I should first like to extend to you my warmest congratulations on your election to the important office of President of the General Assembly. Your long experience in the United Nations and your wisdom guarantee the success of your high mission. My delegation wants to assure you of its full cooperation in achieving that objective.
121.	I also want to offer my thanks and congratulations to Mr. Rudiger von Wechmar, the outgoing President, who, during the year that has just elapsed, so admirably guided both a regular and a special session with very heavy agendas.
122.	My delegation also wants to address its thanks to the Secretary General for his persevering efforts aimed at reaffirming the noble principles of our Charter. His eminent contribution made it possible to convene the International Conference on Kampuchea last July.
123.	It is with great satisfaction that my delegation cordially welcomes Vanuatu and Belize, which have just joined the United Nations. We are convinced that those two new Member States will make an active contribution to the realization of the ideals and objectives of the Charter.
124.	The international situation continues to be marked by accrued tensions. The older hotbeds of tension such as
Namibia and the Middle East have been aggravated, and others have appeared in the meantime.
125.	In Kampuchea, my own country, and in Afghanistan the struggle against invasion and foreign occupation is gaining in intensity. In Asia, in Africa, in Europe and in Latin America, the peoples are continuing their just struggle to acquire and preserve their independence and their freedom to live in honor and national dignity.
126.	Even though we must face an aggression of a most barbaric kind, the people and the Government of Democratic Kampuchea are paying continuous attention to the great problems of the world, and we wish to reiterate our support for the efforts of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to achieve the independent and peaceful reunification of Korea. Its 10 point program for reunification, presented by its President, Kim II Sung, at the Sixth Congress of the Workers' Party of Korea, is in keeping not only with the deep aspirations of the Korean people but also with the interests of peace. We support the heroic struggle of the Afghan people against the Soviet invasion to regain its independence and the right to choose its Government and its political, economic and social regime and to restore the Islamic and nonaligned character of Afghanistan. We continue to give our support to the struggle of the Arab and Palestinian peoples to recover the territories that have been occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem. We maintain that the Palestinian people must be able freely to exercise its fundamental national rights, including its right to return to its homeland, its right to self-determination and its right to establish a Palestinian State. All the countries of the Middle East must have the right to existence and independence. Concerning southern Africa, we would renew our support for the rapid achievement of independence by Namibia in accordance with Security Council resolution 435 (1978), and we wish to reiterate our support for the struggle of the Azanian people against the colonialist and racist apartheid regime of South Africa.
127.	The causes of the increasing deterioration of the international situation are many and complex, but the dominating cause continues to be the aggressive actions of global and regional expansionists in every part of the world.
128.	Since the invasion and occupation of Kampuchea and Afghanistan, one year apart, in similar conditions and under identical pretexts, an undeniable fact has become evident to the international community in all its acuteness, cruelty and scope: the emergence of a new kind of imperialism, an international expansionism of a global and regional character, which now constitutes the greatest danger to the independence of peoples and the peace and security of the world.
129.	This new force of domination and enslavement speaks of anti-imperialist struggle but acts as an expansionist and hegemonist. It speaks of support for the national liberation struggle and proclaims that nothing is more important than independence, but in fact is cynically destroying the independence that has recently and heroically been acquired by peoples and nations. That force constantly speaks of respect for national' sovereignty and of the territorial integrity of countries but at the same time cruelly invades neighboring countries, using as a pretext "internationalist solidarity", "special friendship" or "fraternal aid". Rarely in the history of the world has the gap separating words and deeds and proclaimed ideals and macabre realities been so great. Never in the annals of international crime against independence and the freedom of peoples has demagogy been used in such a cynical fashion to serve a strategy of regional and world domination.
130.	This awareness of the international community has been expressed in a firm and coordinated will to oppose the increasing danger of expansionism. International pressure on the invaders has increased to make them withdraw their forces from Kampuchea and Afghanistan and allow the peoples of those countries freely to exercise their inalienable right to decide upon their future destinies themselves.
131.	This increased awareness on the part of the international community of the growing danger of expansionism and the support that results from that awareness constitutes valuable encouragement for the people and Government of Democratic Kampuchea in their struggle for the survival of the Kampuchean nation. In the field, the struggle is continuing and increasing. The Vietnamese enemy, despite its numerical and material superiority, has suffered considerable losses. The so-called "Khmeriza tion" of the war undertaken by the enemy has failed. The troops in the field are only Vietnamese troops, and the result is that the Vietnamese enemy has now lost the initiative on all fronts. It has been reduced to being increasingly on the defensive. It is no longer in a position to eliminate Democratic Kampuchea through the force of arms.
132.	Those successes of Democratic Kampuchea in the military sphere could not have been achieved without the active participation of the population in • the war for national survival. Without the effective contribution of all the people, who nourish, guide, cover, inform, and help the struggle logistically and otherwise, and send to it their sons and daughters, it would be inconceivable for the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea, which is numerically inferior and poorly equipped, to bring to a complete halt an invading army of 250,000 men well equipped and experienced in warfare.
133.	That active participation of the population in the resistance side by side with the National Army of Democratic Kampuchea is a clear denial of the lies and allegations of the Vietnamese according to which the Government of Democratic Kampuchea receives no support from the population. It also snows the correctness of the new strategic political line laid down by the Government of Democratic Kampuchea and of the political program of the Patriotic and Democratic Front of Great National Union of Kampuchea, line and program that all the cadres of the Government, the Front and the army are now committed to apply with the assistance and full support of the population, so that they will become a living reality for all.
134.	Thanks to the continuous enlargement of the zones under the control of the Government of Democratic Kampuchea and the resultant reinforcement of security, as they have been liberated the villages have been organized administratively and politically on the basis of the fundamental democratic freedoms outlined in the political program of the Front. The road oT full recovery from the ashes of the war of racial extermination being relentlessly waged by the enemy on Kampuchean soil stretches far ahead but, in the villages that have already been liberated, everyday activities have resumed. Education, culture and handicrafts have come to life again.
135.	Since they cannot impose their law on Kampuchea, the Vietnamese invaders have stepped up their cruelty, and they are intensifying the war of extermination against the people of Kampuchea. Hundreds and hundreds of thousands of our fellow countrymen have perished, victims of conventional and chemical armaments and the systematic use of the weapon of starvation by the invaders.
136.	In their raids, the Vietnamese aggressors continue to use the tactics of the "scorche dearth" policy, killing, destroying everything in their path. In the zones under their temporary control, the population has been placed in "strategic hamlets", making it impossible for them even to go to look for some wild fruit or wild plants with which to fill their empty stomachs. They steal the harvests from the peasants and continue to divert the international assistance to feed their own forces. They systematically create starvation and they use it as a genocidal weapon to eliminate all who oppose their law. Thus they hope to put an end to any national resistance at its very source.
137.	The expansionists of Hanoi have also intensified the use of chemical weapons. They have even the impudence to use them now in localities which are situated very close to the towns and to the borders of Thailand. Two weeks ago, on 14 September, the Vietnamese troops fired toxic gas shells at the village of Takong, which is about 10 kilometers from Sisophon in the province of Battambang. They killed or seriously poisoned 55 persons. All of those odious crimes are now known to the international community and they have aroused the indignation and condemnation of all. The symptoms of toxicity described in the note verbal dated 14 September 19S1 from the Permanent Representative of the United States [A/36/509] are entirely in keeping with the description which was given by the Ministry of Public Health of Democratic Kampuchea on 10 April 1981 [AI36/254].
138.	The suffering of our people is beyond description, for it is boundless. It is as great as the unholy determination of the Hanoi expansionists to integrate Kampuchea at all costs, even without the population, within the Vietnamese empire, which would be called the "Indochina Federation" and would also include Laos.
139.	Since there was no victory and no blitzkrieg which could produce the rapid and total destruction of the leadership of Democratic Kampuchea, the expansionists of Hanoi are now confronted with a situation in which they can no longer win a military victory. In pursuing their fundamental objective, which is the liquidation of Democratic Kampuchea, the Hanoi expansionists are now actively attacking the legal, status of the State of Democratic Kampuchea and trying to eliminate its leadership from the international scene, hoping that its military liquidation will follow. Even before their invasion of 25 December 1978, they unsuccessfully made a number of attempts at assassination, coup d'etat and destabilization in order to eliminate that leadership, because they know that it is profoundly patriotic and is determined at all costs to preserve the existence of Kampuchea as an independent nation, and for this reason it is firmly opposed to all maneuvers designed to absorb Democratic Kampuchea into the so called "Indochina Federation". Today, faced with the stalemate in their invasion, they resort to various stagings and maneuvers in the hope of achieving by diplomatic means the objective they have pursued for so long. They believe that if they can achieve this, bargaining will follow and allow them in one way or another to preserve the fruits of their invasion of Kampuchea and the pursuit of their strategy of expansion in SouthEast Asia.
140.	In order to achieve this they multiply their campaigns of slander against Democratic Kampuchea and try to impose on the international community the Vietnamese administration in Phnom Penh, which is the result of their invasion, invoking the travesty of "elections" and a "constitution" which have not deceived anyone but themselves. In this connection, the International Conference on Kampuchea has clearly shown that as long as foreign forces have not been withdrawn from Kampuchea it is impossible for the Kampuchean people to express their will in free elections.
141.	Thus, no matter how the Hanoi expansionists try, they will never be able to change the nature of the administration they have installed in Phnom Penh, and which is in fact only a shadow of the occupation forces, and as such will disappear the moment all those forces are withdrawn from Kampuchea. The people of Kampuchea know only too well the puppets that Hanoi has installed in Phnom Penh with the aid of Vietnamese bayonets, after they had been fed and educated since 1954 within the overall framework of the implementation of the strategy of the "Indochina Federation".
142.	As a corollary to these vain attempts to legitimatize the invasion of Kampuchea, the leaders of Hanoi are actively endeavouring to sow dissension within the ranks of the ASEAN countries and other countries which cherish peace and justice and which support the just struggle of the people of Kampuchea and the Government of Democratic Kampuchea. On the other hand, those leaders continue their worn-out maneuvers aimed at burying the problem of Kampuchea by means of a so-called regional conference, while at the same time they continue to brandish the so-called Chinese threat. They persist in this game of the thief calling "stop thief' with a cynicism which is particularly odious because the game is designed to cover up the genocide which threatens the very existence of a nation and a people.
143.	In conformity with their usual tactics, the Hanoi expansionists believe that they can this time also exhaust the patience of the Governments that cherish peace and justice which are not intimidated by their threats or deceived by their false allegations and promises. They believe that perhaps the international community will simply grow tired and finally accept their occupation of Kampuchea as a fait accompli and thus release them from the implementation of the relevant resolutions of the United Nations and of the Declaration of the International Conference on Kampuchea, which were intended to lead to a solution of the Kampuchean problem, based on the complete withdrawal of the Vietnamese forces from Kampuchea and the restoration to the people of Kampuchea of its inalienable right to decide its own future.
144.	The leaders of Hanoi pretend to hold a dialog and no# declare that they support the Kuala Lumpur Declaration,  published on 27 November 1971 at the conclusion of a meeting of ministers for foreign affairs of ASEAN nations, on the creation of a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality in SouthEast Asia, which they have always opposed energetically, especially at the Fifth Conference of Heads of State or Government of NonAligned Countries, held at Colombo in 1976. Who can still believe these very people who only yesterday felt that they were the advanced bastion of socialism in SouthEast Asia and who referred to the ASEAN countries as the "lackeys of American imperialists"? Who can believe these very people who impudently violated the 1954 Geneva agreements, the 1962 agreements on Laos, the solemn commitment made in 1967 to respect the frontiers and the territorial integrity of Kampuchea and the 1973 Paris agreements?
145.	The slanders, deceits and maneuvers of the Hanoi expansionists certainly will not be able to divert the attention of the international community from the danger and the threat which they represent for the region and for the whole world because of the close concordance of their regional expansionist strategy to the global Soviet strategy of expansion.
146.	If at present this danger and this threat have not yet been able to develop fully, it is because the struggle of the Kampuchean people under the leadership of the Government of Democratic Kampuchea and the Patriotic and Democratic Front of Great National Union of Kampuchea is being continued resolutely and has driven the Vietnamese enemy into inextricable difficulties in Kampuchea, in its own country and at the international level. Thus, the struggle of the Kampuchean people is indeed a struggle for survival, but at the same time it is also a contribution to the preservation of peace, stability and security in that region and in the world. If this struggle should one day cease, there can be no doubt that the Vietnamese empire will be consolidated. It will be able to draw new breath and, its strength restored, it will again affirm its will to dominate and to expand, a policy it is trying to conceal today for circumstantial reasons. The balance of forces in the region and in the world will thus be altered in such a way that it will no longer be possible to prevent this empire, supported by the expansionist great Power, to extend its tentacles into other areas of SouthEast Asia which it covets.
147.	However, by intoning the same old chant in the vain hope of achieving by diplomatic means what they cannot achieve on the battlefield, the expansionists of Hanoi reveal their own weakness. They show that their field of maneuver has grown smaller. The truth they can no longer conceal is that their military adventure in Kampuchea is daily causing their human, financial and economic resources to be swallowed up in a bottomless pit. Viet Nam's problems on both the political and economic levels are well known throughout the world. Nothing can remedy them, not even massive Soviet aid, and this will continue so long as Hanoi persists in its expansionist and annexationist ambition in Kampuchea and SouthEast Asia.
148.	Our struggle is not at all a struggle for the victory of an ideology. It is a struggle for the very survival of our nation and our people. The historical task we are facing is an onerous one.
149.	In order to wage such a difficult struggle, full of sacrifices against an enemy bent on exterminating us, the Government of Democratic Kampuchea and the Patriotic and Democratic Front of Great National Union of Kampuchea have clearly stated their sincere wish that all national forces participate in the struggle and share the responsibility for it. Since the beginning of 1979, they have endeavored in every way to unify all these national forces, regardless of their past or their political affiliations or tendencies, so as to carry on the struggle in all forms against the common enemy.
150.	Animated by a high sense of patriotism and by their sincere desire to achieve national union, and placing the interests of the survival of the Kampuchean nation above all else, they remain prepared to associate all national forces in the direction of the affairs of the State of Democratic Kampuchea, and they do so even though they represent the legal and legitimate Government of Kampuchea and constitute the only force which for three years has been leading effectively and with success the struggle of the Kampuchean people and its National Army in such a way that the Vietnamese invading forces are now hopelessly bagged down on the battlefield.
151.	It is in this spirit that the Government of Democratic Kampuchea signed the Joint Statement published in Singapore on 4 September 1981, at the end of a tripartite meeting, which affirms the desire of the national parties signatories to the Statement "to form a coalition government of Democratic Kampuchea with a view to continuing the struggle in all forms for the liberation of Cambodia from the Vietnamese aggressors".. [A/36/498, annex.]
152.	That future tripartite coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea will be the continuation of the present Government of Democratic Kampuchea and set up within the framework of the State of Democratic Kampuchea. It must have as its objective the increase of the forces combating the Vietnamese invaders, the strengthening in all forms of the close coordination of the military, political and diplomatic struggle, that has enabled us to achieve such success so far in every field, and, lastly, the mobilization to an even greater extent of international support and assistance for our just struggle.
153.	It is evident that the Vietnamese enemy will continue to do all it can to frustrate this national union and that even after its establishment it will do all it can to destroy it. This is why the Government of Democratic Kampuchea neither accepts nor does anything that might weaken the present struggle or impede its development, or in any way open any kind of breach that might be advantageous to the Vietnamese maneuvers.
154.	We call with all our hearts for the speedy establishment of a coalition government. The delegation of Democratic Kampuchea in the tripartite Ad Hoc Committee to study the principles and forms that will make the establishment of such a coalition government possible received appropriate instructions to exert every effort towards that end.
155.	The task of the tripartite Ad Hoc Committee is a difficult one. It is indispensable that the Ad Hoc Committee be able to work in a serene atmosphere that will engender mutual understanding and lead to a rapid conclusion of its work.
156.	The solid and lasting union of all national forces that we are continually pursuing is not only based on imperatives of the movement. It is the best guarantee for the survival and the very durability of Kampuchea as an independent and sovereign nation, preserving its age old culture and civilization.
157.	Placed as they are by geography and history directly adjacent to such an ambitious, arrogant and aggressive neighbor as the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, which has become the pawn of global expansionism in SouthEast Asia, the people of Kampuchea have no other path than that of sincere and loyal union among all the country's social strata, whatever their political loyalties or tendencies. Only such a union will make it possible, following the liberation of the national territory, to rebuild and defend the country and to prevent Kampuchea from experiencing in its turn the tragic fate of the 65,000 square kilometers of its territory situated in the fertile plain of the Mekong Delta and which was once the Kampuchean Krom, today absorbed by Viet Nam.
158.	In pursuing this goal, the Government of Democratic Kampuchea and the Patriotic and Democratic Front of Great National Union of Kampuchea will continue to adhere firmly and loyally to their present political programF5 and to their proposal of 30 June 1981 for a five point program, which states, inter alia, that:
"After the total withdrawal of the Vietnamese troops from Kampuchea, a general and free election with direct and secret ballot will be held, without any coercion from any armed forces or other forces, and this, under the strict and full supervision of the United Nations.
"This election aims at choosing a National Assembly.
"This National Assembly will establish a Constitution which will define the political regime of Kampuchea, a parliamentary regime which will not construct socialism or communism.
"Kampuchea will remain independent, peaceful, neutral and nonaligned, and will not allow any foreign military base on its territory.
"This National Assembly will choose a national government.
"This government will set up a national army to defend the country." [See A/36/367, annex.]
159.	Kampuchea will then have a liberal parliamentary regime respectful of the International Covenants on Human Rights, to which Democratic Kampuchea has adhered since 17 October 1980.
160.	More than any other people, the people of Kampuchea desires nothing more than the immediate cessation of its sufferings, which were caused by a war of aggression and which have been endured for too long a time. If it must overcome still more difficulties, consent to additional sacrifices and persevere in the present struggle in the field, this is because those burdens have been imposed upon it. The use of brutal armed force has always been the constant and main recourse of Hanoi. Negotiations are for Hanoi nothing more than deceitful delaying tactics. Experience and the lessons of the past have shown that concessions to Hanoi's demands have never led to a change in its strategic objectives. On the contrary, they have only encouraged Hanoi in the pursuit of its expansionist designs. Only coordinated pressures.in the military, political, economic and diplomatic fields will bring Hanoi to reason.
161.	As a corollary to the struggle on the battlefield, the Government of Democratic Kampuchea is actively seeking on the international level ways and means of ending as soon as possible the suffering of the Kampuchean people and satisfying its deep felt aspiration to live in peace, independence, honor and national dignity.
162.	The sine qua non condition of any just and lasting settlement of the Kampuchean problem is the total withdrawal of Vietnamese troops from Kampuchea, which will make it possible for the people of Kampuchea to exercise its inalienable right to choose its own destiny without any foreign interference, to reestablish the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Kampuchea and thus to bring peace, security and stability to SouthEast Asia. These requirements are entirely in conformity with the provisions of General Assembly resolutions 34/22 and 35/6 and the Declaration of the International Conference on Kampuchea.3
163.	To attempt, as do the Hanoi expansionists and their supporters, to turn the problem of Kampuchea into a "regional problem" is a conjuring trick which deceives no one anymore. Nothing can conceal the fact that the problem of Kampuchea is a problem neither of decolonization nor of a territory under United Nations trusteeship, but rather a problem of Vietnamese aggression against a sovereign nonaligned State which is a Member of the United Nations, and that that aggression, as in the case of the aggression against Afghanistan, is an integral part of the expansionist, global strategy to achieve world domination. The International Conference on Kampuchea properly stressed the aggressive nature of the Hanoi expansionists as well as the international nature of the Kampuchean problem.
164.	Within the context in which the global and regional expansionists continue to advance their pawns on the global chessboard and to give a one sided interpretation to "detente", a just solution of the problem of Kampuchea based on respect for its sovereignty and for the Charter of the United Nations would help to pave the way towards the solution of other outstanding international problems, such as the problem of Afghanistan. It would show at the same time that in the current contest between the aggressive forces of expansionism and the peace-loving forces nothing can triumph over the will of the peace loving forces when that will is clearly asserted. It would also help to avert the danger of a third world conflagration.
165.	My delegation wishes to reiterate the deep gratitude of the people of Kampuchea and the Government of Democratic Kampuchea to the ASEAN countries for the
historic part which they played in defending not only the independence and the survival of the people of Kampuchea but also the cause of peace and security in SouthEast Asia and in the world. In keeping with the framework of the Charter of the United Nations and responding to the deep and legitimate aspirations of our peoples, who wish to see SouthEast Asia become a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality, this noble action on the part of the ASEAN countries thus acquires a high moral and political significance. Our people and our Government will show themselves worthy of their trust and their solidarity with us.
166.	My delegation would like to take this opportunity to express once again our gratitude to the other countries which cherish peace and justice and which have not only given active support to the just national cause of Kampuchea but have also made intense efforts to bring about a just and lasting solution of the Kampuchean problem. Their warm solidarity will never be forgotten by our people.
167.	Before concluding, may I reaffirm this year, the twentieth anniversary of the birth of the nonaligned movement, the fact that Democratic Kampuchea and its people remain faithful to the principles of nonalignment as well as to those of the Charter of the United Nations. Despite the vicissitudes which it has been forced to undergo .by the expansionists, who have sought to destroy its identity and hitch it to their wagon of world domination, especially since the Sixth Conference of Heads of State or Government of NonAligned Countries, held at Havana in September 1979, the nonaligned movement has shown through the determined struggle of the vast majority of its members that it will survive its illustrious founding fathers and that the principles of nonalignment will continue to light the way for peoples that cherish independence, peace and progress. The solidarity reaffirmed recently by the nonaligned movement at the Conference of Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Non Aligned Countries, held at New Delhi in February 1981, with the peoples of Kampuchea and Afghanistan, the victims of wars of aggression and occupation, in their just struggle, reflect much credit on the participants and augur well for the future, despite the obstacles to be overcome.
168.	By its present struggle against the Vietnamese expansionists, my country is making a contribution not only to the defense of the principles of the Charter but also to the cause of the nonaligned movement, of which it is one of the founding members.


225.	I should like first of all to take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Kittani, on behalf of the Government of Maldives and my delegation, on his election to the high office of President of the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly.
226.	We see in him a man of distinction and remarkable experience attained through long association with and involvement in the work of the United Nations, and we see in him the representative of one of the leading and prominent members of the nonaligned movement and of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, with which the Maldives has fraternal and close relations.
227.	I should like to express at the same time my country's heartfelt gratitude to the outgoing President, Mr. Riidiger von Wechmar, who discharged the duties of his office in an outstanding manner.
228.	I also wish to thank the Secretary-General for his continued dedication to the cause of the United Nations and his commitment to international peace and stability.
My delegation wishes him well in carrying out his important task.
229.	It gives me great pleasure to welcome, on behalf of my delegation, Vanuatu and Belize to membership in the Organization, thus marking a further step towards complete decolonization and the attainment of universality by the United Nations.
