A/43/PV.65 General Assembly

137.  REPORT OF THE CCHtI'l"'fEE ON RELATIONS WITH THE RQ;T CDUN'tRY\ REPORT OF THE SIXTH <X>MMITTEE (PART I) (A/43/900 and Corr.1) The PRESmENT (interpreta~ion from Spanishh Before calling on the Rapporteur of the Sixth Committee I shall quote rule 78 of the rules of procedure concerning proposals submitted to the Gener:al Assenbly. That [ule, in its relevant part, states, "As a general rule, no proposal shall be discussed or pu t to the vote at any n:~ting of the General Aasenbly mless copies of it have been circula ted to all delegations not later than the day preceding the meeting." Since, as menbers know, we cb nut have too nuch time, and as the Assenbly wants this question to be considered without aelay, I venture to l!iuggest that if there are no objections, that we consider the recomma1daticn cmtained in the report of the Sixth Conmittee (A/43/900), although it was distr ibuted only this mocning. I would point out that the text of the draft resolu tion recommended by the Sixth Conmittee was distributed yesterday in that COlffRittp.e. If I hear no cbjection I shall take it that the Assenbly accepts my proposal. It was so decided. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Spanishh I call on Mr. Carlos Velascn Mendiola, Rapporteur of the Sixth Committee, to present that Committee's repor t on agenda item 13 7. Mr. VEUSOO MENDIOLA (Peru), Rapporteur of the Sixth COlllllittee (interpretatim from Spanish): I have the hmour to present to the General Assetl'bly .the report of the Sixth COlMlittee contained in document A/43/900 and Corr.l under agenda item 137, "Aepot't of the COIIIIittee on Relations with the Host Counuy". As sta ted in the cbcument, this is but the first part of the report of the Sixth COIIIIlittee on agenda item 137. It relates specifically to draft resolution . A/C.6/43/L.25, tilich was considered yesterday by the Committee on a priority basis, and on which the Committee took a decision. The second part of the report CI'1 the s-mject will ccntain the resul ts of the Sixth CODl1littee's consideration of the report of the Committee cm Relations with the Host Country. T'de draft resol\!ticn recommended by the Sixth Committee fex adoption by the General Assetrbly is contained in paragraph 6 of part I of the report. A mistake has slipped into the English vers icn, and I should like to br ing it to 'the attention of men'bers\ in paragraph 5 there should be a blank between the words Preamulllr par~graphs 4 and 5 of the draft resolution refer to the request Il8de by the Palestble L1beraticn Org!nizaticn through the Secretary-General, fex the granting of an entry visa to Mr. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the ExeaJtive CCJIllIlittee of the Palestine Liberatim Org!nizatian, so that he could participate in the forty-third session ef the General Assenbly, and to the decision of the host country to deny the r<!quesi:.ed visa :In violation of the internaticnal legal obligations undertaken by virtue of the Agreement between the O'lited Nations and the Uni t.ed states of America regarding the He2~uarter s of the O\ited Hations, a dopted in 1947. In ~ccordanoe with the terms of the draft resolution, the Genel'al Assel\'bly would a.~firll the right of the ti'alestme Liberatim Org!nizatim freely to desiCJl1ate the _lIbers of its delegation to participate in the sessions and the wor:k of the General Asse1lblYI it would deplore the failure by the host country to approv& the CJranting of the requested entry visa,. it would cons id~r that the decis ion by the (Mr. Velasco Mendiola, Rappor teur , Sixth Commit tee) Gcwernment of the tbited States of America, the host country, constitutes a violation of the international legal obligations of the host country under the Agreement between the O1i t:ed N! tions and the thi ted Sta tes of America regarding the Head;luarters of the United Nations~ it would urge the host country to abide scrupulously by the prcwisions of the Heacquarters Agreemfant and to reconsider Md reverse its dtacisiCXl~ and it would request the secretary-General to submit a report CJ1 the developments in this IIBtter no later than a date to be determined in December 1988. The Sixth Committee adopted the draft resolution by 121 votes to 2, wi th CJ1e abs ten tiCJ1. The PRPSmENT (inter~etati(Xl from Spanish) I I h8'le to inform representatives that some delegations have eXIXessed a desire for the report of the Sixth Committee (1./43/900) to be discusoed, since they consider th is to be necessary. Bearing in mind rule 66 of the provisional rules of procedure, may I take it that the General Asserbly agrees that the report of the sixth Committea be considered? It was so decided. The PRESIDENT (interpretation from Spanish)" I call on the retresentative of Jordan, who will speak on behalf of the Group of Arab States. ME'. SALAH (Jordan) (inter:~etation ~rom Arabic) e. It gives me great pleasure to speak befcxe the General Aasenbly on behalf of the Arab States on the item entitled "Report of the COJlIDittee on Relations with the Host ~ntry". We had hoped not to hM'e to do so. However, the fact that the draft resolution before the General Assembly today in document A/43/900, when it was put: to the vote in the Sixth Committee the other day, won almost: unaniflOus support. Tb is ques tion has made it impoosible for us not to tSpeak on this important question, albeit briefly, in order to emp,asize certain salient points. The questial, as the Assembly wUl recall, is the decision by the United States of _erica, the hoat country, not to issue a visa to Mr. Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation organlzatial (PLO), who intended to participate in the deliberations of the General AssenDly 1n hid official caPillci ty and for the Qxpress pur~!'e of putting to the Assembly the Palestinian point of view regarding the item entitled "Question of Palestine". Mr. Arafat rep:esente a,e of the two major perties to that question, namely the people of Palestine• . Thisdecisial of the host ClOlI'lUy is truly regrettable md, indeed, deplocable. Under, the HeadqU21.r;ters Agr~lIent, the hoet country has a legal obligaticn to grant an entry viss to its territory to Mr. Arafat so that he can car ry out the official task de filled in the v iea appl iea tion submitted to the seCl~etary-General on 8 Novemer1988 by the Permanent Obaerver of the PLO to the United Ratians. The visa application showed quite clearly that the pJrpose of Mr. Anfat: 's visit was to take part in the deliberations of the forty-third session of the General Assembly. As stated by the Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and the Legal Counsel, Mr. Pleischhauer, befor e th e Commi t tee on itelations wi th the Host Coun try last tbnday, it was he who personally handed that visa application to Anbassador Herbert OIeun of the tbited states Miseion and drew his attentim to the fact that it was worded exactly as all visa applica tions for repr:esentatives of the PLO are worded. In this regard, I wish to extend to yoU, Hr. President, our \!;hanks and apPt'ociation for your statement of 26 Ncwellber in which you affirmed that the United States Administration had an ooligation to grant the visa requested for Mr. Yasser Arafat. I also extend thanks and appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr. Perez de Cuellar, for his s ta tamen t 0 f 27 NoYellber on the same sobject, in which he affirmed that the aforesaid decision of the United states runs counter to its obligations under the Headquarters Agreement. we feel that a great deal of gratitude and appreciation is we to the Legal Counsel, Mr. P'leischhauer for his lucid, detailed statement, which I hlNe already mantimed. In that statement he refuted all the arguments with "'ich the host country tried to justify its decisim. Mr. Plei8c~auer, at the end of his statellent, emphasized that the host country was and still is under an obligation to grant a visa to Mr. Arafat, Chairman of the PLO, an organ!zation which h.:.s been accorded observer status by the General Ass_ly. In addit1Ql to all th is, the PLO has the right, like any other .eDber or observer in the General MS8llbly, to fbrm a delegation to PlrticiPlte in the work of the Geneal Assellbly in midlwer Way it wants, without interference by myone. The Palestine Lib..atian Organization, whidl, since 1975, has been par ticipa ting as an Obsel.Ver in the work of the Genoral Aeselllbly, is, by the choice of the Palestinian people and on the basu of its recognition by the majority of the States in the wcrld and the affirllllltian of the thited Nations, the sole, legitil1llte rePl"eaentative of the Palestinian people, one of the two 1Ujor parties to the question of Palestine. As everyone knClf8, the question of Palestine is one (.f the Imst 1m(X)rtant and serious outstanding ~ClblellllJ in the wcrld tOday. The thitecS Nations and all pea08-1a"lng States h...,e the responsibility to strive forthwith and seriously to achi_. the peaceful settl.aent of that questiCl1. (Hr. Salah, Jar:dan) We had. hoped that the positive decisions adopted by the Palestine National COuncil at its recant lleeting in Algiers would elicit the appropr iate re.ponsiveness and understanding from all, since they represent a constructive positicn and a step towards the achievement of a peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine. Although those decisions were welcomed and supported by a large nutrber of states, the tl'lited States chose not to respond positively to decisions that revived the hope of movement in the Middle East peace process and provided the opportunity for a constructive dialogue between the Palestine Liberation Organization, the sole, legitimate representative of the Pal~stinian people, and the United States, which is a party deeply involved in the Middle East conflict, the very crux of which is the question of Palestine. It is extremely regrettable that the Onited States decision under review was not taken on its own relations - or rather lack of relations - with the PLO but rather on the relations between the PLO and the United Nations, which is supposed to have an independent personality and an international standing that should be respected by all. What has prompted us to say all this, in addition to our keen interest in the peace process in the Middle East and the necessity for the Palestine Liberation Organization to play its role as a princiPllll therein, is our great interest in the tl'lited Nations mnd our belief that it is necessary to ~eserve its independence and maintain its world standing. The United Nations was established with the intention of making it the conscience of mankind, a forum for the voice of peace in which to study the problems of the wor ld and find solutions thereto, especially probleals relating to international peace and security. ,. The Palestine Liberation Organ iza ticn , after the recent decisions of the Palestine National Coll1cll, hllls shown that it is a voice for peace, an active party on the side of puce, and a constructive e1ellent in the search for peace. The United States, which '_(X)uses great ~inciples and far-ranging hUJlllnitarian caocerns, should have been lIar:e \IIldel'st:anding of the position of the Palestine Liberation Organization and the iJllX)rtant role it (",an and must play if peace is to be es tab1i8hed in the Middle East. Our great regret and sur~ise at the aforementioned decision by the host country hwe been OOIIpounded by the stand annoWlced by the official'sPf?kesun of the State Depertment of the United States last fbrolday, namely, that the decision vu final and inwersible. The other day the geCletary of State of the host countey reiterated th~ position, despite his knowledge that the General Assembly vas in the process of introducing a draft resolutien deplor ing the failure by the host country to apprcwe the granting of the requested visas considering that ~e decision of the host country copstituted a violation of its international legal obligatiens under the Headquarters Agreellent and, hence, urging it to abide scrulQlouely by tb~ PEO'Iisions of the Agreement and to reconsider and r'werse its decision. Such a positien on the pert of the United States Administration is grave indeed. we fear that it heralds a gradual retreat en the part of the Olited States Administration frOll its coBllitaent to uphold international law and a shrugging off of its responsibility in this tegard as a State Menbel' of the {bited Nations that is also 8 major Power and a perll8nent member of the Security Council. Thue lIisgivings hwe been deepened by the Act