reoovery progranmes. The situation in Africa remains cdtical, especially becau.c;e of the conbined effects of natural disasters, the decline in the prices of export conmodities, the heavy debt-servicing burden and the stagnation of financial flows. It is true that the Mvisory Group on Financial FIOls for Afr iea, which our dynamic Secretary-General established, l'eC09Rized that the addi tional financial support requested of the international ooJll11unity in the framework of the United Nations ProgralMle of Action for African Economic Recovery and Development was far from excessive vis-a-vis the GNP of the developed world and State expenditures in these countries. What is needed, and what is at stake, is less the impor tance of the effor t than the political will of certain industrialized States, as has been shown in the mid-term review of the Programme at the meeting of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) on Aftica's Priority Programme for Economic 9!covery, held in Dakar last June, and by the lid Hoc Conmittee of the Whole on the Unit,ed Nations Prograll'll1e of Action, whose work was completed just a few days ago in New York. Hav ing made speci fie proposals here a year ago with regard to the mid-term review of the United Nations Programme of Action, my country will at this point oonfine itself to that statement and a reference to the many suggestions that (Mr. Fall, senegal) have already been made with a view to ensuring the success of the united Nations Progranme of Action for African &:onomic Recovery and Developnent within its' .. five-y,aar term - 19860',1990 - ~d for the conclusions of the special session of the General AssenOly on the er itical economic situation in Afr iC'.a to be implemented effectively. Let me repeat the appeal that His Elccellency President Abdou Diouf made to our Assemly just a little over two years ago ~en, as current Chairman of the OAU, he participated in the opening of the special session on the critical situation in Africa: we must always beat in mind that, having overcome so many major challenges in the past, mankind should certainly be able to overl.. ,me the challenge of .. 30lidari ty wi th Africa in order to implement, wi th the support of the in terna tional ool!lnunity, its Priority Progr8llllle for Economic Recovery. Before conclUding I should like to say a few words about the financial er isis of the United Nations and the need to enhance the Organization's effectiveness. For years now it has been confronting an increasinCjly worrying financial crisis. The causes of this situfttion have been debated at length here, so it is not necessary for me to repeat them. At its fortieth session the General Assell'bly decided, in resolution 40/237, dated 18 December 1985, to give a mandate to a group of 18 high-level intergovernmental experts to study ways and means of making the United Nations more effective, more flexible and more orderly, and thus demonstrated its fervent wish to remedy the crisis. The report of that Group was studied thoroughly in the course of the forty-first session of the Assembly, and recommendations were made concerning the administrative, financial and tec::hnical aspects of the Organization. Resolution 41/213 of 19 December 1986, on the effectiveness of adll1inistrative and technical functions, endorsed the report of the Group of 18 wi th a view to (Hr. Fall, senegal) ask ing the IIIU1tila teral systelll 1I01t'8 dynallic through the illpleasenta tion 0 f re forlls by the Secretary-General. What has been achieved frOll illplellentation of the resolution coofirllS our impcession that illportant p&'ogres8 has been _de in improving the management of the United Nations. While flY delegation is justly pleased, it is, an the other h&nd, concerned that, because of the situation of financial instability that is constantly faced by the Organization, the precess of reform my .not be caapleted. Pinancial stability is all the IIOre essential at a tiMe when the United Nations is COIIIIIitting its61f, on many fronts, to restoring puce in the w«ld and to strengthening its role as the pr incipel fru.ework and instrUJllent for the development of peaceful co-operation in the closing years of this century. Thus, lily country wishes to nake an appeal to all Melliber States ~ support the Secretary-General in his offorts to illp!ea",t the necessary refor_ of the 1>' mUltilateral system, and to do so, first and forelllOst, by lHeting their financial d>Ugations rapidly and on a reg-ular basis. Our peoples are wondering about the political will and real capacity of this universal Organization to take full advantage of the current international cli_te, which is oondueive to the dynamics of peace. A gli_er of hope has been rekindled in the hearts of millions of long-suffering lien, women and childgen, wcse dignity has long been trampled underfoot, whose h'opes have long been disappointe~, and _ose legi ttmate ami tioos have long been obstructed. So that we may progress securely on the path of peace, justice and freedom, we must rally our 8nergie13 and channel them toward25 our higher shared goals. We must quiet our differences in order to devote to the fundamentals that unite us our full resources and our full pot.'tial, for what unites us is priceles8 since it Is the very destiny of mankind that is at issue. (Mr G Fall, Senega!.) ADD!USS BY MR. l\&'~i~EDY A. SIMMONDS, PRIME MINISTER OF SAINT KIT'l'S AND NEVIS The PRBSIDENT: The Assemly will now hear an address by the Prime Minister of Saint Kitts and Nevis. Hr. Kennedy A. SilllllOnds, Prime Minister of Sa int Kl tts and Ne"';, was esoor ted to the r08trwa. * The PRESmmT Unterpretatiorj from Spanish); I have great pleasure in welcoming the Prime Min is ter of Sa int Kitts and Hevis, Hr. Kennedy A. Simmonds, and inViting him to addres2 the General Assembly. * The President returned to the Chair. Mr. SIMMONDS (Saint Kitts and Nevis): I warmly welcome this opporbJnity to extend to you, Sir, the congratulations of the delegation of St. Kitts and Nevis on your election to the eminent post of President of the forty-third session of the General Assenbly. For the Government:. and peoples of taUn America and the Caribbean it is always a source of immense satisfaction to witness the presidency entrusted to one chosen from among us - and ;;111 the more to one as able as you. My delegation places absolute conf.idence in your abilities successfully to gUide the del iberations of th is body and pledges its full co-opera tion. May I also heartily congratulate the outgoing President, Mr. Peter Florin, on his skilful guidance of the work of the General Assenbly during the past year. The task was undoubtedly challenging, but he met every challenge with rompetence, renewed spirit and dexterity. It is with a profound sense of adllliration that, at this point, I pay a tdbute to the Secretary-General, MC. Javier Perez de Cuellar, for his untiring efforts exerted in the pursuit of peaceful resolut;'(lns of the persistent and sometimes escalating conflicts that continue to beset the world community. We have listened year after year as increasing nunt>ers of disputes between nations and aggravating world problems have been brought to the attention of this body. Indeed, over the past 43 years of its existence the United Nations has had its lofty principles challenged by intense local, regional and international disputes that have increased sorrow to mankind and thr,eatened to annihilate whole peoples; by deep-sea ted ideological di fferences tha t have compartmentalized the world and vitiated against international co-operation in solving international problems; by persistent underdevelopment, abject poverty and acts of inhumanity that have made a mockery of human dignity, the right to freedom and a better stclndard of 11 fee Often Memer States express disappointment in the tl'li ted Hations when solutions to our problems appear unattainable. But perhaps such disappointment results fran unrealistic expectations from the l.r:ganization. For it can achieve only as much as its Member States permit it to achieve. The success of our concerted efforts to resolve global disputes is highly dependent on international dialogue and conciliation. It is the role of this body to foster such dialogue and such conciliation. 