217.	 May I begin by congratulating Mr. Lazar Mojsov on this election as the president of this thirty-second session of the General Assembly. It is a source of deep satisfaction to us that he, with his wide-ranging knowledge of international affairs and his political experience so well known in the United Nations, will be presiding over our deliberations.
218.	I wish also to express our gratitude to Ambassador Hamilton Amerasinghe for the skilful manner in which he presided over the thirty-first session of the General Assembly.
219.	I should be remiss if I did not assure the Secretary-General of our support for his efforts to relax world tension and consolidate peace and security.
220.	I take this opportunity to give a warm welcome to two countries joining our ranks in the United Nations and bringing this Organization closer to its goal of universal membership, the Republic of Djibouti and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam.
221.	We meet at a time when the international community is confronted with many problems of paramount importance. I would like to deal with some of them briefly,
222.	The existing situation in the Middle East constitutes one of the main obstacles to peace and security. In that area, grave tensions continue, with the ever-present danger of a new outbreak of hostilities. We believe that Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973), together with the relevant decisions, including those dealing with the status of Jerusalem, form a valid basis for reconvening the Geneva Peace Conference on the Middle East. That Conference must be reconvened with the participation of all parties concerned. We further believe that any solution of the Middle East problem should take fully into account the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people.
223.	As long as Israel continues the occupation of Arab territories there can be no hope of establishing a lasting peace in that region. Recent moves by Israel in imposing its laws on the inhabitants of the West Bank and authorizing new Jewish settlements in the occupied Arab lands have created new obstacles on the road to peace, We hope, however, that genuine efforts will be made to put an end to this uneasy and precarious situation.
224.	Another continuing problem is the situation in Cyprus. In spite of efforts by the Secretary-General and other attempts to find a solution, there has been no significant relaxation of tension. We continue to believe that negotiations between the two ethnic communities can and must bring about a just and lasting solution to this problem.
225.	Concerning the Indian Ocean, the United Nations, through its Ad Hoc Committee, is actively engaged in efforts to ensure that this area will remain a zone of peace. My country has advocated co-operation among the countries of the region to achieve that objective and to keep the Indian Ocean free from great Power rivalry and competitive arms build-up.
226.	As for the Persian Gulf, it remains our firm position that the task of maintaining security there is the exclusive responsibility of the States bordering the Persian Gulf. Peace and security should be safeguarded by promoting co-operation among these States, free from any outside interference. We are happy to note that during the past year there has been evidence of keener interest in closer co-operation for the benefit of all countries in that area.
227.	As regards disarmament, we note with regret that no progress has been made this past year, even though we are now more than halfway through the Disarmament Decade. The General Assembly decision to hold a special session next year devoted to disarmament problems provides us all with an opportunity for new approaches to this matter. Having this in mind, Iran stands ready to co-operate with all members with a view to making the special session on disarmament a success. I would like here to emphasize that the goal of general and complete disarmament cannot be reached unless the major Powers themselves, whose arsenals
are swollen with nuclear and other sophisticated weapons, make more active endeavours towards the realization of this goal. This becomes even more necessary as new weapons of mass destruction are developed.
228.	Another area of concern is the spread of international terrorism. Last year the General Assembly set up an Ad Hoc Committee on the drafting of an international convention against the taking of hostages. This Committee, as well as the Ad Hoc Committee on International Terrorism, has so far failed to produce the desired positive results. Almost daily we read and hear about terrorist acts which are not confined to any countries or any areas but which threaten the lives of innocent people everywhere.
229.	The time has come for this Assembly to take a new and determined approach to this problem which holds potential danger for all Governments and peoples, in order that such brutal use of. force be outlawed by the international community and those who practice it be punished.
230.	In southern Africa millions of Africans live in circumstances of degradation and racial discrimination. In South Africa itself the policy of apartheid, repeatedly condemned in United Nations resolutions, continues, and millions of human beings are deprived of their most elementary rights.
231.	In spite of the fact that the United Nations terminated the mandate given to South Africa over Namibia, South Africa continues its illegal hold on that Territory. This is a challenge to the international community and cannot be tolerated in any way. My Government does not recognize South Africa as having any jurisdiction over Namibia, and will continue to support all efforts to transfer power to the people of Namibia. Furthermore, my Government believes that South Africa is making a grave mistake by trying to create a fictitious state having the appearance of independence in this area. We also observe with grave concern the fact that South Africa has taken steps to incorporate a part of Namibia into its territory.
232.	In Zimbabwe, open warfare is all the news we hear about these days. The illegal minority regime, which holds power only by armed force, denies the rights of the African population. We are outraged by the conduct of the illegal regime in sending military aircraft and armed bands to attack and occupy villages deep inside Zambia, Botswana and Mozambique.
233.	Such attacks across international frontiers have already been strongly condemned by the United Nations, and this body should intensify its efforts to provide international aid for the peoples of the devastated areas. It is regrettable that the illegal regime remains blind to the necessity of evolution and makes what will prove to be futile attempts to perpetuate its grip on the people of Zimbabwe. As we have stated on numerous occasions, the implementation of the principle of majority rule is the only solution to the problem of Southern Rhodesia, and we once again reiterate our full support for all efforts to speed up this irreversible process.
234.	The recent International Conference in Support of the Peoples of Zimbabwe and Namibia held in Maputo was an important landmark in the struggle for freedom and independence of those peoples. The Declaration and Programme of Action adopted by that Conference showed that the international community is united in its desire to end colonialism and racial discrimination in southern Africa.
235.	The fact that the World Conference for Action Against Apartheid held at Lagos adopted its historic declaration by consensus offers ample proof of the determination of the world community to bring about a speedy end to this policy.
