UN General Assembly
2004

Let me begin by congratulating you, Mr. Ping, on your election as President of the General Assembly during its fifty- ninth session. We are confident that you will conduct the proceedings of this session with great competence. I would like to pay tribute to your predecessor, Mr. Julian Robert Hunte, who so ably presided over the fifty-eighth session of the General Assembly. I would like to express at this time my deep appreciation for the efforts of the Secretary-General to harmonize international relations and ensure respect for the principles of the Charter and international law, with a view to strengthening international peace and security. His statement before this Assembly marks a 26 landmark in the quest for the rule of law and respect for the role of the United Nations in international conflicts. In my statement, I will focus on the turbulent situation in the Middle East and, more specifically, on the core of the conflict in the Middle East. The situation in the region of Western Asia — or the