S/PV.5670 Security Council

My delegation wishes to express its appreciation to you, Mr. President, at the end of your presidency of the Security Council. During the past month, we have had before us topics of the utmost importance to humankind and to the maintenance of international peace and security. We hope that we have worked to address them in accordance with what our conscience dictates. Since the beginning of its membership of the Security Council, my delegation has been, and continues to be, keen to address all issues while working in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and international law and positively taking political considerations into account. That is true with regard to the Sudan, which initiated the request for assistance from the United Nations to address some internal issues that need constructive and transparent support from the international community. No one can deny that the Sudan has taken many positive steps in partnership with the United Nations and the African Union, as was underscored by the statement to the press by the President of the Security Council on 16 April 2007. All that is needed now is assistance, provided in a manner based on encouragement and mutual respect, in order to preserve what has been achieved, build upon it and protect it from any negative impact. The purpose of the draft resolution we are about to adopt is to renew the mandate of the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS), which was established pursuant to resolution 1590 (2005), regarding the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in the Sudan. We would like to thank our colleagues who submitted this draft resolution. We expressed our comments and reservations to them after having considered the first version. We believed that the draft resolution exceeded its intended purpose and dealt with various issues for which there are other mechanisms. We also noted that the language of the draft resolution was not consistent with the recent positive developments in the relationship between the Sudan and the United Nations, which we are very eager to develop. The divergence of views during the discussion of the draft resolution in its initial form caused the Council to fail to reach consensus as the expiration date of the mandate of UNMIS was approaching. The delegation of Qatar therefore decided to put forward a draft resolution calling for a specific technical renewal of the mandate of UNMIS as an alternative at the disposal of the Council if necessary. However, in the very last hours we sensed that there was understanding and a constructive response from the sponsor of the draft resolution now before us. We commend that responsiveness, which has led to a convergence of views and a settlement that helped us to agree to the adoption of the draft resolution before us. In conclusion, my delegation wishes to stress that it attaches great importance to collective action on the basis of dealing with each case within its limits, without combining it with other issues and in accordance with the principles of professionalism and transparency. That is the best way to serve humankind and to strengthen the role of the Security Council in the maintenance of international peace and security.

I shall put the draft resolution to the vote now.

There were 15 votes in favour. The draft resolution has been adopted unanimously as resolution 1755 (2007). As there are no speakers inscribed on my list in explanation of vote following the voting, the Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda.