106.	  Mr. President, first of all, I should like to express my satisfaction at seeing you preside over the thirtieth session of the General Assembly. Your skill as a leader and a diplomat, your sensitivity in dealing with international and European problems, are a guarantee of the effectiveness of this session of the Assembly.
107.	May I also take advantage of this opportunity to repeat my sincere congratulations to Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, who brought to bear his well-known abilities in presiding over the twenty-ninth session and the seventh special session.
108.	I am also happy to welcome to this Organization, on behalf of the Spanish Government, the new States which have recently joined the United Nations—Cape Verde, Mozambique and Sao Tome and Principe.
109.	When making up the balance sheet of the work of the United Nations during this thirtieth anniversary, we can note, despite certain flaws that can be corrected, a positive evolution towards a greater harmonization of national interests which, since they become daily more interdependent, call for increased cooperation.
110.	Thus, in the year that has elapsed since the last session, international events have taken place that are of great importance the overcoming and ending of a conflict which affected an entire generation, the holding of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe to which I shall refer later and a series of international meetings on subjects of the greatest importance such as food, population, industrialization and the International Women's Year. All these point to a positive trend towards such co-operation.
111.	However, among the aspects of the international situation which merit particular attention at this thirtieth session, there are some which are testing the capacity of the United Nations to carry out effectively the goals which the Organization has set for itself. These include economic problems, such as raw materials, the energy crisis, matters of development and monetary reform, and also certain political problems which, by giving rise to concerted stands by Member States, affect the efficient functioning of the United Nations and its organs. It would be easy to yield to the temptation of thinking that the answer night lie in a procedural reform of the Organization, but I believe that it would be better to seek the roots of these difficulties, and to think less about the methods of this Organization, since the polarization of attitudes is due largely to the lack of the proper substantive solutions.
112.	Perhaps it is in the economic field that these points of difference between different countries have been most obvious, since they have given rise to positions that conflict with the general interests.
113.	Among such positions we may note the protectionist stands that seek to improve the net foreign trade position of certain countries, as if the only way out was to export more and import less; the stand that fails to relate the energy problem with the fact the energy is a requisite for development; the stand that tries to dictate to the countries that are solely producers of raw materials, abandoned to their fate and deprived of any other financial resources than those they can themselves provide; the stand that supports a monetary system which primarily serves the needs of trade. We could give many more examples of this type of opposed stands.
114.	The interdependence that has grown up in recent decades, and the inevitable osmosis between national economies, make it necessary to seek solutions at a world level. Such solutions will not be possible if all parties are not prepared to yield something of their respective positions so as to emerge from this situation by means of genuine co-operation. The technical machinery for such implementation is not a matter for this body, but the expression of the political will that can make it possible is our concern. For if such determination is lacking and is not transmitted to the specialized bodies and conferences, it will be difficult to find solutions to our existing problems. We have reached a point at which it is not possible for everybody to benefit, because there is no basis for a general and immediate gain. We must look to future gains, which will be possible if we are all prepared to sacrifice something, the greater sacrifice being made by those who can make it most easily, for at this time there is more truth than ever in the old saying that you must know how to lose in order to win. By giving up something of our respective economic ambitions in order to rebuild a more harmonious world economy, we may be able to ensure victory for peace, a peace which may be endangered by growing economic tensions. Such tensions can only be dissipated by effective co-operation that will permit an economic readjustment based on a transfer of income that will have similar effects on a world-wide basis to those achieved in national economies.
115.	In other words, the institutional disagreements which we often deplore might be overcome if a united stand were adopted by all. Thus we would be able to eradicate one of the most important root-causes of these disagreements, and we would not feel called upon to look for procedural means as a solution, when what is required is effective and genuine international co-operation among all Members of the Organization.
116.	Pursuant to this line of reasoning, I wish to express the will of my country to take part in this effort, as we have repeatedly stated, and most recently at the seventh special session,
117.	Spain is a country still in the process of development. In certain important aspects of our efforts to obtain and ensure a steady supply of raw materials we are suffering financial deficits. Yet we have already undertaken the same commitments as the more devel-oped countries, by forgoing certain advantages or benefits in order to help countries less developed than ourselves. We believe that by so doing we have given adequate proof of our will to co-operate.
118.	Out of a spirit of true international co-operation we have begun the process of decolonizing Western Sahara in order to allow the population freely to decide its own future and to permit fruitful co-operation with the other countries of the Maghreb so as not to upset the stability of the region and thus to maintain peace there.
119.	The decolonization of the Sahara may well stand as an example of how to overcome a situation of dependency through the strict implementation of the principles and norms set forth in the Charter concerning Non-Self-Governing Territories, and the determination of the Spanish Government to act in conformity with the provisions of the Charter and the General Assembly resolutions which complement it.
120.	This is because the events that have occurred in the course of this year, and the key role played by the population, have confirmed the need to take the latter into account if the process of decolonization is to be continued. In a word, we are trying to ensure the population's protection so that they can freely exercise their right to self-determination, since it would be absurd if, by a mistaken assessment of the elements involved, we were to give paramount importance to the desires of third parties over the true interests of the indigenous population, which, in all circumstances, are protected by the universal right of dependent peoples to determine their own fate.
121.	These remarks would have been unnecessary had the decolonization of the Sahara not given rise to so much misunderstanding. Hence a slight clarification is necessary here in order to shed some light on the confusion created. Yet the facts could not be simpler.
122.	Spain settled in Western Sahara without requiring the agreement of anyone but the indigenous population, which was organized in its own autonomous, traditional institutions that were not dependent on any State sovereignty whatsoever. The independence of the population was an indisputable fact and its acceptance of the administering Power's rule confirmed the exclusive nature of the latter's presence in the Territory. Thus the establishment of Spain's authority over the Sahara created solely and exclusively a relationship between Spain and the said population. Hence in the exercise of that authority Spain was not called upon to solve any problems with foreign State authorities, and no so-called rights of third parties over the Territory disturbed the normal development of those relations. Consequently, when the time for decolonization came, we felt that nothing should stand between the administering Power and the population.
123.	The fact that Spain, as a Member of the United Nations, has complied with the procedures set forth in the Charter regarding Non-Self-Governing Territories and with the relevant resolutions on Western Sahara, does not alter this context. I do not overlook the fact that, within this context, some countries have been termed "interested parties". This term has been applied exclusively in relation to the holding of the referendum in order to ensure the fulfilment of the principle of self-determination, but it can in no way affect the relationship between the administering Power and the population. On the contrary, out of a desire to uphold the principle of self-determination, it serves as a further guarantee rather than as an obstacle.
124.	Now, the efforts of certain "interested parties", which at first appeared directed towards giving impetus to decolonization through self-determination, as we might have concluded from the communiques of the tripartite conferences of the Maghreb countries, finally became a series of claims. This change in position became most obvious when on 20 August 1974 the Spanish Government informed the Secretary-General of its decision to apply self-determination to the Territory by holding a referendum in the first six months of 1975. That was promptly followed by Morocco's attempts to invalidate that decision, or at least to delay its fulfillment. That was the purpose of submitting the question of the decolonization of Western Sahara to the International Court of Justice for adjudication, as though this were a dispute among States, whereas all that was at stake was the ending of the Territory's dependent status. When that attempt failed, Morocco proposed that the Assembly should request that the International Court of Justice to hand down an advisory opinion and postpone the referendum, and that proposal was adopted as resolution 3292 (XXIX).
125.	Although this placed further responsibilities upon the administering Power, Spain did not hesitate to put before the International Court of Justice the documentation it had available, and made the situation in that Territory, in all its historical vicissitudes, perfectly clear to the Court. Actually the requested advisory opinion was unnecessary, because the formula for decolonization through self-determination had already been set forth in all the relevant resolutions of this General Assembly, including that resolution in which the advisory opinion was requested. Therefore, the Court could not ignore such a fundamental factor. Nevertheless, if that consultation of the International Court of Justice had been intended only to postpone self-determination, the matter would not warrant any comments from me, because at least the Assembly would have further elements on which to base its judgment, since it would then have the advisory opinion from the supreme legal body of the United Nations.
126.	But succeeding events did not go smoothly. While on the one hand self-determination had been postponed pending the advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice, on the other hand peace in the Sahara was being upset by repeated acts of violence and harassment tolerated from abroad, and thus an insecurity was created that was incompatible with the obligation incumbent on each and every Member of the United Nations to maintain peace, in particular on the neighboring States calling themselves "interested parties".
127.	But it was precisely because of the risks flowing from outside actions and the additional responsibilities that were then heaped on the administering Power that the Spanish Government was forced to make a statement and to inform the Secretary-General of its contents on 23 May last. In an effort to avoid creating a power vacuum, and in order not to jeopardize the decolonization process, Spain pointed out that, if the situation continued to deteriorate, it reserved its right to take whatever measures might be required in this Organization and, if necessary, to terminate its presence in the Territory. At the same time, it urged the neighboring countries to assume their responsibilities for the maintenance of peace in order to allow an orderly process of decolonization to take place. Accordingly, we invited them to a conference which, if not convened by the administering Power, could be held under the auspices of the United Nations and thus be a positive step towards a regional agreement aimed at facilitating decolonization.
128.	The Spanish Government, by agreeing to let the referendum take place under the auspices of the Organization as originally planned, and by trying to hold, under the same auspices, a quadripartite meeting to maintain peace in the Sahara and to facilitate the decolonization process through dialog among the interested parties, has given repeated proof of its willingness to co-operate actively with the United Nations in the fulfillment of one of its noblest tasks, the emancipation of the Non-Self-Governing Territories. Further proof of that good will lies in the support and assistance given the International Court of Justice by us in the fulfillment of the requests of the General Assembly and the facilities given the United Nations Visiting Mission to carry out its own tasks in the Territory.
129.	These are clear proofs of the nature of our conduct, which is intended only to give back to the Saharan people the trust that they had placed in Spain. Regardless of the results of this referendum of self- determination, the Saharan people themselves, and only they, can decide on that matter, because the idea of subjecting them to an imposed solution would, if carried out, create a very dangerous uncertainty for the entire future of decolonization.
130.	Be that as it may, on behalf of the Spanish Government I must declare that my country will continue to shoulder its responsibilities as the administering Power until the process of decolonization is concluded, so long as other States, and particularly the neighboring States, respect the peaceful evolution of that process and do not allow the premises on which the process rests to be upset, because they have been set up in accordance with the provisions of the Charter and the relevant resolutions of the General Assembly. If any alteration in the situation takes place that might threaten peace and increase our responsibilities, the Spanish Government reserves its right to draw the attention of the Security Council to the necessary measures that should be adopted to maintain peace and also to undertake whatever necessary action might be called for to finalize the process of decolonization. This reservation is intended only to confront neighboring or interested States With their responsibility and to re-establish the principle of equality in the fulfillment of those obligations which the Charter has made incumbent upon all.
131.	To this end the positions adopted by the countries neighbors of Western Sahara regarding the decolonization of the Territory positions which at times coincide and at other times contradict one another far from being incompatible with respect for the rights of the people of Western Sahara, should be harmonized so that they can lead to the achievement of a positive agreement, in order that decolonization can be carried out in such a way that the prosperity of the region will be strengthened and peace and security assured. In drawing inspiration from this objective, Spain advocates consultations and a search for understanding with the neighboring countries.
132.	But decolonization of the Sahara is being unduly delayed. I should like to take the liberty of reminding the Assembly that the Government of Spain communicated to the Secretary-General its desire to hold a referendum for self-determination as urged by the resolutions of the General Assembly during the first six months of this year. The incidents to which I have referred have made it impossible for the administering Power to complete the decolonization of the Territory as planned. My Government considers it to be imperative not only for the truth and respect of this Organization for the principles of the Charter, but for the peace and security of the entire region that this process of decolonization be allowed to be concluded as soon as possible. We trust that the General Assembly at this session will adopt a resolution setting a time-limit as soon as possible.
133.	Gibraltar has not as yet been decolonized, despite the last resolution adopted by the General Assembly at its last session [resolution 3286 (XXIX)], which once again urged the United Kingdom and Spain to conclude their pending negotiations. The negotiations have not progressed, however, in such a way as to allow us to report any satisfactory results to the Organization.
134.	The position of the United Kingdom not to go ahead with the pending negotiations rests on the argument that the preamble of the law approved by Parliament granting a Constitution to Gibraltar makes it impossible for it to negotiate on the return of the Rock of Gibraltar until the acquiescence of the inhabitants has been obtained. But the United Kingdom seems to have overlooked the fact that the resolutions are not addressed to the United Kingdom Government or to any of the other organs comprising the British State, but are addressed by the United Nations to the United Kingdom as an international subject, considered as a whole, having international relations and being a Member of this Organization. The attitude adopted by Englishmen in positions of responsibility implies that they are disregarding the fact that the internal structure of the State must not prevent compliance with its international obligations, because the way in which the United Kingdom determines its actions is irrelevant to third parties.
135.	But to accept this argument, which is the only reason that is adduced to block the negotiations, would mean that the inhabitants of Gibraltar are to be allowed to play a role beyond that agreed upon by the parties at the time of the cession.
136.	But Her Majesty's Government acquired ownership of Gibraltar under article X of the Treaty of Utrecht, the only instrument upon which it can base its presence on that segment of Spanish territory. The international development of the fortress carried out by the occupying Power to serve its military and commercial requirements, allowing the establishment of an artificial population, has not altered the relationship between the giver and the receiver, particularly if we take into account the fact that sovereignty was transmitted under specific limitations regarding communications, the origin of the residents, the import of goods and the presence of certain vessels in the harbor.
137.	Furthermore, the main limitation agreed to concerning the powers transferred to the United Kingdom was the condition accepted by the British Crown that Spain would always enjoy preferential rights in the case that the British Sovereign decided to give away, sell or in any way change the ownership of the Rock. In other words, the United Kingdom has no right to give up Gibraltar or to transfer its sovereign powers without giving Spain the opportunity to exercise its option.
138.	If we were to accept the role that the inhabitants of the Rock are being given, the Treaty would be breached, since the population is being granted powers of decision which restrict the freedom of action on the part of the British and presupposes a transfer of sovereignty. Therefore, either the law approving the Constitution of Gibraltar is irrelevant, since it is in violation of a previous international treaty or, if not, it reflects the true will of the United Kingdom that it has decided to transfer its sovereignty over Gibraltar. In the latter case my Government should be given its preferential right to recover the territory, as was recognized in the Treaty of Utrecht.
139.	This shows what the end result would be if an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament were allowed to prevail, a law governing the sovereign powers of Her Majesty's Government adopted without consulting the inhabitants of Gibraltar, and one which can therefore be abrogated in the same way, without the inhabitants having the slightest right to raise legal obstacles. The granting of a charter of this nature cannot be claimed to be an exception, and if this happens, the Spanish Government will take it that it is being faced with an evasive action the sole purpose of which is to avoid considering the substance of the matter.
140.	However, I must recall that these substantive legal considerations do not stop my Government, as they did not stop the General Assembly, from bearing clearly in mind the fact that the process of decolonization of Gibraltar contains two very distinct elements: the territorial integrity of Spain, which must be safe-guarded, and thus the spirit and letter of the Treaty of Utrecht would be respected, and the interests of a population which, even though alien to the territorial problem, must nevertheless be protected. The Spanish Government has always understood this to be the case and has at all times been ready, and is ready, to offer the most generous conditions.
141.	From this standpoint, a number of conversations have been held between officials of the two Governments, and in the past few days I myself had a talk with the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Her Majesty's Government. I should very much wish to be able to inform this Assembly next year of the development of negotiations that will fulfill the provisions of resolution 3286 (XXIX) and of other concordant resolutions and contribute to the solution of a problem which is extremely grave and distressing, even though very old. But I do sincerely believe that the example that the two Governments can give by solving this dispute through mutual agreement would be a true contribution to the spirit of peace which should govern our work,
142.	As I indicated at the beginning of my statement, one of the major events of 1975 was the holding in Helsinki of the final phase of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, a matter to which my Government attaches the greatest importance and which opens the door to confidence and trust, if conduct is in keeping with promises, and will allow a closer and more peaceful interrelationship among the States of Europe as well as deeper and wider contacts across our continent, thus giving a dynamic meaning to detente.
143.	Security in Europe, based on a military balance, was given a new impetus in Helsinki aimed at consolidating it in accordance with the 10 principles approved, respect for which implies recognition of the existing situation. We have tried to normalize relations among the participating States and thus allow an increasing co-operation as a result of that recognition.
