UN General Assembly
2006

We welcome the visit to the Sudan by the United Nations Security Council team in June this year and the recommendations they made. Namibia looks forward to an urgent and smooth transition from the African Union Mission to a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur in accordance with Security Council resolution 1706 (2006). We urge the Government of the Sudan and other parties concerned to accept this transition, which we believe will be in the best interest of the people of the Sudan in general and those of the Darfur region in particular. I would like to join other countries around the world in expressing our concern about the illicit trade in small arms and light weapons, which remains a menace to humanity. The proliferation of such weapons compromises peace and security. They also pose serious challenges to law enforcement agencies around the world. We are concerned that the question of Western Sahara remains unresolved. The inalienable rights of the people of Western Sahara to self-determination and independence must be upheld and respected, as