UN General Assembly
1997

two brotherly and neighbourly peoples and to consolidate stability and peace in the region. With the aim of reaching a peaceful solution that safeguards legal, historical and geographic rights, the Republic of Yemen has endeavoured to avoid escalation and to dissipate tension. It has demonstrated a sincere desire and exerted great efforts both in dealing with the Eritrean occupation of the Yemeni Greater Hanish island in the Red Sea in mid-1995 and all along in the negotiations between the two countries. We did not rush to use force, but rather have sought to pursue all peaceful ways and means. We have opted for dialogue through official mediation and international arbitration in order to save our neighbouring peoples the scourge of war. While the Republic of Yemen expresses its solidarity with the brotherly Somali people, the Yemeni leadership represented by His Excellency President Ali Abdullah Saleh has added its efforts to those of the League of Arab States, the Organization of African Unity and the Inter- Governmental Authority on Drought and Development (IGADD) to achieve peace in Somalia. Just last August,