144.	Furthermore, the Conference also concerned itself with negotiations on the limitation of strategic weapons on a world-wide scale and those relating mutual and balanced reduction of forces in Europe, in order that political detente might be complemented by military detente aimed at putting a stop to the arms race and laying the bases of a possible progressive disarmament. If these efforts prove successful we might achieve one of the greatest objectives of our Organization.
145.	The Conference dealt almost exclusively with the political balance because there was a military balance already and that balance was present throughout its work, based on the prevailing pluralism. However, certain groups and tendencies, counting on a blind eye being turned, have tried to condition the future of other countries through ideological offensives that are nothing more than interference in the domestic affairs of those States. It would be vain to try to disguise that danger since the polemics to which these offensives give rise make it more obvious every day.
146.	I think that this extreme position warrants some comment because the so-called decalog of Helsinki has been called the continuation of the Principles of the Charter of the United Nations and respect for the fundamental rights of States contained in that Charter. But we cannot adduce some principles while overlooking others or apply them out of context; nor can we expect a national interpretation of an international rule to serve as a criterion for some to impose their own views on others, thus violating the very structure of the international society composed as it is of equally sovereign, independent States. Along this correct line of conduct I can from this rostrum state the active willingness of the Spanish Government to put into practice all that the Final Act of the Conference embodies and contains.
147.	But, as of this moment, we must watch carefully to see how the rules of the Conference are going to be applied by the participants. We will have to assess how the parties are complying with the contents of the Final Act and thus avoiding tensions which are no less dangerous to the maintenance of peace simply because they are of ideological origin. I believe that this clarification is of major importance because, on the pretext of so-called political doctrine, in the course of history not a few interventions in some States have been perpetrated by others. And now under its umbrella certain interventions are being planned, designed to impose a policy of preponderance by one State over another, that the circumstances of our period cannot accept. The principle of noninterference set forth in the Decalogue of Helsinki, which is the expression of one of the fundamental aspects of the independence enjoyed by all sovereign States, must serve as a block to such efforts.
148.	This forum, whose principal duty is to maintain peace, is undoubtedly the most appropriate place to draw attention to this new type of threat to understanding and concord among nations which must primarily be based on mutual respect for their national entity and the political solutions that each has decided upon to safeguard it. Only a mutual tolerance and universal pluralism can lead to true peace and security for all.
149.	To return to detente and in so far as it means peaceful coexistence, since it implies a more advanced stage of possibilities of understanding and dialog among the different systems, we must stress the present international situation and its positive and promising aspects. But it would be erroneous to overlook the fact that detente understood as the expression of balance among different systems has been unable to avoid and at times has even permitted local conflicts. Nor at the price of detente can we give tacit or explicit agreement to a distribution of zones of influence that would take into account only the security needs of the main protagonists at the expense of the vital interests of the smaller States. That is why the Final Act of the Conference sets forth the major requirement of respect for the security of all participating States.
150.	With reference to the same geographical area, we must stress the way in which the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, in the course of its negotiations and in its Final Act, stressed the fact that there can be no security in Europe without security in the Mediterranean and that the process of improvement of security cannot be limited to Europe but must be extended to other parts of the world and in particular to the Mediterranean region.
151.	To include in the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe views and talks on the Mediterranean is no whim nor does it imply a concession. The Mediterranean region is deeply embedded in the life, history, culture and events of Europe, and it is in that sea where very often the very fate of the most important European matters have been decided.
152.	The security of the Mediterranean therefore meets the same motivations as those of Europe and is based upon the same premises. But because of the conditions of the region and the heterogeneity of the political situation that exists there it may be more difficult, particularly in regard to a common interest such as that of the maintenance of peace. And so it is important that it be discussed at the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe because the neighboring States which are not European are equally concerned with the sea being safeguarded from any possibility of confrontation and conflict.
153.	The interests of all the coastal States require foreign Powers to stay away from the region and not air their own problems within the Mediterranean, thus maintaining the security necessary to preserve peace in the region. This is a great task because this means of communication through which the East and West meet has in the past been most vulnerable to confrontations. To counteract that constant danger is the work of all the parties concerned, since their mutual and general understanding would contribute in no small measure to preventing localized conflicts from taking place in the Mediterranean and thus disturbing the peaceful daily life of all the coastal States.
154.	Spain has therefore advocated the maintenance and widening of the contacts and dialogs started at Helsinki and in Geneva in order to contribute to peace, to reduce the armed forces in the region, to strengthen security, to ease tensions and to widen the scope of co-operation. To achieve that goal, we welcome the initiatives of the Mediterranean States and are ready to co-operate actively in the achievement of these purposes. This would mean that we should consider, among other possibilities, the holding of a conference on security and co-operation in the Mediterranean.
155.	The United Nations can make a considerable contribution along these lines and should therefore encourage any peaceful activity conducive to the creation of a feeling of solidarity among the coastal States. The Intergovernmental Conference for the Preservation of the Environment in the Mediterranean moved along these lines when it was held in Barcelona this year, and served to prepare for the diplomatic conference which will also be held in the near future under the auspices of the relevant United Nations Program. But to its technical aspects there is added a no less significant political aspect because the will to work together presupposes the conviction we will act in common in order to evade the new dangers brought by the development of technology. That will create an attitude of solidarity which, in itself, constitutes a stabilizing factor that will effectively assist in maintaining peace in the region.
156.	Year after year, the representatives of Spain have reaffirmed from this rostrum the long-standing and constant friendship between our country and the Arab nations, the result of the historical coincidence of our civilizations and of the continued existence of a dialog born of a true spirit of co-operation far removed from selfish interests.
157.	That affinity led Spain to advocate at all times anything that might contribute to a peaceful, just and lasting solution to the situation in the Middle East which, bearing in mind the legitimate interests and rights of the Palestinian peoples and of the countries of the region, will keep away from it any threats of tension and conflict and thus ensure peace.
158.	Nor can we overlook the fact that in the decolonization of the Western Sahara the future of a people who are part of the Arab nation is at stake; they are linked to it by ties of blood, religion and culture. Respect and support by sister nations of the right of the Saharans to determine their own future, will attest to that true solidarity of the Arab nation in which Western Sahara will achieve its vocation and take its proper place.
159.	Thus, in this statement I arrive at the world of Latin America to which we are tied by bonds of such a special nature flowing from a common origin, tradition and culture which have always led to privileged treatment among ourselves, and on which our foreign policy is predicated.
160.	We are convinced that this common heritage, of high and positive value, offers wide scope for joint action in all aspects of international law and international life, whose increasing interdependence, today more than ever, calls for the concerting of individual and collective efforts. The countries of Latin America have understood matters thus and have set in motion a number of regional efforts that Spain is observing very carefully, ready as it always is to co-operate with these peoples in the problems of development.
161.	Consistent with this, the Spanish Government has maintained an open and active policy of cooperation on an economic level with Latin America, both bilaterally and multi nationally, a co-operation that involves the supply of human, technical and financial resources. The Latin American peoples can be assured that in Spain they will always find a neighbor and companion in the noble and difficult task of development to which they are now devoted.
162.	The strict application by my country of the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of States and our conviction that ideological plurality must not be an insurmountable obstacle to the peaceful coexistence of peoples make co-operation all the more effective and easier.
163.	Therefore, Spain, as a European nation, also adds its own unwavering commitment to the Latin American continent as we stressed at Helsinki when we reminded our sister republics on the other side of the Atlantic and, recalling their existence, stated to them that we would always bear them in mind when the time comes to extend the benefits that European co-operation and security may bring.
164.	In the last 30 years the United Nations has done great work in the maintenance of peace. There have been many flaws; there have been many difficulties through which the Organization has had to pass, but the best guarantee that we have overcome these is its continued existence and its remarkable capacity to undertake new tasks and to adapt itself to an ever-changing world. Many of the hopes expressed in the Charter, such as freedom, security and the satisfaction of the material and spiritual needs of individuals and of peoples, are as yet still to be achieved.
165.	Fortunately, the principles and basic concepts contained in the Charter are also gaining ground daily in the minds of peoples and of their leaders. As the Secretary-General, in the introduction to his report on the work of the Organization [Al 100011Add J], pointed out, although there is still some old and lasting mistrust and concern, we do possess the encouraging hope that the United Nations will be able to take the decisive step towards the achievement of true cooperation among its Members which will allow it, with equity and justice, to solve the many problems con-fronting it. In a world in which to the dangerous accumulation of warlike instruments is now added the threat of economic chaos, solidarity is necessary in order, in due course, to solve the problems raised by the fulfillment of the legitimate aspirations of all peoples to international social justice.
166.	Spain has a universalism calling which is embedded in its history as well as in the thinking of its men, and it is ready to continue to co-operate in this great international undertaking and, through this Organization, we hope to advance along the road to co-operation and peace.


130.	 Mr. President, allow me first of all to address to you the warmest congratulations of my delegation on the responsible mission the General Assembly has unanimously entrusted to you by electing you to the presidency of its thirtieth session. This choice is a proof of the esteem which the States Members of our Organization have for you. It is also the expression of a tribute they have sought through you to pay to the dynamic and constructive policies of your country in favor of international co-operation. At the same time, for us it constitutes the guarantee that our deliberations will take place in the best possible conditions of effectiveness because of your talent and your competence, and in particular because of the political open-mindedness that has always characterized your actions.
131.	My congratulations also go to your predecessor, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika. to whom it is a great pleasure for me to pay a tribute for the actions he undertook in order to ensure the success of our work during the last regular and special sessions.
132.	I hope the Secretary-General will be kind enough to accept our great appreciation of and our gratitude for the tireless action he has undertaken to ensure the triumph of the principles of the United Nations in order to promote lasting peace throughout the world.
133.	We extend a warm welcome to the new Members, whose admission to our Organization is the result of the long struggle they have courageously and heroically waged against colonialism. It is a matter of great satisfaction for us to welcome the delegations of the People's Republic of Mozambique, the Republic of Cape Verde and the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe. My country intends to develop with those fraternal States the most extensive co-operation and the closest relations possible.
134.	In the past year progress has been achieved in the establishment of a new era of peace in the world. 1 would refer first and foremost to the restoration of peace in South-Bast Asia, thanks to which the peoples of Viet Nam and Cambodia will finally be able to devote themselves to achieving the exalting work of national reconstruction. My country, which is fully aware of the long suffering which has been endured by these peoples, will continue to give them all necessary support in their development and reconstruction efforts.
135.	The African continent has also scored new successes on the path to liberation through the accession of new countries to independence and national sovereignty.
136.	The Conference cm Security and Co-operation in Europe, held at Helsinki last July, represents a step towards the strengthening of peace throughout the world. Its effects, however, will not make themselves fully felt in international relations unless the States signing the Final Act resolve to apply the principles adopted, not only in their mutual relations, but also in the relations which they entertain with the rest of the world.
137.	In the Middle East, praiseworthy efforts have been made to restore peace. But we must confess that peace is still a long way off because the real problems have not been tackled, particularly the question of recognizing the inalienable rights, of the Palestinian people.
138.	The situation is equally disquieting in Africa and, although colonialism has given ground, foreign domination persists over vast areas of territory, and racism remains one of the fundamental principles of the governments of certain States.
139.	In the field of economic and social development, we believe that the efforts made by the international community to establish a new economic order, and the results obtained, particularly during the seventh special session of the General Assembly, constitute an important step towards the establishment of this new international economic order.
140.	The seventh special session of the General Assembly has just concluded its work in an atmosphere of mutual understanding which, we venture to hope, will be a red-letter day in the history of relations among peoples. As a result, the sterility of a series of monologues has given way to the fruitful exchange of a genuinely constructive dialog.
141.	Thus, new prospects are now opening up before mankind of banishing confrontations from the international scene and devoting ourselves to broader cooperation in all fields of economic and social activity. This is the only way to achieve progressive elimination of the injustices and the inequalities which have hitherto hampered the advent of an equitable economic order that would guarantee peoples throughout the world an era of progress, peace and prosperity.
142.	This special session has thus made it possible to presage the advent of a new international economic order by means of the collective definition of specific steps all aimed at bringing about an economic institutional restructuring of international life, in order to ensure stable and equitable incomes for the developing countries, to safeguard and improve the terms of trade, to stimulate the transfer of science and technology, to stem inflation, and to inject a new morality into the international monetary system.
143.	Consequently, it is important that the dynamic process born of the spirit of the seventh special session, as well as the political will and desire for co-operation and understanding which was characteristic of its work, should be channeled towards serving the interests and the welfare of our peoples, by means of our continuing and persistent efforts.
144.	Definition of this new co-operation and strategy, it must be noted, was possible only because of the new spirit of mutual understanding and of compromise which allowed us to arrive at a broad consensus. We hardly need to stress that it cannot be implemented without other meetings to discuss formulas which will make it possible to reconcile differing viewpoints and which will help to concert interests that can hardly be regarded as conflicting.
145.	Morocco, while affirming its total adherence to the principles contained in the Charter of Economic Rights and Duties of States, hopes, in the spirit of constructive dialog which now prevails among the members of the international community, that the misgivings expressed by certain developed countries in connexion with that Charter will be dispelled, so that the principles contained therein can be implemented in the interests of all parties.
146.	The situation in the Middle East is still fraught with increasingly serious threats to world peace, despite the progress which has been recently accomplished. Israel continues to occupy vast territories belonging to three States Members of our Organization, despite the unanimous condemnation of the international community which was reflected in the numerous resolutions adopted by both regional organizations and international bodies, and in particular by the United Nations. In spite of universal disapproval, Israel continues its murderous raids against Arab countries and does not balk at using the most destructive type of weapons even against civilian populations,
147.	While our Organization has been equal to its responsibilities in condemning such criminal acts, we see with indignation that the resolutions adopted in this connexion have remained ineffectual, and have merely been added to the many previous resolutions that have been passed since 1948.
148.	The occupation of the holy city of Jerusalem, the east bank of the Jordan, the Golan Heights, and the major part of the Sinai peninsula constitutes a telling illustration of Israel's policies of annexation and expansionism.
149.	Morocco supports all the efforts which are being made to achieve a global, just and lasting solution to the Middle East problem. We would reiterate that such a solution cannot consist only of the total evacuation of the occupied territories and the holy city of Jerusalem, but necessarily implies the unequivocal recognition of the national rights of the Palestinian people.
150.	Recent initiatives in the Middle East undoubtedly introduce a new element into the efforts made to bring about the evacuation of occupied Arab territories. But we are disturbed to see that, despite long and arduous negotiations, and despite the good faith and positive attitude of the victim of the aggression, Israel continues to occupy approximately 90 per cent of the Sinai,
151.	And if such a limited result has required eight years of difficult and lengthy negotiations from the mission of Mr. Jarring, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, right up to the numerous trips made by Mr. Kissinger, the Secretary of State of the United States, this would seem to indicate that the Middle East will continue under the threat of an explosive situation, endangering international peace and security in a way involving incalculable political, economic, and human consequences.
152.	We must, therefore, remain vigilant. This is the price of peace. It is our duty to give full effect to the resolutions adopted by our Organization.
153.	Morocco and the international community cannot be indifferent to the tragedy of the Palestinian people, who, for approximately 30 years now, have been victims of international Zionism and who live scattered throughout the world. Israel stops at nothing in its attempts to destroy that people both physically and politically. But the determination of our Palestinian brothers to recover their national rights, the heroism and the abnegation they have displayed, have led to a world-wide awareness of the realities of the Palestine situation.
154.	Resolution 3237 (XXIX) in which the General Assembly called upon the Palestine Liberation Organization [PLO] to participate in all its work and at all international conferences held under its aegis, and General Assembly resolution 3236 (XXIX) reaffirming the inalienable right of the Palestinian people in Palestine, including their right to independence and sovereignty, are both of profound political significance. They have made it possible for the Palestinian question to be transferred from the realm of charitable or humanitarian considerations to the realm to which it really belongs, that of an acute political problem which threatens international peace and security and requires of us an urgent solution.
155.	Morocco, faithful to the resolution of the seventh Conference of Arab Heads of State or Government, held at Rabat in October 1974, would here solemnly restate its view that there can be no global and final solution to the question of the Middle East unless an independent Palestinian national authority is set up under the aegis of the PLO.
156.	The tragedy which has been visited upon our brothers in Lebanon is only a consequence of the pernicious and diabolical Israeli designs to disrupt the unity of the Lebanese nation and to sow hatred and discord among the citizens of the same country. That is why Israel is seeking to destroy the structures of the Lebanese State, since it symbolizes understanding and harmonious and peaceful coexistence among communities professing different creeds. In so doing, the Zionist State is attempting to give the impression that even the concept of coexistence in Palestine would lack realism and objectivity. Thus, the covert action and treacherous maneuvers which
ave been instigated by Israel tn Lebanon are quite definitely further proof of the unsavory role played y Israel in the Middle East.