PE0Jallgated by the Olited States Cengress at the end of last year regarding the cloeing down of the office of the Perunent Observer lIliss10n of the Palestine Liberation Organization to the united Natiens. That Ilct vhich waa the subject of intensive deliberations in the Gln"al As••llbly at the beginning of this year, led to an advillory opinion handed dOWll by the International Court of Just1c... affirMing thmt the Act runs counter to the obUgat.j ,.t)ft8 of the hc.t co try ""der the Bealt:luarter. Agree.ent. RlgareUe•• of any .um cbl1tjatlon, a spok n of the State Depertllent of the haet country stilted that the Qlited Stat•• CongrelS8 prolmlgated the let knowing full well that by doing so it wa. contraVening the international legal obligaticns of the h08t c:»untry ""der the Headquarters Agree.ent. we still hope that the host country· wUl reconsi.-r and rweree its decision 1n order to dispel thell1sg1vings to which I h8'1e just referred. we .ay this in . -' spite of our realization that this hope lIIIy be bu-.d unrealistic or unreaUzGb1e. '!'he RU5JDBHT (interptetation frOll Spanish): I h..,e to inform representatives that we shall keep the list of speaker:s open for approximately anoth. 15 alnutes, ooU1 .. p.m. Hr. K1TTANI (Iraqh Our peaceful Thanksgiving holiday was shattered last S1aturday afternoon by the MOck mg news ft'CIII Washington that the secretary of State of the tltited States of ArMr iea, the host country, had dGcl&td to deny an entry visa to Jl"'. Ya.ser Arafat, CbairuG of the Executive ComJIlittee of the Palestine Liber~tiCl'l organi:l:ation (PLO), for WlOll we were all waiting to open our debate on the ieportant 11:811 on Palestine tolllOrrow ..«ning. This news had shock "8'I.S ellllansting from th is building in ~ll directions. On Monday the Cc.ittee on Relations with the Bost Country llet t"4fic:e. wa haet a thatOU91 debate Q'2 the question and not a single mellber of that CODIittee came c~OlIe to defendinC) the decision of the United States Secretary of state. The report went to the Sixth Cclmftittee, and this IIIOl'ninq the Rapporteur of the Sixth COifIIittee presented the result of its deliberations and the clear-cut draft resolutiQ'2 which is before us. My delegation hits asked to speak as an exception in this case tc.l the usual explanation of vote for the simple reYal that we believe not only that th is item th is is indeed a his tor ic oa:asion on is JPOlIDntous and iaportant in itself but ti. which all mem81's of the Assemly have an equal responsibility, individually anc] collectively, to pronounce theMselves on th is. Me were delighted, Mr. Preoident, that you and the Secretary-General did not wait for fobnda" morning but even dJring the weekend were ,the first to draw the attenticn of the host country and its secretary of state to the fact that this decis ion ls wrong and ifioompa tible with the obliga tions of the Un it.ed States to this OrC}anization. Since then, we have heard the Sixt.h Commit.tee, representing all the Members Oi.' the United NatialS, pronounce itself decisively in similar fashion. I do not believe that a single mellber of the security Council, the other princlpal organ of the Un it.ed Ha tials concer ned with the 11Ifttter, has any in ten Hen of defending the thit.ed states decision. So we hlllTe three pr incipal bodies w~ the Secret2riat, the General Assembly, which is about to take e decision, and, by i_plication, the security Council. I do not thilTlk that anyone :In this Ball, including tho United States delegation, wool(;l doubt that, if we were tOJlOrra4f IX) smllit this to the other pr: incipal organ, the International Court of JI,J8,tiCft, the r.sult would be the same. If any proof were needed, we have the opinion of the legal Counsel of the united Nations delivered fbnday afternoon in the CCIIIIlittee on Relations with the Host Country, which should be issued as a historic document. I would reCOJlllend that all _lIbers should read it carefully. The ~epresentative of Jot'dan has referrad to it in detail, but may I simply say, a3 I said in the CoI!lIIittee on Relations with the BiQ8t Country, that this Assembly owes a debt of gratitude to the Secretary-General and his Isgal Counsel for that opinion. It is an excellent eXlSraple of defending the dignity, the authority and the rights of this Or:ganbation, and the host country should take that into account in reacting to the resolution we are about to adopt. I shall read out the last paragraph of that opinion, which ran to some seven pages. Mr. Fleischheuer said \ "'1'0 sum up, I am of the opin ion that the host country was and is under an obligatiat to grant" the visa request of the Qlairman of the PLO, an organization which has been granted observer status by the General Assembly." (Ptess Release HO!.. 94, p.4) There are nl) "ifs", "buts~ or "maybes". The decision of the Secretary of State of the ti1ited states is not acceptable,; it is not in conformity with its obligation to the United Nations. I shall hwe a little mre to say about that later~ I simply say now that if this decision is not reversed - and we have not entirely givei'l up hope that it wUI be - a great deal of injury wUl have been done, not: to Mr. Arafat, not to the PLO, not to the Palestinian people, not to the Arabs alone, but to everyone of 08 10 this Hall. The day will 00111& when one or IIOre of us at one tirae or another will regret that lIore was .10l: done to persuade the Secretary of state of the United States to change its position. That is one reason why we asked to speak. The other reason is perhaps mCl'e important. the substance of the Palestinian q':Jestion except to the extent that it: ls r~lev..t to the granting of the visa - that if this decision is not reversed it '1111 - constitute a gr ievouR blOli t9 the chances of peace in the Mi&Jle Baat. Much has been written and said by foreign digni taries, Beads of state, GcJ'Iermaents of allies of the Q1ited States, frienUd of the United States, as well as by very honourable, patriotic, eminent personalities in all walks of life in tbehost COWlUY itself. Eb, instaad o~ wasting the Assembly's tille, I will read amply the concluding part of an article written this IDOl'n:lng by an eminent colunnist in The washington Post, Mr. Richard Cohen. After criticizing all the points raised by .... Shu1tz in his decision, he had the following to say, -whatever the PLO lIay be, it dof!S no CJOod to i~ore it ••• "B.1t IgnCl'e it we do. laedcan diplomts are forbidden even to lleet with PLO representatives. That's not mere policy~ it's the law. In this sense, we are as Isneli as Iscael itself. But even in Israel, some people (among them, Yeboshafat Barkabi, a form&r heao of !IIilitary intelligence) hlNe sutJgested that the policy of never dealing with the PLO is folly. Thei,r logic is unaasailable·. you can only make peace with your enemy. "The upshot is that the tbited States is tethered to what may be a counter(X'oductive Israeli policy. When it COllieS to the PLO, we have none of our own. In this sense Shultz's rebuff to "rafat, as understandable as it was, is merely !lOre of the same. What seMIs like an isolate~ inoident here IlUSt seem to the rest of the wCX'ld" pftrticularly the Arabs, to be further It i8 - Md I shall not 90 into p:oof that our Middle Rast policy is identical to IlKalt!l's. Our support is so ferv~'nt, so emoticna' that we are willing to abrogate the responsibilities as the has t na tion for the UN. -The only sure way to eradica te terror ism is to deal with its cause. In the Middle East f that means dealing with Palestinian nation.!llism _ and that lIeans dealing with the PLO. Shultz. over lClOk~ that. When he said 'nuts' to Anfa t, he was deal ing only wi th h is emotions.· (The Wash ington Pest, 30 NOVember 1988, p. A.23) In conclusion, Mr. President, I should like to ask a faIFour of you. For several reasons, I should like to speak in III'f personal capacity. First, as you know, I am ale of your huDble lX'edecessQCs. gecmdly, I have had IIICX'e than three decades of uninterrupted association with the Organizatialo 'l'hirc=tly, I have spent JI08t of my adul ~ li fe in the host coun try, so perhaps I can say that I am not totally i9\ora.'lt of political facts in the Unit~d States. It is beoause of all that that I .wish, not only as relX'esentative of Ircq but in fWJ perSlJnal capacity, to make an urgent appeal to washington, to the A&ainistration and, in particular, to