UN General Assembly
1997

represent a permanent source of danger. This presence has been the cause of our continued concern, because we have sacrificed half our population for our freedom. Three times a year, we celebrate the anniversaries of the evacuation of foreign troops from our country. Peace, stability and cooperation in the Mediterranean will be possible only when foreign military bases are eliminated, when foreign fleets are withdrawn from its waters. My country, like the rest of the developing world, welcomes the international conventions aimed at the prohibition and elimination of weapons of mass destruction. We believe that this is in the interest of mankind as a whole. However, the resumption of nuclear tests, under any pretext, is a great source of disappointment because they are a violation of the international conventions concluded in this field. The possession by Tel Aviv of nuclear weapons has placed the entire eastern Arab region under a direct threat, constant dangers and definite instability. Without technical and financial support, without the experts and scientists who are part and parcel of this