157.	The Israeli-Arab conflict, unfortunately, is not the only source of tension in the Mediterranean. The situation in Cyprus continues to divide two communities which common sense and mutual interests would prompt to a peaceful and harmonious coexistence. Morocco expresses the hope that the inter- communal talks, initiated under the auspices of the Secretary-General, may continue until a just and final solution to this painful conflict can be found.
158.	Acting on the premise that security in Europe and the restoration of peace in the Mediterranean are indivisible, the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe sought, to a certain point, to take due account of the concerns expressed by the non- participating Mediterranean countries.
159.	We regret, however, that the Conference did not include the coastal Mediterranean countries, which, quite obviously, are vitally concerned by most of the problems which it discussed.
160.	Nevertheless, we took note of the fact that the participant Stales proclaimed their intention to maintain and to broaden the dialog which has been started with the other coastal countries in order to contribute to peace, to the reduction of armed forces in the area, and to the broadening of co-operation. Thus, the Conference recognized that the cultural and economic ties and the imperative need for security on both sides of the Mediterranean legitimized the interest of Morocco and other coastal countries in security and the development of good relations throughout the region.
161.	The changes occurring in Portugal have brought about a noteworthy acceleration of the process of decolonization in Africa. But it is intolerable that other Territories are still subject to colonialism or still endure the odious system of racism and apartheid. The continuation of this situation involves the grave risks of tension and conflict in our continent and constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security.
162.	The Kingdom of Morocco is resolved to pursue its action in order to bring about the total liberation of Africa and to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination from that continent. I should like here to express our regret that a number of countries continue to co-operate with racist regimes, thus helping to consolidate their economies and their capacity to repress indigenous populations.
163.	In referring to the problems of our continent, I should like to express the deep distress which we experience in learning each day of the events which afflict Angola at a time when it is on the eve of its accession to independence. My country urgently appeals to the national movements, each one of which is aware of the patriotic spirit and sacrifices made during their liberation struggle, to put an end to their internecine quarrels.
164.	The time has come for all to tum this gloomy page of history marked by fratricidal struggle and to turn boldly towards the future and fully shoulder the new responsibilities incumbent upon them in order to build a stable State with a prosperous economy for the benefit of their peoples. The Kingdom of Morocco is fully prepared to make its contribution to the effort of national reconstruction which will have to be immediately undertaken in Angola.
165.	I referred just now to Territories still under colonial domination. The Western Sahara is precisely a part of those Territories,
166.	Since its partial decolonization in 1956, the Kingdom of Morocco has constantly worked beside all the liberation movements which are struggling against colonialism and has been actively involved in the work of the liberation committee of the Organization of African Unity [OAU\.
167.	May 1 recall that the OAU has had fresh life breathed into it since the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU held at Rabat from 12 to 15 June 1972; furthermore, it has now become commonplace to speak of the "spirit of Rabat".
168.	Faithful as it is to the same policy. Morocco is supporting the efforts of the third-world countries to strengthen their sovereignty and to defend their integrity against any attempts at disintegration or divisiveness.
169.	This policy must be seen as part and parcel of the principles and declarations of our Organization. The principles, of national unity and territorial integrity are an integral part of the binding law which is the very foundation of the actions of the United Nations and the agencies affiliated with it. This, in particular, makes it possible for us to thwart all maneuvers aimed at perpetuating direct or indirect domination on the part of the colonial Powers.
170.	The peoples of Zaire, Nigeria and Indonesia were able to triumph precisely over these maneuvers by seeking, through struggle and great sacrifice, to ensure their right to national unity and territorial integrity. In so doing they received the effective support of both the OAU and our Organization.
171.	In these circumstances, Morocco can justifiably request the support of the international community to help it achieve its own territorial integrity in the context of the application of these self-same principles.
172.	In this connexion, we are indeed grateful to those States which unequivocally supported the just claims of Morocco in connexion with its Territories in the north still under Spanish domination: the towns of Ceuta and Melilla, the Jaafarines Islands and the Rocks of Velez and Alhoceima.
173.	We would express our thanks to the Islamic Conference, the OAU and the Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non-Aligned Countries held at Lima from 25 to 30 August 1975, which, in the course of this year, have given their unanimous and complete support to the just claims of my country.
174.	The Political Declaration of Lima, which defined the strategy to strengthen international peace and security and to intensify solidarity and mutual assistance among non-aligned countries, states:
"Furthermore, considering the repressive acts committed by the Spanish authorities in the towns of Ceuta and Melilla, on the Jaafarines Islands and on the Rocks of Alhoceima and Velez under the Moroccan jurisdiction, the non-aligned countries express their full support for the claims of the Kingdom of Morocco to recover its territorial integrity over its towns, islands and enclaves and request Spain to enter into direct negotiations with Morocco to arrange for their immediate restitution." All0217 and Corr.l, annex, para. 43.]
175.	The Government of His Majesty the King of Morocco reaffirms its rights of sovereignty over those Territories and, strengthened by the support of the overwhelming majority of the States Members of our Organization, declares itself prepared immediately to undertake negotiations with the Spanish Government. Spain cannot reject this dialog, because it is precisely the same process which it is advocating to settle the question of Gibraltar.
176.	For 10 years now the General Assembly has had before it the question of the decolonization of Western Sahara. Morocco, while supporting the initiatives taken by our Organization to bring about true decolonization, has constantly maintained that Western Sahara is a fundamental part of the Moroccan nation. For its part, the administering Power has remained heedless of all the resolutions which have been passed previously and has obstinately aimed at a thorough distortion of the necessary conditions for their implementation. All the delays that have occurred in the process of decolonization are therefore ascribable to Spain.
177.	In fact, far from promoting the liberation of the colonized peoples, Spain has endeavored to condition them by resorting particularly to the classic procedure of so-called representative assemblies. At the same time it has stepped up its military and economic control It has endeavored to turn the referendum into a tool which it can fashion according to its whim and which it can use when and how it chooses in order to elicit a predetermined response. Of course, this so-called process of decolonization, which has furthermore been constantly deferred, has involved no negotiations with Morocco or Mauritania, parties directly concerned, and the United Nations itself has not been able to intervene, unless it be to give its blessing to decisions taken by the administering Power. It is this situation which the Moroccan and Mauritanian Governments, with the support of other Governments, forcefully denounced during the last session of the General Assembly.
178.	In view of the specific character of Western Sahara, the General Assembly was induced during its last session to seek an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on certain legal aspects of the problem [resolution 3292 (XXIX)]. It will be up to our Assembly, in the light of the advisory opinion that will be handed down, to advocate specific political measures, while at the same time, however, respecting the fundamental right to territorial integrity of both Morocco and Mauritania.
179.	His Majesty the King of Morocco was moved, furthermore, just before the twenty-ninth session of the General Assembly, to recall vividly how Morocco unanimously views the problem of the decolonization of Western Sahara. Spanish colonization did not involve an empty space which the colonizer settled or organized in any way. That colonization subjugated peoples who already had a political and social organization of a type which undoubtedly was appropriate to the region and the era in question and whose existence could in no wise be challenged. In other words, Western Sahara was never a terra nullius. Furthermore, the entire political and social organization which antedated the Spanish colonization showed that it was Moroccan soil that the colonizer had usurped. In point of fact, the geographical, ethnic and cultural unity of the liberated part of Morocco and that part of it still under Spanish domination is crystal clear. The same Teknas tribes live in both parts and have always been subject to Moroccan political and administrative organization. That organization itself acquired distinctive features by being exercised over widely scattered populations, who lived a nomadic life over vast expanses of desert.
180.	Morocco is convinced that it has given the International Court of Justice clear evidence of the numerous ties which unite it with Western Sahara, despite the very difficult technical circumstances which it had to cope with. There can be no doubt that one of the effects of colonization is the confiscation of history. The negligent or willful destruction of documents, their absorption into the archives of the administering Power, which, when it has to, produces only those which are favorable to it, undoubtedly do not help to serve the cause of those States which have been frustrated and are demanding compensation for that frustration.