the Secretary of state. The Secretary 0'£ State has a chance to rise to the occasion, to reco~ize that the decision was grievous, that it was vrmg, that it is going to do l.I1told injury to the Organizatim and its relations with the hest country, and that it is going to deal a very serious blow to the chances of peace in the Middle East. Hr. Shult: is a c5:!stlnguistied world statesman. Ris careP.r as such is about to enter history. Re has a wonderful opportunity to remcve this blot from that record and to turn it into a magnanimous virtue. Indeed, we have this saying in Arabic~ R'l\) correct It wrong is a vir tue·. If there was any doubt in anyone's mina that a mistake has been _de in this case, that doubt has been £emcwed. we trust that the delegatial of the tbit~d States will convey that to the secr~tary of State and the Administratian and that the Secretary of state will carefully read - if nothing else - the opmion of the Legal Counsel of the Un ited Ha ticns. we are not without hope that this gr ievous wrong wUl be r 1c#lted. The PRESmBNT (interpcetation frQlll Spanish) a I wish to inform menbere that 15 lftinutes have passed since I made the announcement concerning the closure of the list of speakers. 'l'herefcxe, I now declare the list closed. the Ass.llbly today~ on behalf of the pcple and GcJIernment of Qldan, in order to state that we deeply deplcxe the refusal to grant ~. Yasser Arafat, the Chair_n of the Bxecutive eo-ittee of the Palestine Lib.-ation Organization (Pu), the r !91t to take Pllrt in the General Assembly's deliberations. This is especially deplcxable at a ti.~ when encourmqing ~ogres8 has been witnessed in regard to the prcbl_ of Palestine, as :la QVident from the dociaims taken by the special session of the Palestine National CoW\cil held 1n the cap!tal of Alger ia - decisions that, in substance, recognized Security Couhcil rnoluticms 242 ~1961) and 338 (1973) and proclaillad the State of PaleBtine. These decisions have been greeted by the intern~tlonal co_unity as a welcome p)sitive step towards a just, lasting settlement of the pt'oblem of Palestine. The international co_unity ha recognized that the PLO has a well-established right, to participate in Assellbly sessions and deliberations, as well as in all its efforts, on an equal footing with other parties. The resolutions adopted by the Gen..al Asaellbly at ~evious sessions have expresseCl the will of the lall1ly of nations. The relations between the PLO and the host country are gC71erned by the prC71isialS of the Beadquartera Agreement. It flows froll that Agree_nt that the international Organization and the host country have undertaken to recognize that the PLO ~u the right to choose which of its rept'uentatives will participate in the G.eneral Asseably. What I all stating today only confir.M what wu said by the Secretary-General on 27 Nwellber - n_ely, that the decision by the GC7Iernaent of the host count.ry has co. 4t a ti_ when new ~08peci:S for peace are @pening in the Middle Bast bGcQ!J!Ie of the decisions takan by the Palestine National COWlcil. It confu. also what you Raid, Hr. President. on 28 Nov_er - that is, that the Govertment of the host country must grant an entry visa to Hr. Yasser Arafat under section 11 (5) of the Beadquarterp 1tg:reement. The legal ~pin1cm rendered by the Legal Counsel of the Olited NAtions also states that all the formal ccmditlons have been met for the granting of an entry visa to Hr. Ai:'mfat: and thftt the host CX)unuy he the duty of discharging its obligations mdu the ilea4:;uartersAgreement. The result of the vote 1n the ~a~th COIIIIIittee yesterday on the dr&ft resolution now ccnt61ned in (bC\Dent A/43/900 is su1k:lng p:oof of the international G'lanimity on the need to abide by international obligaticms. International law is the legal conaecration of international unanimity. It is not mere words. That is why it Is up to the host country to _Ite a serious COfttributicm to solving the p:oblem of the Middle Eut, the COl'e of whim is the probl_ of PalesUne. It Is not by silencing the PLO that that goal will be attained - particularly since the PLO is gaining increasing i."lternational support. The family of nations has reooij'iized