30wever, the responsibility for good-neighbourliness and international peace and security remains that of each nation State. My delegation is particularly encouraged hy the noticeably improved international political clim~te, which has provided Cl favourable amiance for the conduct of fruitful negodations this year. Certain recent developments identify 1988 as a diplomatic and political watershed year, heralding long-awaited canpliance with United Nations resolutions on prolonged conflicts. Within the category of world events that respond to dialogue fits the recent agreement on arms limitation and disarmament. The ratification of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate~Range and Shorter-Range Missiles, which calls for a SO per cen t reduction of the s tra tegic nuclear arsenals of the Uni ted States and the USSR signifies a major achievement for the entire war ld in the process of arms Hmi tation and disarmament. we are all aware ~hat divergent POSi tions plagued the agreement, but we are heartened by the display of political will between the two major military Powers to reach an agreement. This movement in disarmament could augur \'iell for the long-range goal of comprehens ive disarmament called for by the General Assenbly. Its prospect.c; no longer seem as rellDte as they were a few years ago. My delegation continues to agitate for comprehensive disarmament, which includes not only nuclear weapons but conventional and chemical weapons as well. let us be conscious that the survival and well-being of future generations is the responsibility of us all - nuclear and non-nuclear States alike. Similarly, the situation in the Persian Gulf gives l.W cause to b@ optimistic about the prospects for peace in that troubled region. Just a few months ago the Islamic Republic of Iran announced its formal acceptance of security Council resolution 598 (1987). That decision was welcomed by Member States as it signified that a cease-fire between Iran and Iraq could now be effected and negotiations to bring about lasting peace in the region could be set in motion. My delegation reflects sadly on the thousands of lives lest and the millions of dollar:s' worth of damage that resulted from the nine-year conflict, and remains grieved at the fact that the suffering and loss were allowed to escalate to such proPOrtions. I trust that the decision of both Iraq and Iran to abide by the secur ity Council resolution is now reflective of a desire to coexist peacefully. The role of the secretary-General in this initiative must be lauded. He drew on his vast and proved diplomatic skills and displayed tenacity and endurance while mediating the complex negotiations that led to aoceptance by both nations. My delegation would like to encourage him in his efforts to pursue this initiative to the desired goal of a stable and lasting peace. The situation in Afghanistan also shows signs of responding to interna tional dialogue. For some eight years the General Assembly and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights adopted strongly ",orded resolutions condenning the foreign oocupation of Afghanistan. For eight years the international coltlt\unity kept the pressure on the occupying country "by calling for the withdrawal from ,..ighanistan of all foreign troops. Those actions were supplemented by the effor l:s of former Under-secretary-General Diego CordOlTez. At last, this year, the Geneva accord was signed by all parties involved, and today troops are being withdrawn from Afghanistan. My delegation is only too aware that the real settlement of the problem lies irl the hands of the Afghan people. Theirs is the task of establishing the Government of their choice and undertaking the rastructuring of their country. We regard with optimism the prospects for resolution of the status of Western Sahara. St. Kitts and Nevis notes with satisfaction the manifestation by both J:ULISARIO and the Kingdom of Morocco of the political will and co-operation required in order to br ing a peaceful end to this conflict which has persisted for more than a decade. The combined efforts of the Organization of Afr ican Unity and the United Nations must be reoognized as practical arrangements for a referendum by the Sahraoui people are formulated. My delegation urges both parties to intensify the negotiation process and bring a speedy settlement to the conflict. (Mr. Simmonds, Saint Kitts and Nevis) By the same token, my delegation regards with cautious optimism the talks between the Governments concerned to bring an end to the illegal occupation of Namibia by SOuth African troops. We have always supported the United Nations Plan for the Independence of Namibia under the leadership of the SOuth west Africa People's Organization and take this opportunity to reaffirm that support. We must remain firm in our resolve to bring about a liberated and an independent Namibia and take bold initiatives to make it a reality. We renew our call for the United Nations to play a positive role in bringing about reconciliation between South Korea end North Korea. we support menbership in the United Nations for both countries on the Korean peninSUla, as a positive step to enhancing their dialogue towards reunification wi thin this Organization's structured and sympathetic framework. While we can see rays of hope in several of the areas of confl ict, that is not at present the case in the Middle East. Hope for an end to the conflict can lie only in solutions which recognize the rights of the r... otagonists: the right of the Palestinian people to a well-defined homeland must co-exist wi th the right of the people of Israel to live within secure borders. A first step to peace would be for all parties to adhere to the relevant resolutions adopted by the General Assc:uooly - on the issue. My Government also shares the view that the convening of the international peace conference on the Middle East, under the auspices of the United Nations and a t the invita tion of the secretary-General and all parties to the Arab-Israel i conflict, would be another appropr la te step towards achieving a peaceful, comprehensive and just settlement of the conflict. The secretarY-General is therefore urged to continue his attempts to make the convening of this conference a reality. Another area of continued concern to the international community is the situation in Kampuchea. .Hostilities have entered a tenth year and there seems to be no foreseeable end. My delegation stands firmly behind the resolutions adopted by the General Assembly on this question since its thirty-fourth session and awaits their implementation. The restoration a~d preservation of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Kampuchean peoplc-. ~3 well as their right to determine their own destiny, should continue to be the goal, supported most assuredly by the international col1'munity. In our own region, conflicts in Central America have se~ back the process of economic developnent. It is colmlendable that the Governments of Central Amer ica have mapped out a plan of action to restore peace and stability to their countr ies. We applaud the persistent efforts of the Contadora Group. We believe its efforts and those of others in the regio."l deserve the full support of tile international community, so that the United Nations objective of turning swords into ploughshares may be achieved. We are deeply concerned about the unstable situation which exists in Haiti. Clearly, political events have made it diffiCUlt for meaningful economic developnent to proceed. We in the region stand ready to assist the people of Haiti as far as is practically possible, and we also invite the attention of the international community. We must recognize the basic truth that social and economic problems have become both a cause and an effect of aggravated polltical tensions. Peace and developnent are inextricably intertwined objectives and we cannot achieve the one wi thout tone other. In May this year the Uni ted Rations apprOll'ed a special economic plan for Central ArRer iea which will assist the peoples of that region in (Mr. Simmonds, saint Kitts and Nevis) restructuring and stabilizing their economies. This is clearly a step in the right direction. My delegation notes the willingness of Belize and G.tatemala to enter into dialogue. we call for early ratification of the Cartegena Protocol as a contribution to the lowering of tensions. Intetnational political issues constitute but a fraction of our common preoccupations. Continued human rights violations and worsening economic conditions provide equal cause for perplexity and consterna~ion. Chief among our human rights concerns is the total eradication of the evil system of apartheid perpetuated in Sr.Jl.tth Africa. My delegation reiterates its abhorrence of that inhumane system and continues to support the call for comprehensive sanctions to be taken against South Africa. With the many sanctions already imposed, and with the perpetuation of apartheid in the face of them all, countries are prone to question the effectiveness of those meaSUres. We are assured that comprehensive sanctions are working. i\ccording to an analysis done by the Commonwealth Committee of Foreign Ministers, trade and financial sanctions are having a debilitating impact on South Africa's economy and this impact would be even more far-reaching were the sanctions themselves more widely adopted and their application tightened and intensified. Further disinvestment programmes must be pursued. On a more positive note v however, in preparation for a free and democratic South Africa the intetnational ~~munity needs to address the stabilization and security needs of the front-line States and to offer training to the black people of South Af.rica so that they may be adequately equipped to accept the task of rebUilding their country. (Mr. Simmonds, Saint Kitts and Nevis) The world's economic situation is Mother problem of enormous proportions for developing countries. We appear to be caught in a quagmire. A total restructuring of the world economic order is impera tive if our goal of wodd development is. to be achieved. We in the developing countries continue to experience relatively slow or negative growth in our economies. Sharp commodity-price declinE:s, unavailability of external sources of finance~ adverse terms of trade, debt-reservicing problems _ all still frustrate our economic amitions. Clearly there is a pressing need to reassess the present international economic order to create greater opportunities for the developing comltries to share equally in the world's resources. we must concede that the international achievements of development strategies for the First~ Second and Third United Nations Development Decades have been lilllited. we can only hope that the development strategy for the fourth United Nations