181.	Morocco, however, co-operated fully with the International Court of Justice in the performance ot its mission. On the other hand, it was with some regret that we viewed the negative attitude of the administering Power, which endeavored to convince the Court not to give the General Assembly the assistance it had requested of it. It would be tedious to recall here how, by turns, the Spanish Government first sought to persuade the Court that the Assembly had submitted to it for its opinion a Spanish-Moroccan dispute, in other words a territorial dispute, and then argued that what was before the Court was purely academic and without interest, These technical legal points need not have been recalled here if, behind them, we- did not glimpse the constant desire of using all means to reduce the process of decolonization to a sort of authoritarian monologue in which the administering Power itself asks the questions and gives the answers, seeks for no negotiation and brooks no discussion.
182.	It is in the same spirit that, at the time when the case was being reviewed by the Court, the Spanish Government threatened to shed forthwith its responsibilities in Western Sahara, taking as a pretext a deterioration of the situation in the Territory. In this connexion it outlined certain prospects which quite clearly boiled down to a direct and arbitrary institution of a political authority in Western Sahara, a classic and convenient procedure whereby it could appear to give the Impression of withdrawing while still remaining present through intermediaries.
183.	It is in the same way that Spain has systematically refused for many years to receive the Visiting Mission that the General Assembly decided should be sent to Western Sahara, It was only this year that that Mission was finally able to discharge its functions and to visit the Territory. Thus, the Assembly is now furnished with and will shortly have before it the report of the Mission [AII0023, chap. XIII, annex], whose work we cannot over-praise for its moral integrity and its fidelity.
184.	I should now particularly like to explain the state of mind in which the Moroccan Government will take up the discussion of the problem of the decolonization of Western Sahara.
185.	Needless to say, Morocco considers that this decolonization involves not only areas bordering on its own territory. We would reaffirm that it is not only a question, as in the case of any process of. decolonization, of rendering justice to the people who have been colonized themselves, but also, by the same token, of rendering justice to a nation which has been mutilated by the colonizers. The opinion of the Inter-national Court of Justice will indicate under what juridical heading we will have to place Western Sahara's ties with Morocco and Mauritania. But, over and above all categories and concepts, there is one certainty which every Moroccan, whatever be his station or his opinion, bears in his heart, and that is that there cannot be any true decolonization of the territory and population of Western Sahara as long as the rift created by the colonization persists.
186.	I hardly need to remind this Assembly to what extent the new international law, the international law characterized by the liberation of colonized peoples, is inspired by a sense of national unity, and how often, in connexion with the question of respect for territorial integrity, the United Nations has paid a tribute to national unity, Nothing would be more unfair or more injurious to understanding among nations than to carry out a process of decolonization without taking, first and foremost, due account of this desire to reunite what has been separated and to put together what has been broken into pieces.
187.	Of course, at this stage of our discussion Morocco does not intend to submit any detailed procedure to the General Assembly. There will be adequate time to do so when our work has taken on a more technical turn, particularly in the Fourth Committee. For the time being, we cannot but ask the Assembly to pay due attention to two essential facts.
188.	The first is that the process of decolonization of Western Sahara, as, furthermore, is demonstrated in the general terms of resolution 1514 (XV), is not something which can be decided by a sort of automatic machinery. We are faced here with a specific problem, in connexion with which all the necessary elements must be weighed and which cannot be fitted into a strait-jacket.
189.	The second fact is that of the hope which my country cherishes. Few peoples have paid as heavy a price under colonization as the Moroccan people. For Morocco, colonization took the most cynical forms of division and mutilation, the very negation of national identity. The continuous struggle of the Moroccan people thus made it possible, in 1956, for an end to be put to the dual French and Spanish Protectorate, for us to recover the zone of Tangier, which had been placed under an international statute, and, finally, by means of direct negotiations with Spain, to obtain the restoration of the Saharan provinces of Tarfaya in 1958 and Ifni in January 1969.
190.	It is therefore with patience, and also, at the same time, with full confidence in the work of liberation and justice pursued by the United Nations, that Morocco has awaited the completion of its territorial integrity.
191.	How great would be our disappointment were the Organization to embark on a course likely to lead to a rejection of its national unity. That is a disappointment we shall not have to suffer. The work of liberation and the work of justice are one and the same.


Mr. President, let me express, at the outset of my remarks, the pleasure and confidence that the Government of Canada derives from the fact that you have been elected to preside over this session of the General Assembly. This session marks the thirtieth anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, and its proceedings could not be entrusted lo more capable hands. We know that you will bring to the deliberations of this global Organization the judgment and wisdom which the councils of Europe have been for so long the beneficiaries.
2.	We are pleased to welcome among us the delegations from Cape Verde, Sao Tome and Principe, and Mozambique following the accession of those States to membership in the United Nations. Their presence here represents a further important step by this Organization on the road towards universality of membership,
3.	You are, Mr. President, taking office at a time when our Organization is at a decisive juncture in international affairs. Increasingly, our preoccupations are with global economic and social disparities and opportunities. These are also political questions of grave concern comparable, and indeed related in scope and importance, to those of international peace and security.
4.	Last week, at our seventh special session on these very issues, we at last made some headway towards the reduction of these disparities. We agreed on steps necessary to move towards a new international economic order. We were able to agree because the time was ripe indeed overripe to move forward in a creative way on these complex issues.
5.	We must now commit our attention and energies to sustaining this will and to implementing the decisions that we have taken to reform our world economic system to reflect our interdependence. We must recognize, too, our respective peoples' need to be brought into these efforts. We have given undertakings on their behalf, undertakings to provide those of the world's peoples who constitute a majority those who are in want their full measure of social and economic justice.
6.	I think we all appreciate the urgency of this funda-mental task; otherwise, we would not have achieved the remarkable degree of co-operation which characterized our intense and most serious efforts during the special session. It is important that we pursue our objective and we have only just begun in the same spirit of co-operation and mutual respect. This is the most effective way for our Organization to work. This is also the most effective way to ensure that our peoples retain their confidence in our Organization's ability to solve our urgent and overriding problems.
7.	We know clearly that there is a need to enhance the role and capacity of the United Nations in the economic and social fields and thus bring them into a better and more balanced relationship with the political objectives and functions of the Organization.
8.	At its seventh special session the General Assembly established an Ad Hoc Committee on the Restructuring of the Economic and Social Sectors of the United Nations System to initiate a restructuring process of this very kind. One of the main documents before it will be the report of the Group of Experts on the Structure of the United Nations System, entitled A New United Nations Structure for Global Economic Co-operation.' The experts have correctly identified the main weaknesses of the United Nations system and have made a number of recommendations and suggestions which would improve the balance between the functional, sectoral and political elements in the system.
9.	I should like to commend to the new intergovernmental committee as well the report of a group of experts convened by the member States of the Commonwealth entitled, "Towards a New International Economic Order", which has been circulated as a United Nations document.
10.	Convinced as we are that the United Nations must be made more responsive to the needs and concerns of its Members, my Government intends to play an active and constructive part in the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization so that it may carry forward its Programs in working towards a new economic order.
11.	The building of a new international economic order is but one of the many important preoccupations of the international community at the present time.
Population, food, human settlements and the law of the sea are other global problems that demand the attention of the United Nations. Of these many global problems, I should like now to speak about the law of the sea, in which Canada plays a particular role.
12.	One of the most important but least recognized functions of the United Nations is the regular and persistent efforts it makes to contribute to a stable world order through the progressive development of international law. The law of the sea is a dynamic example.
13.	We are developing new rules which reflect the growing awareness of the interdependence of nations and the need for preservation of the marine environment and the conservation of its resources. I have no hesitation in affirming the view of the Canadian Government that the viability of an increasingly interdependent world order rests on the creation of an international economic system which provides a more equitable distribution of resources and opportunities to all people. This principle must be reflected in the new law of the sea.
14.	The role of the United Nations is central to the process of developing a new body of international law which will reflect broad recognition that the oceans of the world, which cover 70 per cent of the earth's surface, are vital to man's survival. Binding legal rules must be established. The Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea has already achieved broad agreement on revolutionary new legal concepts, such as the economic zone and the common heritage of mankind, concepts which must form the basis of the constitution of the seas. The new law must lay down duties to go hand in hand with every new right recognized. It must be based on principles of equity rather than power.
15.	The task is a formidable one and may prove to be beyond the reach of the United Nations. I think not. What is clear, however, is that without the United Nations the task would be impossible and the world would be involved in a series of conflicting claims and counter-claims which could produce serious threats to peace.
16.	My Government is now preparing for the crucial fourth round of negotiations of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea beginning here in New York next March. We do so knowing that to reach final agreement all participants must act responsibly, flexibly and, above all, with a real sense of urgency.