230.	The world is again passing through a disturbing stage in which tension prevails and is deepening and attaining everywhere alarming proportions. At this time one could simply say that the daring trend of interference in the internal affairs of sovereign and independent countries and the irresponsible return to the arms race are the major causes of the deterioration in the international climate, while the world community is suffering from the longstanding ailments of mistrust, fear and deliberate injustice. A few years ago we were heartened by the spirit of, detente, by the development of a positive dialog between the superPowers, and by the trend of a general consensus that the disaster of another world war must be avoided. But now we see that, instead of consideration for mutual interest and respect for shared opinion, naked aggression has become fearfully frequent. The right of people to self-determination and freedom is being denied by those who continue to defy the cause of justice and human dignity.
231.	The recent acts by South Africa against the people of Namibia and the neighboring independent African States, and the escalation of military action by Israel against the Palestinian people and the neighboring Arab countries, could be seen as symptoms of an added malignancy in the international atmosphere. The aggressors appear to be protected in the interests of the mighty and powerful. Similarly, we see foreign troops which intervened to change the course of events in Afghanistan and Kampuchea, and in many other places in Africa and Asia, stubbornly remaining in those countries despite repeated calls for the world community for them to withdraw and let the peoples of those countries determine their destinies.
232.	Then comes a round of the arms race in which the superPowers are engaged not only in developing new types of destructive weapons, but also in a dangerous effort to use outer space for their military advantages. For the world community, even the thought of a nuclear war, however limited it may sound, is a nightmare. We feel that serious and immediate efforts must be made to decrease the continually rising international tension, which is driving the promoters of the arms race to a devastating frenzy. There is no justification at all for the technologically developed Powers to enter into an arms production process in which enormous financial resources are deployed while the world economy and even the domestic economies of individual countries are suffering from the difficulties of the current economic crisis. Unless all these developments are presumed to be a game where the only players are the superPowers and the spectators are the rest of the human race, there is no meaning to this irrational and inhuman trend.	! .
233.	The international community has had enough bitter experiences in the past when the logic of supremacy, domination and colonization prevailed. We should like to believe that the world community, which includes the big and the small, the rich and the poor; is now mature enough to appreciate the dangers of war and the virtues of peace and peaceful coexistence. It is the responsibility of all nations to contribute to world peace and stability. The principles of peace, justice and equality are clearly prescribed in the Charter of the United Nations. It is our solemn duty to uphold those principles and to fulfil our commitments to the human race.
234.	Maldives continues to be guided by the policy of nonalignment and has always endeavored humbly to contribute its modest share in order to strengthen the effectiveness of the United Nations, which remains the most prominent forum for solving international issues and consolidating the efforts of the world community towards justice and equality. It is our firm belief that the capabilities of the United Nations to move effectively into the areas of its sacred mandate should be increased. That will be possible only when the Member States fully recognize the efforts and appreciate the role of the United Nations in global issues and accept the virtues of common interest and the facts of universal partnership.
235.	The question of Namibia has reached a stage where vigorous efforts have to be made and effective measures taken to compel South Africa to accept world opinion and yield to the legitimate will of the Namibian people. We should by no means remain mere spectators while the Pretoria regime escalates its oppression of the Namibian people and even crosses international borders at will. Maldives remains committed to support the Namibian people in whatever way it can in their struggle for self-determination and freedom under the leadership of their national liberation movement, SWAPO, and will support any measure taken by the world community, collectively or individually, towards the achievement of the independence of Namibia. It is our hope that soon we shall be celebrating the end of this complex episode, as we did not so long age in the case of Rhodesia, and other colonial territories in Africa.
236.	The situation in the Middle East has deteriorated during the last one and a half years with the continuation of the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories and its persistent aggressive policies against the Palestinian people, who are fighting for their legitimate right to a fully sovereign and independent nation of their own, which cannot be denied under any decent human consideration. The recent indiscriminate bombing of Lebanon by Israel and the newly organized terrorist activities aimed at the liquidation of the Palestinian struggle are further evidence of a policy of callous disregard for the norms of international behavior. The events which continue to occur in the area make us believe that unless firm measures are taken towards bringing an end to the Israeli occupation and towards the solution of the Palestinian issue, the Middle East will remain a dangerous hotbed of tension, affecting not only that region but also the whole world.
237.	I should like to make special reference to the totally unprovoked attack by the Israeli forces on the Iraqi nuclear plant, which clearly demonstrated the dangerous strategic policies adopted by Israel with absolute disregard for the principles accepted by the world community, including the closest friends of Israel.
238.	During this session we are coming back to discuss the outstanding issue of Palestine, and I presume that we are going to reiterate again our firm belief in the legitimate right of the Palestinians to self-determination, without thereby making any further progress in solving the real issue of the Palestinian people.
239.	My delegation shares the view with many other delegations that the Middle East is the most potentially dangerous region in the world. And if we arc concerned about the preservation and maintenance of world peace, it is imperative that we make still greater efforts to solve the question of Palestine without any further delay. A solution to the issue cannot be reached unless Palestinians arc given the full right to express their free will through their legitimate representatives, the PLO, in all deliberations concerning this serious and complex issue. We will not believe that there is a partial solution to the problem that can be worked out unilaterally or bilaterally without their participation. Maldives remains fully committed to supporting the Palestinians in their struggle to return to their homeland and establish their own nation.
240.	I referred at the beginning of my statement to the new trend of. intervention in internal affairs of independent nations. We can count many incidents of this unacceptable behavior during the past few years, which range from covert plotting to overthrow Governments to blatant military interventions to change the political status and history of countries. As far as my Government is concerned, we perceive these acts of intervention with very grave concern, whether they are committed by a country in the West or in the East, and under any pretext. We feel that while the idea itself is bad enough, the prevailing international atmosphere demonstrates a lack of confidence among the countries, in each other, thus confusing an already difficult situation where no steps could be taken to determine if such an intervention took place for the purpose of helping the Government of a country or for the purpose of domination.
241.	I do not want to repeat the views of my country concerning the presence of foreign troops in Afghanistan and in Kampuchea, views which have been made clear on previous occasions and are reflected in our stand in the Assembly, within the nonaligned movement and in the Organization of the Islamic Conference. I shall only stress again our firm belief in the principles of the Charter of the United Nations which deplore interference or intervention in the internal! affairs of sovereign States and guide us to solve conflicts and issues through peaceful means.
242.	While talking about the solution of conflicts by peaceful means, I wish to refer to the yet unresolved question of Korea. My Government feels that all efforts must be made, collectively and individually, to facilitate the continuation of the dialog between North Korea and South Korea for the purpose of achieving a peaceful reunification as envisaged by the Korean people themselves without arty foreign interference.
243.	Similarly, I wish to. reiterate our support for the people of Cyprus in their efforts to consolidate their independence within the framework of national unity with equal rights for all citizens.
244.	My delegation believes that the creation of nuclear weapon-free zones is a rational and effective measure towards world peace. In this context, we supported the proposal to establish a nuclear-free zone in South Asia, which we hope will eventually cover a wider region, or at least will pave the way to creating more subregional nuclear-free zones in Asia and the Pacific.
245.	As far as the Indian Ocean is concerned, Maldives is committed to continuing its policies of nonalignment, as it is determined to keep its territories free from nucleai weapons and not to permit any foreign military bases within its territories. Furthermore, Maldives will continue to work with the littoral States and hinterland States of the Indian Ocean towards the achievement of the objective of making the Indian Ocean a zone of peace. It is our earnest hope that, through cooperation between the countries of the Indian Ocean and the other concerned Powers, we will be able to find practical ways of fulfilling the aspiration of our peoples regarding this important issue.
246.	Turning to the international economic situation, we feel that the commencement of the NorthSouth dialog is essential and that we should not spare any efforts within the framework of the United Nations and with the regional organizations to overcome the disparities of the present economic situation. Reason clearly shows that no single nation, whatever its economic capacity or technological advancement, can build its economy in isolation from the rest of the world. The United Nations is now fully aware of all the dimensions of the problem of the gap between the rich and the poor nations. It would be quite wrong to believe that it is the responsibility of the developing countries to rectify the faults in the current economic situation. The painstaking efforts of the developing countries in the South and the very survival of the least developed countries depend heavily on the establishment of a new international economic order based on equality and justice. Hence it is only fair to expect an early resolution of the remaining difficulties that impede the launching of the global negotiations under the auspices and within the framework of the United Nations.