it as the sole ftnd authentic representative of the Palestinian pecplec In conclusion, I uk tile host coun~.ry to heed the unanimus opinion of the internaticmal co_unity and reconsider its decision to deny Mro Yasser Arafat the r igilt to enter United States territory. The General Assembly is being tested. It is up to the Assembly to meet that test bi asking the host country to reconsider its decision and abide by its international obligations • The PR!SmBNT (interpretaticm from Spanish) ~ In accordance with General Asseably resolution 3237 (XXIX), adopted on 22 Newellber 1974, I now call on the Observer of the Palestine Liberation Qrgani2lation. Hr .'1'IRZI (Palestine Liberation organization (PLO»)\ One would neTer hllge thought that the hOlt country would venture alce again to violate its mter:national legal obligations. After all, this Aseelllbly, through lengthy debates c1ur ing the llanths frOll Dftcelllber to Jl.I\e, was ill'l01ved in yet another viola dOt' - ex another atteapted viGllatien - by the host country. The result should really have t¥ou~t the ae/!lsage that the internatimal ee-Jllmity does respect mligatiorls and thoee who really respect their Clbl1gations. thfortunately th't hest country Ius alC8 again emarked on a violatim, hoping to use lIisinf«..UCll, at least, in order to justify that attelllpt at vi,()lating its international legal obligations. I say "isinforMtial lll , because on 26 Neweaber 1988 a state.mt by the Secretarlo· of State on the visa application of Hr. Yaaser Arafat reads\ IlIQl lfcwellber 24· - I repeat, Newemer 2.- -1988 we received an application froD Mr. Yesser Arafat, Chairman of the PLO, for a visa to attend the Olited Rations General Asselllbly session in New York City as an invitee. III The fact is that the application was ~etJC!ftted through the u8u~1 course on 8 NO'Iedber, and not 24 Newellber. Illt there is so_thing really suik ing in the state..nt of the Secretary of State of the ttlited States\ he does admit that the visa vu applied for so that the Chairman of the PLO could attend the Olited Nations Ger.eral AaseJlbly session in Hew York as an invitel'. Chairllll1n Arafat and the Pal.tine Liberatim Organ ization would, of course, have lcwed to COlIe as tour ists to this country. But there is so_thing IlUch IIOre significant, the General 1uJseaDly, on 22 1b1elllber 1974, exttnded an indtatim to the Palestine Llberatic.n orglftization to perticilPBte in the sessions and the work of the Geneal Assably in the capacity of obeerver. 'I'". we see that, 'lrc. the very start of this lIIJftipulatial, the Goveraent of the Q\ited States has been trying to aisinfor. the pabl1c" It llay be that this is nothing nev, but in this particular case it was not stating the facta. 1'he Palestine Liberation organization informed the Committee on Relations with the Bost Country on 23 November that on 8 November an application had been sent for visaB for: C2lairman Yasser Arafat and a nunber of h is colleagues in the Palestine Libet:atim organization. The announcement w~s made in public and definitely nobody ~.,t.d, but apparently nClbody fram the thited states had been in touch with the S8czetary-General to tell him that there was a point of dlspute here. we do know that it is the duty of the host coun try under the Headquarters AgreeJIent to inform the Secretary-General that it sees some disputable lDint. But we were infomed again that there was no such CCXltact until the passport was pzesented again - not on 24 November but on 25 November. We all know that we were celebrating 1'hanksgiving Day on 24 Newellber, so it would have been stupid of us to go and wait for a turkey outside the Embassy in Tunis. Be that as it may, the application was made on 25 NcweDber. The matter was again brought before the Committee on Relations with the Bost COuntry. Lengthy deliberatic)ns were held, which should have spared this General Assetlbly the cost of spending a few hours to restate what was stated there. Bowever, if you will permit me, Mr. President, I shall qoots from the statement made by the Chairman of the CorMlittee on Relations with the Bost Country when he su.ec1 up out the deliberations, -The vast majority of speakers were of the opinion that the denial of the applicaticn fat a visa by Mr. Arafat is a violation- - -is a violation" - -of the Olited States obligatiQ1S under the Headquarters Agreement. In this regard those speakers cmcurred with the statement issued by the Secretary-General and the President of the General Assembly.