17.	No Government is more committed than my own to achieving agreement on a viable and balanced global regime for the seas. But I would be less than candid if I did not state clearly that the Canadian Government, like many other Governments, cannot be expected to wait indefinitely for agreement. I hope our actions have demonstrated that the Canadian Government is conscious of its responsibilities to the international community. But the Canadian Government is also conscious of its responsibilities to the Canadian people. The economic and social survival of whole communities in certain coastal areas of Canada depends on the successful outcome of the Conference or, failing such success, some alternative course of action. It is because of these national and international responsibilities that my Government is now engaged, as a matter of the utmost priority, in a series of talks with countries fishing off our coasts to prepare the way for an extension of our fisheries jurisdiction based upon the consensus emerging at the Conference.
18.	I wish to reiterate the faith of the Canadian Government in the United Nations and the opportunity it offers to negotiate multilateral solutions to the complex problems of the law of the sea. A multilateral agreement would be of lasting benefit to this and future generations. Only if the multilateral approach fails and at a certain point further delay or procrastination is failure will my Government and, I assume, other Governments resort to other solutions to protect fundamental national interests. The Governments and peoples of the world are not prepared to wait much longer for the results of the Conference. We must act quickly and in concert. If we do and I am convinced we can we shall achieve what the Secretary- General has rightly called "one of the most important conventions ever devised by the international community".
19.	In 1945 the founders of the United Nations, profoundly influenced by the holocaust of war, were determined that the central task of the international Organization would be the maintenance of international peace and security. They devised so they believed a system for the settlement of disputes between nations without recourse to the use of force. Thirty years later this fundamental problem still faces the United Nations. Two crucial aspects of this problem are disarmament and peace-keeping. These aspects of the problem were the principal themes of my address to the Assembly last year, but such is their importance that I make no apology for reverting to them.
20.	Few issues before this Assembly give rise to aspirations so great or frustrations so deep as the question of disarmament. We aspire to agreements that will check the use of force, reduce tensions and free resources for productive social and economic purposes. But our hopes are frustrated by the relentless drive towards new heights of destructive power. Nuclear weapons exist in the tens of thousands and we are faced with the frightening possibility that they will spread to more countries. The advanced countries continue to spend enormous amounts of money on armaments of all kinds, and the military expenditures of some developing countries are rapidly increasing.
21.	Is it any wonder that ordinary people everywhere, with deep unease and impatience, await real progress towards disarmament?
22.	The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks have been of major importance in promoting a climate of strategic stability and political detente. But they have not halted the competition in nuclear armaments. Nor have they achieved steps of actual nuclear disarmament.
23.	The problems involved are infinitely complex, but the need for solutions is pressing. We urge the United States and the Soviet Union to conclude their present negotiations and to proceed without delay to achieving steps of nuclear disarmament. We also urge the nuclear-weapons Powers to re-examine the technical and political obstacles to an agreement to end nuclear-weapons testing.
24.	Efforts to curb the proliferation of nuclear weapons must be accompanied by efforts to ensure that the further dissemination of nuclear technology is devoted solely to peaceful purposes. The Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons reaffirmed the Treaty's vital role as the basic instrument of the non- proliferation system. It made clear that all parties, both nuclear-weapons States and non-nuclear-weapons States, must meet their obligations fully under the Treaty. This is essential if the dangers of proliferation are to be averted.
25.	The Review Conference also reaffirmed the role of the Treaty as the basis for wider co-operation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Canada will fulfill its obligations under the Treaty to facilitate, to the extent it is able, international co-operation in the exchange of nuclear technology and materials for peaceful purposes, particularly between the advanced and developing countries. The need for such co-operation has clearly been increased by the change in world energy costs.
26.	However, I would at the same time stress that we have an obligation to ensure that the co-operation we enter into does not contribute to the proliferation of nuclear weapons or to the manufacture of nuclear explosive devices for whatever purposes.
27.	Preoccupation with the dangers of nuclear weapons must not blind us to the growing threat from use of conventional force. Urgent and closer attention must now be given to the search for arms control and the reduction of forces in order to promote regional stability and mutual security. Now that the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe has been concluded, we look for substantial progress from the negotiations in Vienna on the reduction of forces in Central Europe.
28.	The basic responsibility for reducing the dangers and burdens of armaments rests primarily with the major military Powers. But we must recognize the various constraints under which they operate if we wish effective arms limitation and disarmament agreements. Advances in military technology often complicate efforts to find the technical and military basis for agreement and satisfactory means of verifying commitments. Agreements must promote or be compatible with the security interests of participating States. Disarmament negotiations are unlikely to succeed unless political conditions are conducive to progress.
29.	But that is no argument for inaction in this Assembly. It is no argument for accepting the present and totally unsatisfactory rate of progress in achieving disarmament measures. The General Assembly must continue as the forum of international concern and as a spur to action in the field of disarmament.
30.	If our anxiety about the prospects for progress in disarmament continues unrelieved, we can draw some comfort from the recent movement towards peaceful settlement in the Middle East. No one who has the interests of world security at heart can fail to be encouraged by the statesmanlike conduct of the leaders of Egypt and Israel, which produced the new interim Sinai agreement. We also recognize the dedication of the United States Secretary of State, whose tireless efforts have once again contributed towards a positive result. It is a fragile beginning, to be sure. By itself, it does little to settle the underlying issues; and these issues must be resolved if peace and security are to come to the Middle East. But we see in the agreement grounds for hope. We see the agreement as the first stage in a series of interlocking negotiations and agreements which would involve all the parties to the dispute and embrace all the fundamental issues, difficult though this will be. The end would be a just settlement which would enable the destructive passions of the past to be overcome and permit all peoples in the area to live as neighbors in peace and security.
31.	For all those concerned about United Nations peace-keeping there is another reason for drawing satisfaction from the Sinai agreement. Peace-keeping is one of the few useful instruments that the international community has developed to help promote peaceful solutions to disputes. It is designed to assist the parties to a dispute to draw back from conflict when they recognize that this is in their best interests and to help create circumstances in which their differences can be settled by negotiation.
32.	But all too often peace-keeping reduces the incentives of the disputants to move beyond the mere cessation of hostilities to a serious search for a political settlement. Consequently skeptics charge that United Nations peace-keeping does little more than perpetuate an uneasy status quo.
33.	If peace-keeping is to be truly effective it must be accompanied by a parallel effort on the political level, especially by the parties most directly concerned, to convert the temporary peace that a peacekeeping force is asked to maintain, into something more durable.
34.	Since the initial cease-fire agreement in the fall of 1973, the United Nations Emergency Force [UNEF] has fulfilled its task of providing a buffer between the disputants and of helping to produce a period of relative calm in which negotiations could be pursued. The parties concerned took full advantage of the peace-keeping operation: they negotiated and reached a new interim agreement. The significance of this for peace-keeping is that UNEF has not merely perpetuated the status quo\ it will now go on to make the new agreement effective and to provide the basis for further steps in peace-keeping. In short, UNEF is doing the job for which it is intended, that is, helping to create the circumstances for a search, at the political level, for a solution to the Middle East problem.
35.	The United Nations Disengagement Observer Force has also played its part in helping to create an atmosphere in which further negotiations can take place.
36.	The question of Cyprus is once again before us at the thirtieth session. The problems are complex and will engage the attention of all delegations. Here again, the effectiveness of the peace-keeping force which has been carrying on its task on the ground in conditions of great difficulty will depend essentially on the co-operation and will of the parties directly concerned.
37.	Peace-keeping can only continue, of course, if it has the full support of all Member States, including their practical support in the form of prompt payment of peace-keeping assessments and contributions. Without the necessary financial resources, neither the United Nations nor individual force contributors can be expected to carry the responsibilities they have been asked to assume.
38.	I should like to comment now on one particular problem affecting the management of the affairs of our evolving Organization. Efforts have been made over the years to treat technical problems and political issues separately. The specialized agencies and technical conferences have been mainly devoted to their own immediate concerns, while political issues have been discussed primarily in those organs with the competence to deal with such matters the Security Council and the General Assembly.
39.	We well recognize that, even in technical conferences, Member States must take account of political realities, and that in some cases the line of separation between the political and technical cannot always be too rigidly drawn, But we shall do a serious disservice to our system of co-operation within the United Nations system if we fail to distinguish in a clear and unmistakable manner between, on the one hand, the authority and competence of the Security Council and the General Assembly in those political fields prescribed by the Charter, and, on the other, the competence and authority of technical conferences in their respective fields.