247.	Despite the adverse attitudes shown by a few developed countries, the deliberations which have taken place under the auspices of the United Nations since the inception of the idea of a new international economic order have led to positive results, and we look forward to greater progress. We hope that the forthcoming International Meeting on Cooperation and Development at Cancun will be a further step towards the realization of a new international economic order, based on mutual benefit and cooperation.
248.	We are also pleased to note that at the United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries, which was recently held in Paris, it was possible to project the magnitude of the problems faced by the least developed among the developing countries. The least developed countries are resolute in their efforts to improve the social and economic conditions of their peoples, and have already embarked upon ambitious development projects in their countries. However, as we all agree, their efforts and resources alone will not be sufficient for the implementation of those projects. To meet the immediate requirements for assistance to the least developed countries for the first half of the decade and greater requirements later in the decade, the international community, and particularly the developed countries, should increase their concessional assistance at least fourfold by 1990 as compared to the level reached in the late 1970s. At the same time, we feel that there is a need to look back at the criteria on which aid flow is decided. Maldives, being one of the smallest and poorest among the least developed countries, faces difficulties arising from the existing criteria, which are sometimes ineffective and often do not look after the needs of the smaller countries. Donors, including the international agencies, may decide on the quantity of aid on a purely per capita basis, with the result that countries that cannot count their population in millions are left out in the cold. Maldives does not want to remain for ever a least developed country. However, because of our limited resources, on the one hand, and the difficult geographic and demographic conditions of the country, on the other, we face a dilemma in our efforts to come out of the present situation without depending considerably on external assistance. We are indeed grateful to all the countries and international agencies which are assisting us in the development process and we hope their support will continue.
249.	Before the conclusion cf my remarks, I wish to reiterate my country's commitment to upholding the principles and the objectives of the United Nations, with their inherent implications of responsibility towards peace and justice and international cooperation. The Maldivian people will continue to work with the United Nations and the world community as a whole for the fulfillment of these lofty objectives.
250.	I hope this session will be a successful one.


 Lebanon is particularly pleased whenever another small State is admitted to the United Nations. I should like to welcome Vanuatu and Belize, whose citizens include communities of Lebanese origin of whom we " are very proud.
136.	I should like also at the beginning of this statement to pay tribute to the outgoing President, Mr. Rudiger von Wechmar, who imparted a new spirit of discipline to the
General Assembly during his eventful term of office. Lebanon had known him as President of the Security Council in difficult days and experienced his friendship as well as his fairness and dedication to justice and peace.
137.	Rarely has the election to the office of the President of the General Assembly had such significance as that of the President of the present session. I should therefore like to go beyond the customary personal congratulations that he merits and to speak about his country, Iraq, a country which is close to the heart of every Arab.
138.	We are particularly happy to see an Arab elected President of the General Assembly. We take pride and find comfort in his election, despite the most unusual circumstances. Indeed, it indicates a tacit support for Iraq and a condemnation of Israeli aggression against his country's capital city, Baghdad.
139.	Baghdad, however, would not have been attacked had the international community taken prior action and deterred Israel when it usurped Lebanese territory and violated Lebanese airspace and territorial waters. Similarly, the failure of the international Organization to preserve Arab Palestine led to the occupation of Sinai and the Golan Heights. This failure led in turn to the violation of Lebanese borders and transported the war into Lebanese territory itself. Should the situation remain unchanged, our speeches about international security and peace in the Middle East will remain purely rhetorical. Aggression will lead to further aggression and the scope of war will expand in every-varying forms and shapes.
140.	Hence, would we be overly ambitious if we were to expect, in this President's term of office, at least an attempt to move the General Assembly from a pattern of resolutions which merely embody principles towards a more practical and pragmatic approach? Meanwhile, we should continue to seek the restitution of our rights and work towards the achievement of a just and comprehensive solution.
141.	I say this because between the United Nations and my country there is a covenant of trust and alliance which enables us to speak so freely and confidently. For we have obtained from the international Organization something which other countries have not. Perhaps we stand as the only State that has recovered occupied territory by a resolution of the Security Council. We therefore know the capabilities of the Organization and if we expect more of it, it is because we strongly believe that there is no road to international security except through and within the United Nations framework.
142.	It is in the name of this faith that the United Nations, whose Members come to this rostrum to offer support for Lebanon or to cry over its ruins, are responsible, morally as much as legally, for the preservation of Lebanon. The United Nations is duty bound to help Lebanon to recover its sovereignty, to restore its authority over its entire territory, and to preserve its territorial integrity, the unity of its people and of the State. Similarly, the United Nations is morally and legally committed to save Jerusalem from Judaization and to enable the Palestinian people to recover its legitimate rights. The General Assembly has voted year after year for those rights; yet they remain usurped and violated.
143.	We say this with agony in our hearts. Lebanon would have wanted to be in a position to discuss world issues, rather than see the world preoccupied with its own problem. Lebanon, for instance, would have wanted to contribute more effectively to the NorthSouth dialog, given our geographical position and our traditional role as a forum for dialog and a point of encounter in the history of civilization.
144.	Yet how can we, when our land has been torn asunder and our people are uprooted and dispersed because the North and South, as well as the East and West, have chosen to draw their borderlines across our bodies? Our cities, which were once houses of peace, are now in ruins and our people speak one language- the the language of reason, but that of madness and despair.
145.	In his annual report to the General Assembly, the Secretary-General stated that since 1975 "The situation in Lebanon has remained a major preoccupation of the Organization up to the present time" and that it has been "a major and tragic feature of the international scene" [see A136/1, sect. //].
146.	No one ignores or can pretend to ignore the infinite wisdom of the Secretary-General in his assessment of events and the caution with which he calls on the United Nations to assume its responsibilities under the Charter. From this perspective, his discussion of the situation in Lebanon acquires particular importance when he states:
"The ongoing tragedy of Lebanon is a telling reminder of the absolute necessity of embarking on the path of negotiations, however steep and difficult it may prove. The recently arranged ceasefire provides an opportunity that must not be missed, for it will not easily recur. No ceasefire, peacekeeping operation or other expedient for containing the conflict can, in the end, prevent new outbursts of violence as long as the basic elements of the problem are not tackled in negotiations involving all the parties concerned." [Ibid., sect. IV.]
147.	The words of the Secretary-General, though calm and measured, are none the less a warning. Ever since the war started on our soil, the Government of Lebanon has been sounding the same alarm in the Assembly, year after year, as well as in the Security Council and before the appropriate regional organizations. Mr. Waldheim's words are a definition of the framework of the Lebanese question. They compel us, first and foremost, to declare in utter frankness that the ceasefire called for by the Security Council in resolution 490 (1981) of July 1981 is not an end in itself. Indeed, we cannot allow it to be considered an end o. to become a goal. We cannot confine ourselves, as more than one speaker has called for in the Assembly, to consolidating it, to expanding it, or to be satisfied simply with maintaining it.
148.	Of course, our concern that hostilities not be resumed is no less intense than the concern of others. For, although we have not been a party to the hostilities, our own house has been destroyed and the majority of those killed and wounded have been innocent Lebanese civilians. Our attitude is dictated by our belief that a ceasefire is only a temporary measure. If a ceasefire is allowed to become permanent, or semipermanent, it can only serve to exacerbate the plight of the victims of aggression.