developaent decade wUl be IIOre fruitful. In the developing com\tries, however, we IIUSt do lIlOre than hope. We must seize the opportunity of the current wave of peace initiatives, first, to divert our own energies and resources away from areas of conflict to confront the challenges of developnent on our: own terms and on the basis of our own realities. Then we must challenge the developed countries to engage immediately in meaningful dialogue with us so that significant resources can be diverted from the battlefields and frOll the silos to illprOlre the housing, the education, the employment opportunities, the infr&Dtructure and the social and eoonomi~ fabric of tile developing countries. Peace must not become an international vacuulI signifying only the absence of war. Peace must be a well-spring of oppOrtunity and ".ope for the young, the elderly, the sick, the handicapped and the poor. Peace must be a powerfUl force that *wes us forward, uplard and onward. Peace Illust inspire us to achieve the gr€latest hei9hts of humanitar ian excellence of which we are capable. I send out a clar ion call for peac~ betw6Qn Bast and West to beCOMe a harbinger of a new era of co-operation between North and SGath. In this context, I must issue an appeal for ape ~i.ill oonsideration to be given to the unique problellS of island developing countrles. A nunber of highly reputable studies have shown that island developing countries have characteristics dis~lnct from those of developing countries in general. It is essential, therefor~, that there be flexibility in designing and supporting development strategies which are appropriate for addressing our special needs. One of our major handicaps ia vulnerability to natural disasters, such as hurricanes, frolD which islands in thE Caribbean are especially at risk. Jamaica's include: _.11 internal IUrketa, lack of natural resources, heavy dependence on devastation by hurricane Gilbert Is graphic teatimny to this fact. Other problems iJlportB and the high per capita cost of building and lUintaining economic and 80cial infrastructure. &aBll islands lack the critical IUSS to provide basic services econoaically for their population_. However, if island people are to enjoy an acceptable quality of life, these services Est be provided. Certainly this COIIaunity of nations cannot accept that the right to basic amenities, to life, to liberty and to the pursuit of happiness i_ to be enjoyed only by people in large ..tropolitan societies. Many resolutions have been pa.sed in the General AssGlibly on island developing countries in the last decade. lilt us sehe the opportunity of the day and translate these laudable ruolutions into effective action. *11e we have teaporlzed and failed to address seriously the grave economic preblellS of developing countries, new crises have arisen which threatenl to destroy the social and ecOftOllic fabric of our societies and take a heavy toll on human lives.' I refer to the preble.. of drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking, and the dUllping of hazardous wute in third-world countries. The widespread increas~ in drug abuse and illicit drug trafficking has created a world awareness that the prebl_ transcends national and regional boundaries. It menaces the fabr ic of all our sociEties and destroys our young people. Countr ies of the Caribbean are particularly vulnerable ae by the nature of our geography we are used as transit points for drug trafficking, with the possibility of also beco:liR9 points of consWlpt1on. It is ti_ for a co-ordinated global effort aimed at eliminating production, interdicting trafficking and eradicating consumpticn, especially where the market is greatest. Similarly, the increasing reported incidents of dumping of hazardous waste in third-world countries indicate that a matter has arisen that requires urgent international attention. Recent investigations carried out by governmental and non-governmental environmental groups reveal t.'1at in the past few months there has been a proliferation of proposals and actual attempts to ship ha~ardous industrial and nuclear waste from industrialized countries to third-world countries. The developed countr les IIllst keep their waste. They have the resources to devote to its safe disposal. Caitbbean countries are among the targeted dump sites. For us, this phenomenon has serious implications. First~ we lack the adequate legislative and administrative mechanisms to control the management and proper disposal of the waste. Exposure to the environment will result in irreversible damage to ecosystems and human lives. Secondly, conditions in the Caribbean, and indeed in many third-world countries, are almost perfect for the spread of the harmful heavy metalu and toxic chemicals found in the waste - for example, porous soils, wind and water erosion and tropical temperatures. Dependent as we are on our environment, our marine life and our human resources for dovelopment, this trend is a very serious threat to our survival, a menace to relations between States and a threat to international peace. My delegation supports the request that an item addressing the problem be placed on the agenda of this session of the General Assembly. It is a problem that demands international co-operation and immediate attention. It seems to bet1:ue that the world is weary of war. The world has decided ,in the words of a faJrous song, to "give peace a chance". However, we must return to war. Indeed I am calling for a new declaration of war, a war to be fought with an intensity hitherto unknown, on the most violent of battlefields; a war to be fought to th.. finish) a war on pOl7erty; a w.u on drug production, drug trafficking and drug consumption; a war against the destruction of the world's resources; a war on economic slavery. This must be a true world war, fought with the present resources and the creative ingenuity of all mankind; a war in which the North fights alongside the South, the East alongside the West; a war that is waged till all mankind is truly free to realize its vast potential and to live with dignity and an uplifting quality of life. The PRESm~T (interpretation from Spanish); On behalf of the General Assenbly, I wish to thank the Prime Minister of saint Kitts and Nevis for the important statement he has just made. Mr. Kennedv A. Simmonds, Prime Min ister of saint Ki tts and Nev is, was escor ted from the rostrum• Mr. MANGLAPUS (Philippines); The Philippines greets you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the forty-third session of the General Assenbly. It is nor only the votes of the membership of this body, but your own erudition, experience and diplomatic skills and your country's brilliant contributions to this Organization that have elevated you to that exalted office. My delegation awaits the impact of your shining leadership on the labours of the Asserrbly. You succeed Mr. Peter Flor in, the President at the forty-second session of the General Assenbly, and the Philippines appreciates his performance in ~at capacity. It was a performance that was at once vigorous and unselfish. We recall that he returned to New York several times to preside over our resumed sessions and at one special session, which attests to his COl1l1litment as well as to his diplomacy. I br ing the General Assell'bly a message from the poor of my coun try. Why are many Filipinos poor? They are not poor because they come from an indolent race. OUr countrymen now cover the earth - two million of us in the Americas, half a million in the Middle East, a quarter of a million in &1rope, half a million in Asia and the Pacific - seekers all of toil and of life, teachers of nations, physicians of men, builders of industry, designers of modules that challenge the stars and settle on the moon, men and women of sk ill and diligence, I ike those of Europe who settled America and here built a new world. They are not poor because they do not know how to fight for their rights. They were the first in Asia to shed their blood against Western colonialism and produce their own republic. Ninety years later, they were the first nation in the world to mass by the millions, to confront guns wi th rosaries and br ing down a dictator without the shedding of blood. In those four bloodless, spectacular days of February, under the leader ship of Corazon C. Aquino, they raised the new peaceful rallying cry of -People power:- ~ich even now resonates in the streets of nations in transition on more than one continent of this earth. They are not poor because they multiply too fast. They try not to, against their own human instincts. And they knOllf that in rich nations it is the building of cities and industries, not the extermination of human instincts, that has redlced this mUltiplication. They are not poor because their nation does not glClW. !'br our country does grow. New that we are free again, although we remain harassed by the extremes of left and l' ight, we have kept to our democratic course and our economy is grOllf ing again, last year by 5.6 per cent, this year by 6.8. Why, then, do so many of us remain poor? Thirty years &90, our coW\try wns second in East Asia in eCalomic development, next only to Japan.. Twenty years ago, along with those developing countr les you now call the South, we were growing faster than the developed countries of the North. Then one day the countr lea that produce oil decided to form a car t:el 0 And why not? Other countries more powerful th.m they had depr ivad them of their juat profi ts and it was time that they stood up, joined forces and assumed control of the weal th that Cbd had given them. We in the SOuth who do not pZoduce oil waited for the new oil alliance to share their profi ts wi th us. !lit they did not. The SOuth was not ready wi th the mechanism to attract and absorb these pcofits. Therefore, the oil producers chose instead to store their gains in the bank vaults of the North. The petrodollar was born, and the bankers of the North opened their doors wide to the money-famiahed financial planners of the SOuth, including.