40.	In the meantime, it is the hope of my Government that in the spirit of co-operation that has so happily characterized the deliberations of the seventh special session, we shall all voluntarily refrain from the introduction of unrelated political considerations into the proceedings of the specialized agencies as well as the organs that have been assigned specific responsibility for implementing the decisions of the special session. We should allow these bodies to get on with their technical work. That would surely be in the best interests of each United Nations Member and of the Organization as a whole.
41.	The celebration of the thirtieth anniversary of the United Nations prompts all of us to reflect upon the place of this Organization in the life of the international community. Its critics have been many and persistent; its supporters sometimes wavering. But, whatever its short-comings over the years, we must recognize the simple fact that, in our quest for peace and security and our search for solutions to the great economic and social issues of our time, this universal forum is irreplaceable, and is essential to each of the Governments and peoples we represent.
"It is widely acknowledged that in our present world there is no rational alternative in international relations to the principles and procedures of the United Nations. Discussion and compromise are the only known alternatives to oppression, conflict and bloodshed. Unilateral and bilateral diplomacy are no longer enough and must be supplemented by collective action and multilateral diplomacy. All this has been acknowledged in principle by
Governments of Member States through their adherence to the Charter. As each day passes, (he force of circumstances also compels the Governments of the world to recognize their increasing interdependence. This too has been acknowledged in recent activities at the United Nations and is the clear theme of the sixth and seventh special sessions of the General Assembly." [Aj100011Add. I, Sect. XXL]
I would also conclude by saying that it is also the clear theme of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly.


78.	  It gives me great pleasure, Sir, to express my warmest congratulations on your election as President of the thirtieth session of the General Assembly. I join my colleagues in extending congratulations and appreciation to both you and your capable predecessor, Mr. Abdelaziz Bouteflika, as well as to the Secretary- General, Dr. Kurt Waldheim. In this we are prompted by our regard and esteem for any effort exerted to promote the march of mankind towards a better future in which peace, security and prosperity will prevail.
179.	In the mean time, may I express, in the name of the State of Qatar, its Emir, Government and people, a warm welcome and heartiest congratulations to the Member States which have recently joined the world Organization, thus assuming their rightful place in our midst. We welcome their contributions to the attainment of the lofty ideals and aspirations of the world community.
180.	We come to this session filled with the ambition to achieve the fruitful results which are anxiously anticipated by the peoples of the world. It is hoped that the spirit of detente and conciliation will prevail as a means of solving world problems. However, if we take an objective view of whatever has happened and is happening in the world, we see an inconsistency, and we perceive a tremendous discrepancy between reality and hope. Whereas the Charter of the United Nations sets out for the international Organization the task of maintaining world peace and security and establishing a world in which peace and stability prevail, we see how far from reality these ideals and hopes are.
181.	Proceeding from this point, we realize that important issues are involved in the establishment of world peace, and we perceive the dangers which pose a challenge to the Charter and to the determination of peoples to attain security, liberation and independence.
182.	It is clear therefore that we cannot talk about detente and respect for the Charter of the United Nations and peoples' right to self-determination without touching on what is happening in the Arab region, which, as an inevitable result of being permanently subject to Zionist aggression, is threatened with an explosion its own explosion and that of world peace. This aggression is, in its reality and quintessence, aggression against the Charter of the United Nations and in defiance of its resolutions, resulting in the dissipation of hopes pinned on the United Nations.
183.	I need not go again into the details of the Middle East crisis, particularly the Palestinian issue, and notably the question of Jerusalem and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. In spite of all resolutions adopted by the United Nations the Palestinian Arab people continue to live as strangers in their own homeland, deprived of all their rights.
184.	I should like to commend the tremendous efforts of the Arab countries efforts which have been consistently declared in all Arab conferences and statements and in those of friendly and well-meaning States in their unified pursuit of a just and permanent peace in the region. All these efforts were based on Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973).
185.	In this regard, it is important to assert a fact which will remain fundamental in spite of all attempts to obscure it: that the issue of Palestine, its people, land and destiny is the pivotal point and the essence of the Middle East crisis. All efforts to settle this crisis without a just and permanent solution to the Palestinian question are merely an attempt to defer the explosion rather than eliminate its origins and causes.
186.	The basic role of the United Nations is to maintain world peace and security. In order that this role may remain valid the United Nations will have to take such necessary measures as will ensure that Israel will be obliged to respect and implement the United Nations resolutions which call for the withdrawal of its forces from all Ihe occupied Arab territories and the restoration of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. This people, whom you have recognized and admitted into this world Organization as represented by the PLO as an observer, is among us here, under the roof of the United Nations, and yet it is still a victim of extermination inside and outside the Arab land occupied by Israel.
187.	It is only logical that Israel should be committed to respect the resolutions and principles of the United Nations, because these have been endorsed by the entire world. In the event of Israel's failure to respond, it is equally logical that the United Nations should assume its responsibilities, as set out in the Charter, by adopting economic and diplomatic sanctions against Israel for its intransigence and arrogance,
188.	The escalating danger of a military confrontation in the Middle East requires that the situation be treated with decisiveness. This fact has prompted the State of Qatar to support the resolution adopted at the twenty-ninth session of the General Assembly on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East [resolution 3263 (XXIXJ], a resolution which Israel is still determined to ignore, overlook and defy.
189.	From the very beginning Qatar has also supported the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, a Declaration no less important to us than our stated desire to preserve the security of the Gulf area.
190.	Here I would like to emphasize my Government's profound interest in the question of the Gulfs security. In this, my Government is no exception to other neighboring States in the Gulf area. This is due to the vital and direct impact of this issue on peace and development at present and in the future, not only on the regional level but also on the international level.
191.	We hope that the proposals with respect to the Middle East, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf regions will be viewed with complete understanding and respect on the part of all present: understanding and respect which we would like to be the prevailing spirit in dealing with the problems of raw materials and development, and the establishment of a new world economic and social order firmly based on respect for the principles of justice, the equal sovereignty of all States and the right of each State to complete and permanent sovereignty over its natural resources, in positive and dose international co-operation.
192.	Proceeding from its faith in the effectiveness and advantages of international co-operation in furthering human progress towards a better world, the State of Qatar endeavors, under the guidance of His Highness the Ruler, to build up its own potential as part of a development process carried out jointly with other sister Arab States. In the mean time, the State of Qatar participates in development activities in Asia and Africa, thus affirming its profound and sincere faith in the effectiveness of co-operation among all countries of the world in the interest of development and progress, and in helping developing countries, especially those whose economies suffer under difficult conditions.
193.	The State of Qatar is also anxious to co nsolidate its relations with the third world countries, especially in Africa, to participate in their issues and problems and to support African peoples struggling for their freedom and independence, so that they may attain their aspirations to human dignity and freedom.
194.	We view with optimism the concern of the United Nations with the development projects and plans of the underdeveloped nations, and this at the same time gives us a sense of international responsibility. Seeing with profound dismay that many peoples are victims of disease, hunger and illiteracy, the State of Qatar considers that all States, especially the developed ones, have a cultural and humanitarian obligation to them. The minimum commitments adopted by the industrialized countries have not yet been met by many of them and the State of Qatar hopes that this will no longer be delayed or neglected.
195.	The Slate of Qatar further hopes that the mayor Powers and the developed industrialized countries will exert greater efforts to check the wave of inflation and the rise in the prices of industrial commodities and foodstuffs. Some people may hold the oil- producing countries responsible for inflation. However, we would ask them to answer an important question: Was inflation not in existence before the price of petroleum was raised','
196.	My Government hopes that the dialog between the petroleum-producing and petroleum- consuming nations and the developing ones will produce an understanding and agreement on such matters as raw materials, energy and development, so that the whole world will adopt a new economic order in which the interests of all will be upheld and future challenges faced objectively with the positive- ness that would stem from international co-operation.
197.	Several international conferences have been held, under the aegis of the United Nations, on development and food questions. They are of great significance to us, and we attach special importance to the success of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea, which we hope will produce new international provisions and regulations that are more consistent with the spirit of the present era, in which developing countries comprise the majority of the world's population.
198.	We all find ourselves at each session of the General Assembly the focus of the world's attention and the custodians of its expectations and hopes that our deliberations will lead to significant accomplishments. We should not only make decisions, but also translate those decisions into action for the sake of the freedom, the prosperity and the dignity of mankind.