UN General Assembly
2002

that would or could assist in resolving the issue. Malta is in agreement with the Secretary-General that if Iraq fails to meet its obligations, the Security Council, as the organ entrusted with the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security, must shoulder its responsibilities. The Security Council has to ensure compliance with its own resolutions in the interest of the international rule of law. Malta's location at the centre of the Mediterranean has provided us with opportunities for trade and development, which we have been relatively successful at exploiting in the interest of our island, which is otherwise bereft of natural resources. Our strategic location is, however, now also the scene of another socio-economic phenomenon of a much less encouraging nature. I speak here of the poverty divide that cuts across the Mediterranean Sea. The countries of the Mediterranean littoral share much in terms of history, culture and way of life. However the ever more apparent disparities of wealth continue to fuel the movement of thousands of people from the southern Mediterranean and further afield to