-. those of my country. We started to borrow, borrow, borrow, enticed by abundant funds and low interest rates. Solle countries learned to control themselves, to borrow just enough, to use their bczrowed money wisely and begin to grow. aat foe our leaders the lure of more and easy bouo;,ing wu too strong. Then one day a dictator seized power in our country. There' was no IIOle legal oppcsition, no free press to question enorrllOUS, hasty loans. Absolute power produced absolute corruption. The petrodollar was recycled back to the North in the bank del,)Q6i ts of the dictator and his friends. No one warned us of the cataclysm that had to follow. Instead, a banker of the North said to us: "Ib not worry. SOIrereign countries neYer go bankrupt.· And so, indeed, they lent us more and more. These debts were at that time guaranteed by '!:he GcwerMlents of the debtors. And sc:wereign Gcwernllents never disappear. They just change hands. Thus it was that in 1970, our country and those of the South owed only $100 billion dollars to the North. Ten years later we owed '500 billion. Now we owe Sl tr illion. It was our Mexican £1' iends who were first to realize it could go no further. They pro4Jced oil but ita value went down triben the cartel collapsed and industry decided on other ways of fuelling itself. Mexico said: lINe have no money. we cannot pay.1a And the South woke up to the realities of borrowing. The banks of the Hor th began to say: -We have been lending too much, even more than 20 times our capital. • Ana ao now we must pay more fex eYery dollar we borrow, and there are les8 of those dollars to borrow. And so, after we were titillated into a borrowing pattern - nay, a borrowing sptee - the spigot is turned off• . ' . Up to 1981 the money was coming into our countries: now it is going out. Now we of the South must together send out $20 billion more than we are receiving every year from our international creditars. Last year alone our country sent out $1.7 billion more than it received. Our country must now export much more and import much less just to earn the money wi th which to pay our debt. Yet, what do some of our friends of the Nor th do? They make it harder for us to expor t. When they decide that we are expor ting enough, they want us to restrain ourselves. l'alen our expot"ts displease their labour, they cut them down. l>Jhen we export the fruits of our soil, they demand health certificates. When we export what we manufacture, they decide that our products are not good enough. When they cannot say that our products are not good enough g 'they say it is our packaging t.l)at is no good. And when we have done everything to please them, they inundate us with customs documentation. ltlen the countries of the North want to export their service industries to us - their insurance, their banking, their finance - they ask us fOr market access, lla tional treatment, right of establishment. Yet, are the market services of the North open to the South? If it is their services, they call it export. If it is our services, they call it immigration. So many of our factories, uneble to export more, to import enough of the raw material that they needed for their products, shut dOt"n many of their machines. By 1985, 600,000 in our country had lost their jobs this way. In despair many were tempted to join the rebels in the mountains) many who understooa and who saw that death by bullet could be less painful than death by debt. B'ut, though many are s tarv ing, they have fai th in the ways of peace, whl ch are the ways of the na Hons united ;.n this Assemly. This then is the message I br ing to the Asse£-roly from the poor of my country. It is the same message from the poor of the wor ld, the poor who SUffer, but who want peace, not violence. It is a message ~f hope, not of despair. How do we respond? As Polonius advised his son Laertes; "Nei ther a borrower, nor a lender be, For loan oft loses both itself and fr iend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry." (Hamlet, I; Ui) Shakespeare'!'; admonition may have its relevance for an adolescent who is about to set out on his own, but it has no appeal for a young nation that must growl must build, must stoke its furnaces with the resources of other nations. Yet borrowing can be heady stuff for eager nations and avid lending houses, and the point of crisis is not difficult to reach. Debt crises are not new in this centu~y, and they have not been beyond solution. In fact, when the crisis is bilateral and horizontal, between North and North, lessens have been learned in time and new disasters averted. At Versailles in 1919 the victorious Allies of the First WOrld war refused to condone the enervating obligations of the defeated Germans, and Germany went to the radical r igh t for a solution. That solution produced the Second WOr Id war. The Allies, again victorious in 1945, remembered Versailles, and in London, forgave 70 per cent of the German debt. The same bold visionary leadership that executed that condooation also conceived the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). 8Jt when it is a multilateral and vertical crisis, between North and SOUth, the condonations come much more ;1Jlady and painfully. There was one such crisis in the 1930s. At that time the creditor countries refused condonation and most debtor countries responded quickly and simply. They refused to pay their debts. A few (Mr. Manglapus, Philippines) did pay, like Argentina, where British leverage could administer sanctions. But for the rest of the debtors no sanction was to be feared. There was no hegemonic Power to enforce international contracts. ltlen most of the debt«s refused to pay, the wor ld economy did not collapse. The debtor s could not pay and the oreditor Governments chose to look the other way. There was only the impulse to create the institutions that would prwide the framework for international economic relations. There is one hsgemcnic Power today that could crack the whip; the uni ted Statea of Amer iea • Bu t the er is is is enormous and there are r ising economic Power s wi th which the enforcer must co-ordinate if order and resolu tion are to be reached. This is not happening. Today the fund well is dry and there have followed recession and inflation. The response of most creditor cOW1tries has been to tighten monetary policy and reduce trade deficits. And so the cost o.f debt has increased. For its part, the United States has opted for supply-side economics, continuing budget deficits, reducing tax rates and expanding the economy. In the North there has followed turllOil in interest rates, as we.Ll as unemployment, which is now being blamed on imper ts from the Sou th. The South is now being asked to undertake structural reforms and to rely more on the market and the private se.ctor.. But the North with all its technology could solve its unemployment problem, not by blaming imports from the SOuth, but by getting out of economic activities in which the North has no economic advantage; textiles, garments, shoes. We repeat our salute last week to President R)nald Reagan's veto of the protectionist textile Bill. That masterful act of principled determination was a signal of hope for justice in international free trade and of faith in international negotiations and institutions. (~. Man9!aPls, Phi! ippines) we also applaud Japan, which has offered to recycle $30 billion of its annual surplus by supporting export industries in developing countries. But for this strategy to succeed the developing countries must know what it would be profitable to pursue~ and to know this they must also .know what structural transformations can take place in the Nor th. The debt crisis is not a problem only for the debtor; it is a problem for the creditor; it is a problem for the world. Therefore, the soluticm cannot be sectoral~ it must be total. It cannot be regional~ it must be global. It cannot be technocratic) it must be political. Econ-omic and finance ministers of the world must confer. That is vital. But that is not sUfficient. The men and women who Jilake POlitical policy _ it is these who must agree on the final resolution. of this global tragedy. (Hr. Manglapos, Philippines) In this last year, in many capitals of the world, political policy-makers of this stature have met and called for valiant responses but have not yet found formal decisive consensus\ in Manila last December at the summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN») in Toronto last June at the sununit of the Seven) again in Manila last June at the International Conference of Newly Restored Democracies) in Cyprus last month at the meeting of Foreign Ministers of the Non-Aligned Movement. How shall we resolve debt? It is valuable to reschedule debt. But it is even more precious and human to forgive debt. The makers of policy must agree to resolve the question, who is entitled to debt relief and debt forgiveness? Is it possible to fix standards rather than leave the answer to the strengths and weaknesses of negotiators? They must agree to alternative adjustment programmes to promote growth that will sui t both planned and free economies. They must also develop new modes to carry out global solutions. For the present mechanisms are not equipped for such a momentous mission. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approaches short-term problems, like balance of payments, wi th an average span of 18 mon ths. But the structural and financial horizons of transnational debt can span a generation. The world Bank has primarily concerned itself with financing projects, and, more recently, with programmes. Yet, it is only in the context of an aggregate panorama that the financial obligations of na tions can be amply apprecia ted. It is now seven years that the debt crisis has been thundering across our planet. The assault is overwhelming us because our defences are isolated and our strategies fragmented. I propose a global oounter-attack by forces that will transcend geography and ideology • (Mr. Manglapus, Philippines) I propose an international debt and development commission. 1 propose that this conmission be constituted of men and women whom the world recognizes for their redoubtable seasoning in foreign policy, diplomacy, finance, political economy, trade and developnent. I propose that the COlllllission be provided not with a new bureaucracy but with a staff seconded from outstanding multilateral agencies~ I propose that the conmission be rendered a life-span of five years. I propose that this commission be mandated to evaluate alternative schemes for global debt management, move to ooncrete action to rectify the trading system consistent with that global debt management, formulate institutional changes in international agencies so that they may discharge a more comprenensive role in the process, commend specifie actions to menber Governments to address alternative schemes, oversee and monitor its own output. I propose that the commission conduct its own study, but look into recent proposals on global debt menagement, including the report on an international debt management authority made by the Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs of the United States House of Representatives, and the French plan announced by President Fran9Qis Mitterrand. I propose that with this mandate the conmission develop standards under which debtor countries may qualify for debt relief or debt forgiveness; formulate alternative adjustment programmes ttat promote sustainable growth among nations accompanied by an expansion of their capacity to pay their debta; specify actions, such as the amending of bank laws, necessary for this growth; offer policy practices for industrial countries6 newly industrializing economies, middle-income and low-income nations; identify precise interactions between debt, trade and growthwhlch requ.ire multilateral response. I propose that this colllllission submit these measures to the United Nations for approval, proclama tion and execution. (Hr. Manglapus, Philippines) The United Nations has been demonstrating an expanding genius for waging triumphant campaigns for disengagement - in Mghanistan, in the Middle East, even as it is now engaged in promising peaceful actions in Kampuchea, western Sahara and Namibia. It ia a tribute to this General Assembly, to the security Council, to the Headquarters and agencies, to the secretaria~, and perhaps above all to Javier Perez de Cuellar, that the United Nations has at last beoome validated in its avowed designation, not only as the forum, but indeed as the engine par excellence for peace. Yet what is this debt cr is is but a monstrous threat to peace? Pope Paul VI once stood on this very rostrum and proclaimed that development is another word for peace. Debt, reasonable debt, even in the holy books, is s;mctioned and is meant to develop man. But today the debt of na tion to na tion is not developing man. It is k illing man. The killing must be stopped, and only the nations of the world together can stop it. Stop it now or end the dream of peace in our time. Stop it now or answer to the generation of tomorrow for decimating the human nunbers of the generation of today. (Mr. Manglapus, Philippines) lOIr. VELAYATI (Islamic AepsbUc of Iran) (spoke 1n Persians English text furnished by the delegation): Allow lie at the outset, Sir, to congratulate you on your election to the prea ic:Jency of the General Assellbly• As a _mer of the Non-Aligned Movellent and as a non-al!9'ied llellber of the security Council, Argentina has consistently played a significant and constructive role in the international arena. I therefore sincerely hope that during the present deliberations your leadershiE» will render effective and decisive contributions to international peace and security. OUr inq the past year the "Orld has witnessed some new develoPllents which have shown a prospect for a new lICNelient in the international arena. Preceding speakers have all expressed their satisfaction at seeing the course of inter national relations directed towards IIUtual wderstanding and finding peaceful solutions to regional and international conflicts and crises. This fresh atrlosphere is ieued all nations. vi th new hopes for the future as well all new and lICXe serious expectations alllOng As Cl fotull for the international community, virtually embracing all the countries in the world, the United Nations has now become the focus of attention. As such, it is now facing a momentous and valuable litmus test. Given the fresh hopes, however, it is too early now to pass a final jUdgement on the role of this -ss ive and OOIIplex Organization. we are fully aware that poli tical expediency has been and will continue to be a determining and often negative and destructive factor in the activities of the United Nations. AdIIlittedly, these unfortunate considerations cannot be expected to disappear easily from the United Nations. Should internationally recognized norms and principles guide our efforts, thE' ill effects of political expediency would of thelllSelves subside, facilitating the promtion of understanding and the search for just solutions to complex international problems. POl:owing this very guideline, the 8ecret&ry-General has admirably succeeded In prcviding the global community wi th a new perspective for substantial achievements by the United Nations. In dealing with complex international crises, such as the questions of Afghanistan, Namibia, Kampuchea, Cyprus and the war imposed by Iraq on the Islamic Republic of Iran, the constructive endeavours of ,the secretary-General and his representatives are evident, endeavours inspired by realism, impartiality and integrity. These sincere efforts have deservedly met with glObel appreciation for the secretary-General. Given the extensive domain of the Organization's activities and the expectations aroused by its recent achievements in dealing with v:arious international problelllS, the present session of the O8ner&l Assemly is inevitably faced with SOIl9 momentous tasks. Rere, we cannot, and should not, fall back upon past practice and siJIply re_in content with the IIlere adoption of a fev resolutions. A slow, conservative pace at the United Nations will no longer be acceptabl:.(.,to the international co_unity. (NI'.. Vela)'!ti, Isla!8ic Republic of Iran) The means and capabilities required for the shared respons!bility of conducting international affairs with a view to the enhancement of peace and security are all available to us. 'lbday, it has been demonstratec:1 in practice that the era of a bipolar world, the era of dominance by super-Powers over the destinies of the third wodd and the oppressed nations is very moh a closed chapter. A quite new era has been ushered in, an era in which peaceful coexistence and mutual respect for the rights of nations must inevitably replace the old policies of domination. The struggle of oppressed nations and the efforts exercised by non-aligned and neutral countries have significantly contributed to the inculcation of this new trend and attitude. What is needed at present to guarantee the success of this new trend is to treat the root causes of regional crises which have distressingly turned into protracted, chronic' diseases inJll!Sny parts of the world, so as to preclude the resurgence of crisis and "acts of aggression, or at least render them too costly for the potential perpetra!=Ors. 