149.	What we demand, therefore, is that Lebanon, the victim, should not remain at the mercy of that fragile and uncertain ceasefire, lest the world forget that the enemy is indeed inside our borders. Our case against Israel in the Security Council should remain whole. What we are seeking is the total withdrawal of Israel, an end to its current attacks against us and the full and unconditional implementation of Security Council resolution 425 (1978)) and subsequent resolutions. Thus UNIFIL must be deployed fully and effectively and .our internationally recognized borders should become secure and respected again, as stipulated in the provisions of the General Armistice Agreement between Israel and Lebanon signed on 23 March 1949.5
150.	May I now express Lebanon's gratitude and appreciation to those Governments, friends and brothers, from near and far, who have proclaimed before the Assembly and elsewhere Israel's guilt and have defended the cause of Lebanon. May I mention in particular the nonaligned countries and the European group. At this juncture I would merely suggest that we take note of the many constructive ideas proposed in the Assembly and outside it to enable the United Nations to assume its responsibilities in Lebanon fully.
151.	The international responsibilities assumed by the United Nations in Lebanon are varied and they are increasing every day, especially in the fields of development and reconstruction. International agencies and organizations perform in certain areas tasks which the Lebanese authorities are sometimes unable to assume, for well known security reasons. Our deep gratitude is extended to those international agencies and organizations particularly UNICEF for their act of faith in Lebanon.
152.	We also wish to pay a particular tribute to the peacekeeping forces for the heroic task they are accomplishing. They have come from faraway lands, from east and west, and they have shed their blood for peace. We pray that Lebanon be worthy of those martyrs and deserve the faith of those who believe in its cause.
153.	Before the most recent Israeli aggression, Lebanon addressed a memorandum to the Secretary-General stating that in response to the Security Council and in compliance with Security Council resolution 488 (1981) of June 1981, it was determined to send contingents of the Lebanese Army to the" barracks at Maijayoun, Tyre, Nabatiyah and Hasbaya, where they would assume their security tasks. Such contingents would supplement the Lebanese Army detachments now performing in areas of UNIFIL operation under UNIFIL command.
154.	In calling for a summit meeting to discuss the problem of south Lebanon, Lebanon informed the League of Arab States that the Lebanese Army was determined to assume its full duties in defending Lebanese territory in the face of any new Israeli aggression, and that Lebanon was also requesting assistance from the Arab States within the framework of the Joint defense and Economic Cooperation Treaty Between the States of the Arab League, to bear along with it the responsibility for what would happen in the south, where our territory had become the sole battlefield in the ArabIsraeli confrontation and where a war of attrition was being waged, a war which was consuming Lebanon alongside the Palestinians and the entire Arab world.
155.	As we have referred to the Joint defense Treaty, we should like to affirm solemnly before the Assembly that article 11 thereof expressly provides for non-encroachment on the rights and obligations emanating from the Charter of the United Nations and the responsibilities assumed by the Security Council. Lebanon has clearly stated to the parties concerned and wishes to reiterate here that whatever it may request in accordance with the Joint defense Treaty is not and will not be contrary to its obligations under the General Armistice Agreement of 1949, Security Council resolution 425 (1978) and subsequent resolutions. Indeed, it is Israel which persistently violates the General Armistice Agreement and defies international resolutions, while Lebanon abides by those resolutions and constantly calls for the reactivation of the Agreement.
156.	We fear that in the south we may be facing a new "West Bank". The international community must not permit that to happen. Ours, too, is a sacred land and it is neither for sale nor for hire. We are confident that the world community will reject, as we do, Israel's determination to profit from south Lebanon as just another commodity in its bazaar of ambitions. Neither Lebanon nor the United Nations can remain forever hostage to a state of "no war, no peace", maintained by Israel. For such a situation would perpetuate the Israeli occupation and pave the way for the conspiracies of displacement, resettlement and partition rejected by all and recognized by none.
157.	In the past, it may have appeared convenient for friends and foes alike that the south, and perhaps the whole of Lebanon, should remain in a state of flux, at the mercy of a ceasefire here and a resumption of hostilities there. Let us remind this Assembly that the pertinent Security Council resolutions do not merely affirm Lebanon's independence and territorial integrity, but also commit the Organization to assist Lebanon in reestablishing its sovereignty and authority over all of its territory, so that the south may be transformed into a zone of peace. For, just as war came to Lebanon from the south, so must peace originate there if it is ever to return to the entire country.
158.	The tragic situation in Lebanon, the sometimes blazing and oftentimes half-blazing war, whether in the south, at Beirut, or at Zahle, is sufficient to prove that we cannot forever solve crises by a ceasefire and a return to the status quo ante and present that as a victory for peace. Hence, the necessity for us all to allow international as well, as regional decisions to assume their full and undiminished political dimensions. Let those who are committed to those decisions declare that their commitment is not in words but in deeds, that it can be implemented and that they will cooperate unequivocally and without reservations in establishing peace in the south and throughout Lebanon.
159.	If the war in Lebanon, as frequently stated here, is connected organically and historically with the Middle East question, peace in Lebanon cannot wait for regional peace to be established and for a just and comprehensive solution to be found. In so far as peace in Lebanon was destroyed by the Palestinian wars, we fear today that peace in the Middle East may in turn become and casualty of the war, or indeed wars, now being waged in Lebanon. Furthermore, if peace in the Middle East doe^ not emanate from Lebanon, we fear that it will falter and its course will be hindered forever.
160.	Let us present the following facts as proof of our argument. First, by allowing international and regional conflicts to continue in Lebanon, the country has been increasingly transformed into a series of time-bombs that will explode and destroy both State and society in the region through despair, revolution and civil wars. By attempting to destroy Lebanon, by nurturing ambitions to devour its dismembered body and by usurping its role, the region not only has divided the Lebanese people but has lost its own balance as well. Has not one Government after another been proclaiming its fear that it would become another Lebanon? In reality it is Lebanon that must ask itself and others: can the Arabs still save themselves if they lose Lebanon?
161.	Secondly, Israel's war against Lebanon, waged on the pretext of striking at the Palestine resistance movement, is only a more brutal aspect of its regional strategy. When the enemy carves away at the South and contributes to the creation of objective conditions for blowing up Lebanese society and government, and instigates fratricidal wars within Lebanon between Lebanese and their brethren, it does so to divert the Arabs away from the Holy Land, to distract the Palestinians with an alternative revolution, to lure them with an alternative homeland and to dangle before them the illusion of an alternative State as well. That deception has already erected walls of hatred and fear, both inside and outside Lebanon, and has given the impression that even Lebanon's international borders are in question. If this situation is allowed to continue, what will be in question is not only the integrity of Lebanon, but also the boundaries, the frontiers and the very independence of each and every country in the area. Hie States of the region and their borders constitute in reality an integrated whole. If they are tampered with, the independence of all countries will be at stake and the way will be opened for a redrawing of the entire map of the Middle East.
162.	Thirdly, the displacement of the regional center of gravity towards the Gulf for economic and geopolitical reasons has not reduced Lebanon's importance. On the contrary, while oil is produced and exported from the Gulf, the lifeline of the Middle East continues to take its course through Mediterranean shores. Everything is imported through our routes; civilization and the revolt against it; prosperity and terror; liberation and colonialism; the forces for stability as well as the forces which make for destruction when released by hatred and anger.
163.	These are not fantasies and mirages we are unleashing in this Hall and in the corridors of Arab and international politics to torture ourselves and others. They are realities. They are the tragic and bitter truth as it reveals itself to the scrutinizing eye.
164.	Nevertheless, *we come here to affirm that Lebanon can still be saved despite the dangers that continue to besiege it and that threaten it with a fate similar to that which has befallen other peoples and States. What, then, is Lebanon gambling on? What is it that inspires Lebanon with such confidence?
165.	In his speech of 23 September 1981, made on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of his assuming the Presidency, Mr. Elias Sarkis, the President of Lebanon, stated:
"In the beginning and in the end, Lebanon represents a national consensus on a model homeland of freedom governed by democracy. . . .
"Lebanon has patiently suffered unbearable wounds. More than once in the course of its history, it has remained steadfast, confronting dangers that threatened its very existence. Lebanon has always overcome its adversities and recovered its vitality, thus earning from the world admiration following upon sympathy and concern following upon indifference. . . .