- (Hr. '!'er zi, PU» Permit me to express our gratitude to your goodself, Sir, and to the Secretary-General for having taken the position to defend the United NatiQ'lS,' to defend r espect for the law. There is nothing new hue. What I have said about the applicatial, and s,o on, was confirmed by the sbiitement made by the IAtgal Counsel, Mr. Fleischhauer. He oonflr.. exactly that ~'e application was made on 8 Novas:aber. I only wish that his statellent were already a doCUllent before the menbers of the Assemly, and we hope that eventually it wUl be. Let us try to find out something beyond this. Let me expl'ess, through you, Mt. President, our thanks to the Mellber states which yesterday in the Sixth Ca.ittee e.essed ft clear-cut opinion\ 121 endorsed the position taken by the Coanittee on Relations with the H08tCoun try, namely, that a violation had been co_itted by the hos~ country and - and this is very iJlportant - that the host country should be ·convicted· of violating the Agreement. Everybody speaks about wasting money, resources and so on, but here the Gcwernment of the Q1ited Statell, the host mun try, is forcing the Assellbly to spend so lIany hours somehow to redress some injustices brought about as a result of violations of the Headquartw:s Agreement. we believe that the General Assembly is dlty-bound not to permit the decisim taken by the host counuy to violate its international legal cbUgations and deny freedom of aceess to United Nations Hea(Jquarmls to any Member or invitee. That decision of the thited states Sa'1ould not be construed as a precedent. Tbe freedom of action and the perforllance and discharge of the functions of this body ShClUld not be trus trated or sabotaged by the manipulations of the host cam try, the other party to the Headquarters AgreeMent. (Hr. '!'erzi, PLO) A si tua tion has been Cl'eated - dare I say, maliciously? _ wher eby the discharge of our responsibilities and duties has been frustrated, but on th is a1ee-in-a-life-time occasion in this Organization - I repeat, this onee-in-a-life-tinae occasion in th1s Organization - an alternative should be sought, with the prcwision that the General As8enbly- will not acquiesce in such ID&niPllatiau.. As people of faith, let us hope that the hoot country wUl reconsider its arbitrary decision and reverse it. There is no harm in hoping, especially since a time limit has been fixed. IItt us give the host country tille to meditate and consult on .aether it still wish. to be the culprit in such a au.e ,as this.. After all, credibility and respect fat obligations are basic principles in relations between parties to any agr....nt, all the r.wxe 80 in agreements between the United States and the internationel co_unity, as re~esented by the thitea Rations. I c::an give an a".uranee that Chatrllltn Arafat "Ul not be prevented froll delivering the 118SAge of peace and the plan fex a realistic and ccncrete aplEoach for iu achiev_nt and the ending of the bloody conflict. The United States will not be allowed to pt'went Chairman Arafat or the PLO frOll bringing that mes88ge to this lofty body, be it here or SO_where else. The General Assembly will accord ~air.an Arafat the proper welcome, listen to hill and express its support for, and identification with, th6 peace plan endorsed by the Palestine National Council at its meeting in Algiers in NoII'eIW81 this year. The PRBSIDBN'!' (interpretation from Spanishh I should Uke to draw the attention of the Assellbly to a correction in paragraph 3 of the draft resolution which has been point&d out by the Rapporteur. Paragraph 3 should begin as foU.QWs~ (speke in Ifnglish) -Considers that this decision .... -, instead of "Considers that the lit • •• • decision (continued in Bpanish) In accordance with General Asse.bly resolution 477 (V) adopted on 1 Newelber 1950, I call upon the representative of the League of Arab States. (Mr. '1\tr zi, PLO)