'this goat may be achieved only through the establishment of justice and the restoration of the principles stipulated in the United Nations Charter in "dealing with international problellls. Undoubtedly one of the most sensitive crises which has put to the test the United Nations capability in dealing with international problems is the war imposed by Iraq against the Islamic Republic of Iran. The blar~lnt a9gression by Iraq on 22 September 1980 against the s""ereignty and territor lal integr ity of the newly establiShed ~ernment of the Islamic Republic of Iran - in the course of whi.ch even the JIOst basic standards of human decency and universally recognized norms of international law have been violated by Iraq, spar_ag no one from atrocities ranging from massive bonbardment of residential quarters, massacring-innocent women (Mr. Vela¥!ti, Islamic Republic of Iran) and children to the deployment of chemical weapons against Iraqi civilians - provide~ international public opinion with a most obvious case of aggression and war crimes. Unfortunately, the indifferent and unpr incipled approach displayed during these eight years by international bodies vis-A-vis abhorrent acts of aggression and violations of recognized rules and norms of international law have set a dangerous precedent in poli tical expediency, shaping responses to acts threa teni~g international peace and security. Notwithstanding this approach, the Islamic Republic of Iran, ever since the inception of the imposed war:, has sincerely continued its co-operation \tIi th the Secretary-General in pursuing a political solution to the conflict. This was recently made quite evident in the implementation of Security Council resolution 598 (1987), a resolution in whose adoption we had no role and which was even used as a lever of pressure by certain quarters against the Islamic Republic of Iran. Official acceptance of seout ity Council resolution 598 (1987) by the highest authorities of the Islamic Republic of Iran virtually removed the last Iraqi pretexts aimed at obstructing the implementation of the security Council resolution, thus providing a litmus test for the political will and capability of the international community, and particularly the Security Council, in contributing to the realization of a just, comprehensive and honourable peace. As also confirmed by the high office of our hO"'1ourable leader, the Islamic Republic of Iran has on many occasions declared ! ts solid intention of securing a lasting and honourable peace in the region and has in practice proven its sincere commitment in this respect by displaying flexibility, good will and co-<)peration with the Secretary-General and his representatives. Ma\1t)ers are' certainly aware that during the in';:arval spanning the acceptance of the resolution by the Islamic Republic of Iran and the official establishment of the cease-fire, the Iraqi regime, despi te its past deceitful propaganda paying lip-service to peace, en'barked upon a series of attacks against our industrial and economic centres, repeatedly committed acts of aggression deeply penetrating our territories and, in contravention of the letter and spirit of Security Council resolution 598 (1987) and the Secretary-General's implementation plan, resorted to raising certain illogical and unacceptable pre-conditions which undoubtedly had a restraining impact on the secretary-Generalis activities. During the 10 rounds of official discussions with the Secretary-General in New York during July and August 1988, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, explicitly delineating its position and proving its good will, showed a clear perspective for securing a comprehensive and lasting peace, while the other party opted for seeking excuses and negativism in its politics. 2 ' (Hr 0 Velayati, Islamic Republic of Iran) The precondition for direct talks before the cease-fire so seriously raised by Iraq 1n the first round of talks was in fact nothing but a ploy to continue the war and prevent implementation of the very resolution which Iraq had verbally accepted a year before. During the two weeks of talks in New York, the Iraqi delegation even refused to hold any substantive meeting with the secretary-General, who plays the ~imary role in the implementation of resolution 598 (1987). However, since these Iraqi excuses received widespread international criticism and owing to the international pressure created against Iraq, the latter was finally compelled to give up this precondi ti·:xl. The declaration of 20 August 1988 as the day for the cease-fire was in fact the result of the Iranian delegation's good will and the efforts exerted by the Secretary-General and his aides. As a result of Iraqi-instigated obstacles as well as the absence of a decis ive approach by the international community, however, finalization of the timetable for implementing all the prOl7isions of the resolution was postponed to take place in the course of talks in Geneva. Reaffirming its good will by accepting direct talks, the Islamic Republic of Iran, in a letter dated 7 August 1988 addressed to the secretary-General, stated~ 1I It is our understanding 'o.t!at, in the agenda for direct talks, the procedure and items will be set in accordance with the prOl7isions of your implementation plan. In this context, substantive negotiations between Iran and Iraq can only be en tered in to for the implementa tion of paragraph 4 of the resolu tion. The implementation of other paragraphs of the resolution will be carried out as planned by the secretary-General." (5/20094, p. 1) This position of the Islamic Republic of Iran fUlly corresponds with both section" E in the secretary-General's implementatiQ'1 plan dated 15 OCtober 1987 and his public official positions taken in the course of discussions held in New York in July and August 1988. This position therefore constitutes the basis for any further endeavours in this regard. In his letter of 8 August 1988, addressed to the Foreign Ministers of Iran and Iraq, the Secretary-General stated that: "In pursuanc.e of the official contact I had with Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran, I should like to inform you that both Governments have agreed to direct talks between their Foreign Ministers which shall be held under my auspices, immediately after the establishment of the cease-fire, in order to reach a comon understanding of the other provisions of Secur ity Council resolution 598 (1987) and the procedures and timings for their implementa tion • " It was on the basis of this understanding that we entered into direct talks at Geneva, expecting to agree on the time-table for the implementation of the other provisions of the resolution, beginning with the immediate withdrawal of forCf.>'" to the internationally recognized borders. It is not my intention to reveal here the details of the direct talks held at . Geneva. It is, however, necessary to express the views of my Government as rela ted to the general aspects of these talks. At Geneva the Iraqi delegation unfortunately resumed its old negative methods from the very first session of the talks, as in New York. By raising certain issues outside the agenda, such as preconditions for the implementatior. of the remaining provisions of the resolution, it diverted the talks from the course set for them by the Secretary-General, dragging them into irrelevant discussions with no substantive results bearing on the implementation of the resolution. For example, the fallacy involved in raising the argument of enjoying equally the fruits of cease-fire, geographical comparisons of Iran and Iraq and the cxmsequences of the geogr aph ieal di ffer ences between the two countr ies, was in fact (~_Velayati, Islamic Republic of Iran) a direct invi~~tion to engage in lengthy economic, political, military and social coq,larisoos, opening the Pandora Box of never-ending obvious inequalities between the two countries. &nploying such false logic to achieve rights outside the norms of international law for Iraq in the Persian Gulf and Arvand Rood and extending the same logic to all paragraphs of the resolution has been a dangerous and destructive ploy, which if combined would inevitably direct the process of talks towards virtual futility and indefinite stalemate. In the first round of direct talks 1n Geneva, the delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran expressed its resolute conviction of the need to finalize the time and procedures for the implementation of the other ptovisions of the resolution, most significant among which are the immediate withdrawal of the forces to internationally r:ecognized bordars and the formation of an impartial body for the identification of the aggressor. It further emphaaized that raising irrelevant issues would stall the process of the talks on secondary matters. However, the Islamic Republic of Iran, continuing i tu co-operation wi th the Secretary-General in his discharge of the most crucial role assigned to him by the resolution and attempting to improve the atmosphere of talks, continued its co-operation with the personal representative of the 5ecretary-General, Mr. Eliasson, and his colleagues so as to achieve an acceptable principled formula concerning shipping in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. In this context. a very posi tive atti tude was displayed, wi thout any attempt to divert the talks from their true objective, and the Iranian delegation considered and evaluated the suggestions made by the Secretary-General and presented its own constructive conments without the least ambiguity. Regrettably, during the course of direct talks it was once again demonstrated that Iraq, rather than following the discussions within the established framework (M~. Velayati, Islamic Republic ~f Iran) (Mr. Velayati, Islamic Republic of Iran) -- so as to reach an understanding, was attempting to seize the opport.unity to use the talks as a means to acI:l!eve certain illegitimate political and mll..1Ul\l:ary objectives, suffer iog from the illusion that wba tever was not gained through the war of aggression and its use of inhuman and illegal resources would be secured througn the peace talks. wi th such a goal in mind, the Iraqi delegation therefore spared no effort in obstructing the Sscretary-General's acti'-itles and in manoeuvring to change the spirit of his proposals and the resolution. In other words, Iraq's efforts all along the course of the Geneva talks were aimed at distorting the spirit of the resolution and the implementation plan, changing the limit and scope of relevant rules of international law, securing international approval f~ its expansionist designs and using the cease-fire to weaken its very foundations. Iraq's insistence on its preconditions and its lack of preparedness to accept the secretary-Generalis proposals and to evaluate them constructively all oontr ibuted to the fallui:'e at the Geneva talks to achieve their objective, which was to finalize the timing and procedures for the implementation of all remaining prO'lisions of the resolutioil from the withdrawal of forces to iiOternationally !:ecognized bou..,daries to paragraph 9 of the resolution. Most typical of Iraq's intransigence and obstructioniam is its objection to the seoretary-General fS proposal for continuation of talks in New York which had already won the approval of all members of the security COUncil. It is, however~ necessary to point out here that the procrastinative attitudes originating in und~e politic&l expediencies, as displayed by certain merrbers of the security Council, lent encouragement to Iraq in its show of i~transi~Ence all through the talks. What, in effect, is needed for the success of the talks that are currently under way under the auspices of the Secretary-General is the immediate implementation of the remaining paragra);bs of the resolution, ~ich is binding under Articles 39 and 40 of th~ United Nations Charter. In the same vein, the text of the resolution and the Secretary-General's implementatioo plan should constitute the basis of talks, and the Council members' understanding of the spir it of the resolution could also contribute to its implementation. Now that, despite Iraq's numerous violations, the cease-fire has been established, it is urgently necessary that the withdrawal of forces to internationally r ecognized boundar ies be begun without fur ther delay and completed within a short period, to be determined solely by technical considerations. A withdrawal of forces should have been effected immediately after the cease-fire, as stipulated in the resolution. It would constitute a significant step towards the decisive consolidation of the cease-fire. Furthermore, in spite of the provisions of the secretary-General's implementation plan, repeatedly reaffirmed by the security Council, the formation of an impartial body for the identification of the aggressor haa also been delayed. This body should begin its work with no further delay so as to pave the way for the achievement of a just peace. We are fUlly prepared for the implementation of all the paragraphs in the resolution, within the framework of the Secretary-General's plan. While Iraq continues its obstructionist policies, we have even carried out unilaterally measures. aimed at facilitating the implementation of other paragraphs of the resolution, as exemplified by the recent release of 72 Iraqi prisoners of war and 16 Egyptian prisoners. On the other hand, according to reports confirmed by the (Hr. Velayaci, Islamic Republic of Iran) United Nations observer forces, Iraq, in violation of the cellSe-fire, has taken captive at least 700 Iranian military personnel and, more recently, it kidnapped two Iranian reporters in the presence of the representative of the United Nations High COIl11lissioner for Refugees. These cases well suffice as a demonstration of the two countri\!s' real intentions regarding the implementation of Security Council resolution 598 (1987). We stress once again that the achievement of a oomprehensive, just and honourable peace will not be possible without scrupulous observance of international law and, in particular, the legal instrument which governs the frontiers between the two countries, namely the 1975 Treaty of State Frontier and Neighbourly Relations between Iran and Iraq. FUrtheroore, the political will and practical goo&lill of the two parties to the conflict is imperative for the achievement of peace. As before, the Islamic Republic of Iran will demonstrate its will for the establishment of lasting peace in the region. It will, however, resist with all its ability and strength any effort aimed at the emasculation of its indisp.2table, legi timate rights. It will never permit the Iraqi Government to achieve its aggressive designs by resorting to destructive manoeuvres in the peace talks, and as it attempted to do through its acts of aggression against tl" Islamic Republic of Iran and its violations of all the rules of international law during the imposed war. Iraq mlJst have learned its lesson from the eight-year-long heroic resistance of the Iranian Muslims well enough to have second thoughts about retleating whimsical, illegitimate aspirations. It is also necessary to make a few remarks about paragraph 8 of the resolutioo, whose manner of implel1lentation is to be drawn up by the secretary-General in oonsultation with the two parties and other countries in the (Hr. Velayati 6 Islamic Republic of Iran) Persian Gulf region. Because of its strategic location and the possession of almost half the prcwed oil reserves in this part of the world, the Persian Gulf region is a critical and significant factor in international equations. Therefore developaents in the region closely affect international peace and seeur ity. The comlllOn religious, cultural and economic grounds shared by the countries in the Persian Gulf area constitute a firm basis for their solidarity and their gathering together within is single regional Systell to guarantee and safeguard their cOllllOn interests. Nevertheless, the arrogant global Powera, which have fixed tileir greedy eyes upon the riches in this region 8.'" found a guarantee of their interests in the lack of unity and solidarity among these countries, continually sow the seeds of discord and hostility among them so as to preclude the fulfilment of their long cher ished aspirations. We have on many occasions declared our readiness to establish fitll, El' i.ttne~.y relations wi th t.~e countries of the region in order to ptOl1ide long-term stlategie seaJrity for the area. In this oontext, the Sem:etary-General's eightopoint plan of 21 March 1985 received our posi tive response, and on 8 MIly 1986 we proposed a ()lan for regional secur ity based cm the joint co-operation of all parties in the Persian Gulf regioo for all-inclusive security. The Islamic Republic of Iran strongly believes that failure to gather within a coherent regional systell, and the void created by the absence of such a syste."R, would entail grave consequences for the regional States in terllS of their sOl1ereignty and inalienable rights. It is worth emphasizing in this connectiol'l that the presenC& of United States naval forces in the Persian Gulf and the Sea of 0IIan, which cCli'luavenes the (Hr. Velayati, Islamic Republic of Iran) purposes and principles set out in Articles 1 and 2 of the united Nations Charter, concerning respect for $CWereignty, territorial integrity and political independence and the scwereigl:1 equality of States - has seriously jeopardized the peace and secur ity process in the region. The most vicious consequence of the presence of foreign forces in the Persian Gulf was the criminal shooting down by the United States of the Iranian airliner flyil:1g along an internationally recognized air corridor on 3 July 1988, which ~ost the lives of 290 innocent people, includil:1g 100 women and children. That act was a blatant violation not 001y of the rule about refraining from aggression but also of the terri torial integr i ty of a United Hations Member State. After the .acoeptance of security Council resolution 598 (1987) and the measures unck;rtaken by the Secr:etary-General towards the attainment of a lasting peace in the region, there remains no further eKcuse for the continued presence of the United States Navy. Therefore it must leave this region as soon as J:X)ssible so that peace and tranquillity may be restored to the Persian Gulf nations, wi th no further foreigr. intervention. The war waged by Iraq against the Islamic Republic of Iran, the lQ'\gest conventional war in the twentieth century, has prO'1ided some significant and notewor thy exper iences that can be used in the fur ther developmen t and codi flca tion of international rules on the conduct of war. (Mr. Velayati, Islamic Republic of Iran) In the course of this imposed war Iraq not only blatantly violated the norms and pr inciples of the conduct of war Ql numerous occasions, including the use of chemical weapons and attacks against residential quarters, but also r€~sorted to other measures totally alien to the spir it and objective of $ucll rules of war. These fresh cases include threats to civilian airliners, attacks Ql commercial shipping in international waters and attacks on oil platforms. Such practices have in the past been condenned by the international community and international organizations. Such attacks, made possible by recent developnents in military technology and methods of warfare, would not have been feasible in the past, since these inhumane measures were unheard of and were never raised when past conferences were convet\ed for the codification of laws on the cooduct of war. Therefore, no codes of conduct have been provided to deal with such war crimes as have been ooll1n!tted by Iraq, although those crimes have been explicitly rejected by international forums. In view of its experiences during the imposed war, .and in order to preclude any repetition of such crimes in the future, the Islamic Republic of Iran proposes that the United Nations, on behalf of the international oornnunity, enact at an appropriate time certain restrictive legal measures to curtail the future colll1lission of such er imes and thus contr ibute to the codi fication of a new set of interna tional rules on the conduct