"Credit for such achievements is due first to the unity of the Lebanese national will, which is manifest in its tenacious sense of belonging to the one Lebanon, where an urgent need has been universally felt for legitimacy based on freedom, democracy and national sovereignty. ..."
President Sarkis went on tr say, "I am staking our future on this united national will. No option other than dialog can save our homeland".
166.	The Lebanon of dialog, always rising from the ruins, counts not only on its national unity, but also on its Arab identity and its ability to perform its historical mission in its own environment and in the world at large.
167.	The trials that Lebanon has suffered and survived have proven beyond doubt that what divides the Lebanese is much less important than what unites them. What distinguishes them as a group even from those nearest to them is more profound than what distinguishes them one from the other within the national community.
168.	Suffice it to say that there is no one in Lebanon today who does not give his allegiance to Lebanon absolute priority over any other friendship, relationship, partnership or alliance which could distract him from the community vanity and its institutions. The differences, which are getting thinner and thinner on the ground every day, can be absorbed by the framework of democratic institutions, which, although scarred, have overcome eight years of being held hostage.
169.	Violence has not succeeded in stifling liberty. The ferociousness of the Lebanese in defense of their beloved land has been legendary. Rarely has a small country been able to endure all that we have endured and still remain united and sovereign, clinging to life with tenacity, and able to survive. Whenever a house was destroyed, another was built there, on the same spot. Whenever a source of livelihood was ended, several were rediscovered in its stead. And whenever the clouds of war disperse and the sound of bombs is lulled, Lebanon comes back to life with zest and confidence, as though death were not a reality but merely an illusion.
170.	The Lebanese people look forward today more than ever before to a near future perhaps a rendezvous with hope when the State will return with all its institutions intact, strong and able to restore its legality and establish its authority over every span of land in Lebanon. A most potent expression of that confidence was the working paper submitted by Lebanon to the follow-up committee established at Beit ed Dine by a decision of the Arab summit conference. Lebanon is legitimately confident that the Arab States, especially cur sisterState of Syria, will contribute not only to the achievement of a short-term national reconciliation but also to the creation of the appropriate atmosphere and conditions for a new historic covenant, a pact of unity to be manifested in a new society and new institutions capable of meeting the challenges of the crisis and of its solutions: the challenges of war and of peace.
171.	Lebanon, which has come to believe that its strength lies not in its weakness but in its ability to defend its territory and its rights, considers that its primary duty is now to complete the reconstruction of its army, with assistance from brother Arab States as well as all its friends, so that it may gradually shoulder alone its full and undiminished defense responsibilities and participate fully and with undiminished involvement in Arab strategic cations. Then, and only then, will a secure Lebanon become a true guarantee of the peace of its brethren rather than a source of fear for its own security as well as for theirs. Then, and only then, will it cease to derive often unsuccessfully its own security from the security of others.
172.	Although acts of heroism throughout Lebanon's ancient and modern military history have been many and meaningful, we know that they will never be Lebanon's greatest and most important achievements. It is important, however, to remember that they have always been associated, as in our heyday, the era of Emir Fakhreddine, with the integration of the Lebanese communities in the national entity. The challenge of civilization compels us to follow that example. The world around us is disturbed by fear of communal strife whose victims have not been .confined to Lebanon, and it is perturbed by currents of religious politics which, if allowed to dominate, would doom Lebanon to destruction.
173.	Significant in this context is the testimony of Ignatius IV, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, in his address to the Third Islamic Summit conference, held at MeccaTaif from 25 to 28 January 1981, when he equated Lebanon with Jerusalem:
"In Jerusalem we seek the face of God, and we also seek it in Lebanon. ...
"Lebanon is a source of warmth for all. It is a place for the meeting and interaction of ideas so that all ideas may belong to all. The beauty of the meeting there of Christians and Moslems is unparalleled. It is a goal and an aspiration, a forum for innovation and creation, a bright face smiling on everyone. Indeed, it is a consolation for all. . . .	'
"Our unity is affected by the unity of Lebanon, and our health is a function of its health. Its unity is its right; its health is its right; its peace is its right. . . .
"Lebanon today craves Jerusalem in its uniqueness and originality, and Jerusalem today craves Lebanon in its uniqueness and originality. . . .
"Jerusalem and Lebanon are the two poles and the two pillars of the Arab world. Each of them is necessary for any peace in that world."
174.	Peace! Peace! Never has peace been such an existential historical necessity as it is today. Not only is it our goal in Lebanon; it is also the national objective around which we in the Arab world unite.
175.	I should like to conclude my statement by returning to international politics. I should like to cite a few attitudes that will prove our concern for peace and our understanding of the conditions for its achievement.
176.	First, there is the Arab consensus, especially in Lebanon, to reject the autonomy negotiations agreed upon at Camp David, because they seek to achieve peace where it is not to be found. The Palestine question belongs to the Palestinians. Real peace must be peace for the land and the people alike. Only the establishment of the Palestinian State in the Palestinian homeland through negotiations with PLO, the legitimate representative of Palestinian rights, can achieve such a peace. No peace would be achieved in Palestine or in the Middle East if, as a result, the Palestinian people were to continue to be displaced and their revolution were to be perpetuated in some eternal diaspora, whether in Lebanon or elsewhere.
177.	Secondly, there is the continued Arab support of United Nations resolutions for a just and comprehensive solution of the Middle East question. More than one Arab official has, both before this Assembly and elsewhere, pointed out what might be derived from these and incorporated into an integral peace plan based on the recognition of the rights of all peoples and States of the region, including the eventual Palestinian State, to achieve security based on mutual recognition.
178.	Thirdly, there is the Arab opposition to the establishment of a strategic alliance between Israel and the United States at a time when the world expected Washington to use its influence to prevent Israel from persisting in its aggressive policy and using the pretext of security to project its borders where greed and expansion take it, thus threatening the world with the danger of a nuclear war. It is obvious that that "strategic alliance", if continued,, will prevent any serious American contribution towards ensuring stability in the area, through what Washington has described as a "strategic consensus". Needless to say, a strategic consensus is destined to remain an illusion unless it expresses the peoples' rights and their common faith in their freedom and the justice of their cause.
179.	Fourthly, there is the Arab' positive response, including Lebanon's, to the Soviet call for an international peace conference on the Middle East. Such a call must, however, be based on United Nations decisions and must solely seek their implementation. It should not lead to another "strategic consensus", nor should it seek to establish an ideological partnership whereby one system will confront another, whether inside or outside the Middle East
180.	I have voiced before the Assembly some expressions of the Arab approach to peace as perceived by my country. Indeed, we work for peace in the belief that it shields Lebanon, its safety and its unity. This, then, is not only the policy of rulers; rather, it is the deep expression of popular yearning in the hearts of tortured and helpless nations.
181.	The twentieth century has witnessed their liberation from colonialism and their resurgence into the light only to see themselves threatened by a new, multidimensional form of colonialism, even before the end of the generation that witnessed their renaissance. This neocolonialism prevents them from advancing along the path of freedom and prosperity, unable to enjoy their newly developed natural wealth and to contribute constructively to the creation of a new world, East and West, North and South.
182.	That is the reality of Arab idealism. And yet it is also the deeper meaning of the Arab tragedy manifested in both the Lebanese question and the Palestine question.
183.	For colonialism has equated the two peoples. The injustice inflicted on one people led to the infliction of injustice on the other. The loss of the Holy Land led to the destruction of what was the homeland of liberty and love: Lebanon. It caused the torture of its people and their dispersion. Peace cannot return to the Middle East, and there can be no return to the Holy Land, uniess Lebanon recovers its vitality, its unity and its liberties and until peace returns to its martyred land.
184.	Hence, it is in the name of that peace that our tortured people cry out today before the nations of the world herein assembled: give us back our homeland. We shall neither forget nor forgive, nor shall we compromise or submit, until Lebanon is returned to us.


