UN General Assembly
1972

198. My Government firmly believes that one of the strongest supports of the structure of international peace which the world Organization is attempting to build is the expanding role of regional organizations. The OAU is engaged in the constructive task of trying to eliminate regional conflicts, of strengthening regional ties and developing regional co-operation. In recent weeks this has been clearly demonstrated in the dispute between Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, and the serious situation that developed between Uganda and the United Republic of Tanzania. In the case of the former dispute much credit must go to the distinguished heads of State of the People's Republic of the Congo and of Zaire for proffering their good offices and to the Governments of Gabon and Equatorial Guinea for accepting them. The positive response of the Ugandan and Tanzanian Governments to the peace efforts of my own Government, acting on behalf of the OAU, has arrested a potentially dangerous situation and holds a great promise of restoring understanding and peaceful relations between two States which have always had a unique history of friend-ship.