of war. Undeniably, the most significant incident deserving the utmost international attention, since it poses the most serious threat to the international comm~nity, is the extensive and unsparing deployment of chemical weapons by Iraq against both the Iranians and its own people, in contravention of all humanitarian rules of international law. (Mr. Velayati, Islamic Republic of Iran) The use of those evil, dreadful weapons, which sporadically began from 13 January 1981 against our military forces, gra&Jally grew to such extensive and indiscriminate dimensions, mostly owing to the silence of international organizations, that they were not only used against Iranimn civilians, but also claimed the lives of thousands of Kurdish women and children in Iraq. The United Nations has on five different Occasions dispatched to the area expert missions, which have documented the extensive use of chemical weapons by Iraq. I should like to take this opportunity to pay a tr ibute to the ever lasting memories of all the innocent victims of those horrific weapons, and to reiterate lIy proposal that 18 March - the day when Iraqi chemical attacks against the city of Ralabja claimed the lives of 5,000 innocent Iraqi civilians and left thousands of others er itically injured - be designated the! international day of the campaign against chemical weapons. While the security Council dealt in two different resolutions, 612 (1988) and 620 (1988), with the Iraqi use of chemical weapons, the mild nature of those resolutions in fact encouraged Iraq to continue on a massive scale its ha:rifying use of chemical weapons. I raq IS audaci ty in the use of those weapons is sdch that even after the commencement of the cease-fire between the two cClVltries Iraq used chemical weapons on a large scale against its own Kurds in the northern part of the country. Only the extreme nature of this incident led to the bre~king of the long-standing silence observed by many, "ho nOlf declared the extent of the tragedy of the use of chemical weapons and even demanded an investigation into the mtter. In view of the massive international outrage against those horrific crimes by Iraq, as well as the related positions of different coamtries and international. organizations condemning such inhuman acts against the innocent Iraqi Kurds, it is not sufficient now merely. to issue statements and pass resolutions reprimanding .tt.e (Nr. Velayati, Islamic Rep1blic of Ir!!!.) perpetrator. It is absolutely essential that: international organizations take ser 10uo preventive measures 1nlllediately to halt this trend of genocide and seriously punish the perpetrator. Dur 1n9 the current year the international oonmunity has witnessed the old scar on the heart of the Middle East, wich has created moral and lIBter ial turbulence .. and difficulties, once again, as it has hundreds of ~imes before, greatly disturb the very spirit of the Muslim and Arab communities by becoming further infected. The l:egime occupying Quds has for years been expelling Palestinian residents from the occupied territories, but when the Palestinian people intensified their struggle to free themselves from the oppression of the occupiers, the occupying regime, in an unprecedented manner, enacted the most oppressive and savage measures to curtail the Palestinians. Those meae.ures oontinue to this day. The savagery of the occupying zialist regime in repressing the people of the occupied territories, who fight with empty hands and resist the occupiers with no weapons, and the regime's confrontations with the Islamic oomatants in southern Lebanon undoubtedly deltOn8trate its anxiety about the growth and further expansion of such deep-rooted resistance lIIOVelllents. '!bOOy the regime occupying Quds, supported by global imperialism and having continued its occupation of the whole Palestinian homeland and part of the other Islamic and Arab lands, resorts to new acts of savagery at whim. The repeated crimes perpetra ted R:»y the regime against sou ther n Lebanon and the masaaere 0 f innocent civilians and Palestinian refugees once again pr0\7e the claim that the cr ;~is in the Middle East will not be resolved unless this racist regime is eradicated and the rights of Palestinians to self-determination and the establishment of an independent government within their own territory are restored. Dangerous global and reactionary conspiracies consistently attempt to ....... (Mr. Velayati, Islamic Republic . of Iran) COIIlpromise the Palestinian objectives. 'lbday the Palestinian people face another such attempt to confrCQt and undermine their heroic uprising against the regime occupying their territories. The Islamic Republic of Iran, on the basis of historical precedents and experience, is of the opinioo that any fiexibility .~d retreat vis-a-vis the occupying regime will simply carry within itself the seed for future acts of aggression by the regime. we therefore warn against conspiracies currently in the making, and, while supporting the heroic struggle of the Palestinian people, we ask other Islamic, progressive and non-aligned countries fully to support this epic uprising and thus discharge their responsibilities and duties relating to the sacred goals of this oppressed people. In another part of the Islamic world, Afghanistan, which bears the heavy burden of aggression and occupation, the struggles of its peoples once again prove that struggles against foreign aggression do not fade with time. tbre particularly, Islamic liberaticnist ideology lends greater intensity to the struggle against aggression in Afghanistan. The withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghan territor ies, which co1'lll'l\enced in mid-May 1988,. is an initial step 1n solving the problems in Afghanistan. The Islamic Republic of Iran, while welcoming the withdrawal of foreign forces froll the Islamic terr:l.tory of Afghanistan, reiterates its long-standing conviction that the right to choose its own destiny and its future government is an inalienable right of the people of that country. we further emphllsize that no regime can survive there without the full support of the Afghan people and the R.\slil'il toi1jahidin. The only final solution of the problem ef Afghanistan lies in non-intervention by foreign forces in the nation'llI Cbmestic affair s and allowing the indigenous population to manage affairs. The substitution of one foreign element by another (!!r. Velayati, I :;lamic Republic of Iran) The Islamic Republic of I:an hopes that, as socio-political conditions in Afghanistan imprcwe, the way will be paved for the voluntary and honourable rep;:!tr fa tion of the Afghan refugees who, dr ben from hear th and hOlle, have for a number of years now been the respected guests of the Islamic Republic of Iran. It ie wi th the utmost chagrin that I have to point once t'lgain to an unsolved problem that constitutes a ~otracted crime against humanity and an insult to its COnlJlOn conscience. The international community still suffers froll the disgrace of racism and the ensuing discdllination. Since the second ~rld war, the most blatant institutionalized racism has been practised by the regime in Pretoria. This regime, in total disregard of the most basic principles of humanity and international law, continues to this day its racist policies and its illegal occupation of Namibia, and in 30 doing enjoys the support of Western countries and the full co-operation of the Zionist regime. We have always insisted that support for the righteous struggle of the oppressed people of SOUth Africa, and those of Namibia, led by the SOuth West Afr iea People's Organization (SWAOO), together with a ser ioos effort by the international community to bring all-round pressure to bear upon the Pretoria regime and its supporters, constitutes the sole means of ridding the world of the very roots of this regime - this shameful product of human failures. In this context, '.!Fe hope that the efforts of the Secretliry-General, which have gained a new momentum recently, will succeed in paving the way for the independence of Namibia and the removal of this dark page of racial supremacy from the history of the contemporary world. With regard to western sahara, we have reached a stage at which, by supporting the efforts of the Secretary-General to resolve the question, we may be optimistic (Hr:. Velayati, Islamic Republic of Iran) , ... about a peaceful future for that region, based on respect for the legitimate rights and desires of the people. The positive developnents in the international corrmunity, a number of which have been referred to, and the role of the United Nations and its Secretariat in the betterment of the international political atmosphere -which has been acknowledged by the awarding of the NObel Peace Pr ize for the Organ iza tion 's activities in the maintenance of peace - have placed United Nations organs in a position to discharge its most crucial and historic duty. This is the duty to prepare the way for securing lasting, not pi~cemeal, peace and stability by ensuring observance of the prin'.:iples and r~les cf international law and of the United Nations Charter, and re~pect for the 1: ights and wishes of nations in areas where the achievement of such peace has atways been sacr. i ficed to the unwholesome expansionist rivalries of imperialist powers. The Islamic Republic of Ir;An wishes the Secretary-General and his colleagues the utmost success in discharging their importint duties in this critical domain. The mec~ing rose ~t 1.05 p.m. (Mr. Velayati, Islamic Republic of Iran)