268.Permit me, on behalf of the Sierra Leone delegation, to extend to the President our warmest congratulations on his election to preside over the thirty-sixth session of the General Assembly. We have every confidence that his long association with the United Nations, both in the capacity of representative of his country and as an official of the Organization over the years, equips him eminently well to discharge the functions of the high office he now occupies with distinction.
269.	Let me also pay a tribute to his predecessor, Mr. von Wechmar, who during his tenure made excellent contributions to bringing us still nearer to the goals of the United Nations, particularly in the field of global social and economic justice.
270.	The United Nations itself represents a culmination of the evolution of man's historic yearning for peace and his universal desire to promote economic and social well being, to improve the quality of life and to weave diverse political, ethnic, cultural and religious particularizations into a more harmonious and accommodating system. The General Assembly has come to represent a kind of shrine, as it were, at which nations of the world forgather annually, as we do here today, to express this universal yearning for peace and progress. Notwithstanding numerous frustrations in its path throughout its 3$ years of existence, it has persisted in keeping alive its noble and laudable objectives.
271.	Heedless of the cherished hopes which attended the birth of the Organization, we have in recent years become unwilling spectators of a world increasingly rearming itself as if in final preparation for Armageddon. Without doubt, the accelerating arms race continues to be the most Serious threat to the human race. In the face of want, deprivation and scarcity in many parts of the world, we are compelled to watch helplessly while scarce resources are frittered away in the accumulation of more deadly, more expensive and more destructive arsenals, resulting today in what for many of us is a frightening disproportion between the means of survival and the means of destruction.
272.	Three years ago the United Nations expressed its grave concern over this issue by convening a special session devoted to the question of disarmament. In its Declaration [resolution 5/0/2], the General Assembly at the tenth special session recognized the widespread, retrogressive and disintegrative effects of the arms race on the fabric of world peace and security and concluded that, not only did it run counter to efforts to achieve further relaxation of international tension and the establishment of genuine peace, but it also constituted a considerable drag on the world's social and economic development. It is, therefore, particularly distressing to see that three years later the situation not only has worsened but has in fact been compounded with the accretion of new weapon systems added to an already diabolical collection, which further endangers the future of our world. All this is done under the pretext of defense and security needs.
273.	One sure lesson of history throughout the ages has been that there is no security in armament, let alone in its accumulation. The only assurance of peace and survival is justice and tolerance.
274.	It is, in our view, as pernicious as it is inhuman to believe that a balance of terror can ensure the peace of the world; for there can be no dividends in a holocaust we are all losers. Let those, then, who would condemn our world to the uncertainty of a nuclear future, hold a nuclear sword of Damocles over our heads, and hold to ransom the hopes of humanity, search their consciences.
275.	It is against this backdrop of anxiety and uncertainty that we have come to witness a depressing deterioration in the world political climate. Indeed, today we face veritable global crises of confidence. There is a crisis of confidence between those who would arrogate to themselves the responsibility of being guardians of world peace. There is also a crisis of confidence in regard to the very survival of our world. Moreover, there is a crisis of confidence among the overwhelming masses of humanity, stemming from uncertainty concerning whether the affluent half of our world has any interest in their wellbeing and welfare.
276.	How could this not be so, when today we observe helplessly the investment of some $500 billion annually in the accumulation of weapons of mass destruction, instead of these resources being made available for economic development and improving the life of our people? We. have within our grasp the economic, scientific and technological capabilities to effect a great improvement in human prosperity, welfare and advancement, and this Organization owes it to mankind to ensure that we utilize these capabilities for nobler ends.
277.	It is in the face of these global crises of confidence that we are setting off on a new decade. We submit, therefore, with ail humility that the international agenda for this current decade and beyond should be composed of items and measures to restore faith and confidence in the human will and desire to survive in peace and prosperity. This is the essence and raison d'etre of the United Nations. Above all, the United Nations must now more than ever before be instrumental in effecting global confidence-building measures to assure us of peace, prosperity and security.
278.	We return on our annual pilgrimage to yet another session of the General Assembly, again, as in the immediate past, with an air of gloom over the world economy. The global economic situation, as in the past several years, still offers a familiar and depressing picture.
279.	For developed industrialized countries, the postwar era of boom and prosperity seems to be running out of steam and the long period of growth seems to be halted in its track by a general recession, exacerbated by monetary instability, high interest rates and mounting unemployment.
280.	For most developing countries, the rising cost of imports of manufactures, oil and food, the deteriorating terms of trade and the worsening balance of payment deficits have all, over the period, set in with particular severity to make life more miserable for their peoples and make more distant and difficult the prospect of realizing their human development.
281.	All this demonstrates that the world economy needs today the imagination, the courage and the necessary will not only to restructure it but to give it the necessary momentum to keep it on an even keel. In the meantime, we in the developing countries have experienced and are experiencing great difficulty in obtaining the necessary cooperation in evolving lasting and more responsive solutions to the continuing deterioration in our economic situation. This, we submit, is not a case of special pleading. The object lesson of the present global economic gloom clearly illustrates that our interdependent world will not brook prosperity in one half while the other half continues to languish in want and deprivation. Global wellbeing will remain illusory unless and until the aspirations and needs of the developing countries are reflected in the management of the international economy and in the decisions resulting from international negotiations.
282.	It is in this context that we believe that the United Nations must now more than ever before address itself seriously to the immediate necessity of launching the global round of negotiations, which would facilitate the implementation of the fundamental restructuring which we all voted for as far back as 1974 in adopting General Assembly resolutions 3201 (SVI) and 3202 (SVI).
283.	Now more than ever before it is clear that changes in international economic relationships are necessary, in the interests of both rich and poor nations, in our quest for more equity, both within States and among States, and everything must now be done to forge a global consensus on a program of survival and to translate the emergent consensus into action.
284.	However, inasmuch as we should welcome measures and initiatives that may help facilitate the process and, indeed, promote and inspire the imperatives of international cooperation, it is our belief that the central role of the United Nations and the necessity for the participation of all States in the process cannot be overemphasized, for the amalgam of global economic problems we are experiencing today will not admit of parochial or selective solutions. It is in this light, therefore, that we welcome the forthcoming Conference at Cancun.
285.	Although the Mexico summit of 22 countries cannot negotiate for the rest of the world, we believe it can nevertheless raise the level of consultations and provide the improved climate necessary for forging that consensus so vital for tackling the ills of the encircling global economic gloom.
286.	Ten years ago the Assembly, with dawning appreciation of the magnitude of the problem of international economic development, given the uneven availability and spread of global resources, identified a group of the most disadvantaged members of the world community [resolution 2768 (XXVI)]. It was felt that members of this group, the least developed countries, as they are euphemistically called, would have their prospects of self-sustaining development and viability enhanced if they were the object of special care and attention.
287.	Global concern for the distressing and deteriorating situation of this group of States came to a head at the recent United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries held in Paris. Regrettably, the outcome of this Conference did not, in our view, match the hopes and expectations that inspired it. We can only, therefore, appeal to those members of the international community that can afford it to help; this is a clear case of self-interested altruism because there can be no peace, justice, happiness or stability in this our interdependent world if a significant proportion of its members continue to wallow in poverty, ignorance and disease.
288.	Every so often mankind confirms its ability to respond to crises with resilience, imagination and determination. Such adaptation and resilience are no doubt essential for the survival of the human race. Regrettably, however, man has yet to muster his technological capabilities, skill, imagination and dexterity to achieve and ensure an adequate and reliable quantum of energy for his survival. Energy in its diverse manifestations remains one of the most important factors for progress, and its continued availability on a sustained and reliable basis is without doubt indispensable to technological and socioeconomic development.
289.	We are therefore encouraged by the seriousness, dedication and direction demonstrated at the recent United Nations Conference on New and Renewable Sources of Energy. It is the view of my delegation that the program of Action adopted at Nairobi" contains the necessary perceptions and policy guidelines for us to initiate practical measures to facilitate the effective and reliable supply of that essential resource in its various forms.