UN General Assembly
2012

﻿At the outset, I am pleased to congratulate Mr. Vuk Jeremić on his election as President of the General Assembly at its sixty- seventh session. I would like to commend Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser for his leadership as President at the sixty-sixth session. I also wish to express our profound gratitude and appreciation to His Excellency Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his valuable efforts to achieve the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations. Three years ago, a despot who ruled my country for 42 years with tyranny and oppression stood at this very rostrum and tore up a copy of the Charter, saying that he did not recognize the authority of the document. Today, I am standing on the very same rostrum to assure the Assembly of my delegation’s support and respect for the Charter. Today, I stand before the Assembly and the whole world to apologize for all the harm and the crimes committed by that despot against so many innocent people, as well as to apologize for the extortion and