UN General Assembly
2003

﻿It gives me great pleasure to convey to you, Sir, and to your friendly country, Saint Lucia, our congratulations on your election as President of the General Assembly. I would like to express my appreciation to you personally and my full confidence in your ability to effectively conduct the work of the Assembly at this session. I would also like to express our gratitude to your predecessor, Mr. Jan Kavan, who led the work of the Assembly at its last session with wisdom and expertise. I also wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Secretary-General and to express the gratitude of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for his continuous and tireless efforts to establish peace and security in the world, strengthen the role of the Organization, increase its efficiency, preserve its credibility and enhance its effectiveness. It is saddening and distressful that this session is convening while the echo of the horrendous attack against the United Nations offices in Baghdad that took the life, among others, of one of its prominent and