236.	My country has always opposed colonialism and the policy of apartheid and other forms of racial discrimination. We believe that it will not take long for the last vestiges of colonial domination and racial discrimination to be swept away from the continent of Africa. Iran once again reiterates its support for all efforts to achieve this important objective.
237.	Turning now to international economic co-operation, we believe that the adoption by the General Assembly of the Declaration and the Programme of Action on the Establishment of a New International Economic Order marked the emergence of a new concept in international economic relations.
238.	Although it can be said that negotiations conducted during the seventh special session of the General Assembly, and later on within the framework of UNCTAD, and the Paris Conference contributed to a better understanding of the important issues, we much regret that the expectations of the developing countries are still far from being satisfied. Despite continual negotiations at the United Nations and elsewhere, the agreements reached so far are by no means commensurate with the magnitude of the problems to be faced. The Paris Conference has failed to bring about conditions conducive to the establishment of a just and equitable international economic order.
239.	The need for such an order corresponds to nothing less than the complete realization of the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights.
240.	It cannot be denied that an ever widening social and economic gap divides the industrialized countries from what is usually referred to as the third world. While in the industrialized countries attention is mainly focused on civil and political freedoms, the third-world countries are struggling primarily to overcome burdens often imposed upon them by colonialism, exploitation and an obsolete international economic order. Many nations, including my own, are trying to achieve the more difficult task of co-ordinating the requirements of economic democracy with those of political democracy through the development of institutions suitable to their national traditions and their own way of life. The fact, however, remains that among
third-world nations many still are at a stage of development where the material needs and the elementary right of their people to a decent life cannot yet be ensured. If nothing is done to bring about the necessary changes, the future will be even gloomier. Let me illustrate some of the things we have to fear.
241.	The present world population of 4 billion will increase to about 7 billion by the turn of the century. If the existing economic system persists, three quarters of the inhabitants of our planet will continue to be deprived of the minimum requirements for a decent living.
242.	Some 85 per cent of the world's wealth is at the disposal of 15 per cent of its population; and if this trend is not changed, this disproportion will even increase. The ratio of per capita income in the developed and developing countries is 12 to 1, and in some cases this ratio rises to 60 to 1; and in the field of housing, two thirds of the world's population cannot afford to have even an elementary shelter.
243.	Every year 15 million infants below the age of five die because of under nourishment and malnutrition; without prompt action to change this situation, 500 million children will starve to death before the end of the century.
244.	In these circumstances, it would be naive to think that, by putting the accent exclusively on the civil and political aspects of human rights, one CAN  solve all the problems of the poor and developing countries. Without the satisfaction of basic human needs, how can we expect the vast majority of the people who are sunk in hunger, disease and ignorance to be able to appreciate and effectively enjoy such rights? What, for instance, is the meaning of freedom of choice to a sick, starving and completely ignorant individual? Human rights are indeed indivisible, and it is for this very reason that the realization of each of these rights depends on progress being made in the others.
245.	We, of course, support the effort of the international community to promote greater respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the world. For our part, we have taken extensive measures in that direction in our own country. Our efforts have always been geared towards ultimate realization of individual rights, social justice and economic democracy in the framework of our own culture, for we believe that each country should find inspiration in its national traditions.
246.	However, no matter how much each country strives towards the improvement of the conditions of its people, the problems facing them in an interdependent world such as ours cannot be overcome without co-ordinated cooperation based on a new international economic order.
247.	The need to provide assistance to the less developed countries is still intense. The members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, for their part, have been contributing as much as 2.6 per cent of their gross national product to their fellow developing countries, whereas the developed countries have averaged only close to 0.3 per cent of their gross national product for this purpose. My country continues to assist in the implementation of constructive programmes in the developing countries and has put at their disposal significant financial credits. The ratio of this assistance to our total income has placed my country foremost in the ranks of those providing such international help. Notwithstanding these efforts, the need of the developing countries remains immense. But equally immense is the need of the developed world for a stable supply of raw materials and a stable market for their goods and services.
248.	In this connexion, an important development in the field of energy is worth mentioning. Indeed, what was yesterday considered heresy when we were talking about supply and prices has now become gospel.
249.	Almost three years ago, when my august Sovereign called for rationalization in the use of oil, and its conservation, and stressed the urgency of developing new and unconventional sources of energy, the industrialized countries gave a discouraging reception to his warning. Now recent developments bear ample witness to the correctness of our approach and to the necessity of intensifying efforts, on a world-wide scale, to achieve those goals.
250.	Our countries, members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, while struggling energetically to gain recognition of our legitimate demands, have never failed to show a great sense of responsibility towards the international community.
251.	The gap between the positions of the developed and the developing countries is still wide, even at a time when we have to speed up the process of change, the process of bringing the industrialized countries into the development arena as conscientious partners rather than as unwitting adversaries.
252.	Whatever the labels on our countries- least developed ,  developing , or  developed —all of us must realize that we live in one world, a world beset by conflicts, imbalances and injustice, but a world yearning for a decent life for all. This objective cannot be achieved without ensuring economic and social justice.
253.	Our ultimate goal should therefore be to join our efforts, not only in solving the political problems of our time, but also in creating conditions under which a just and equitable new international economic order can be established.


42.	 Mr. President, I am pleased to be one of the first speakers to congratulate you on your election, which my delegation regards as a tribute both to your personal qualities and to the important role your country has played in the United Nations. In agreeing to preside not only over our annual deliberations this autumn, but also over next year's important special session on disarmament, you have accepted a heavy responsibility. I know you will fulfil it with distinction.
43.	This year we welcome two new Members to the Assembly, the Republic of Djibouti and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam. As a member of the Security Council, Canada was pleased to recommend both countries for membership, and we look forward to working with them in this Organization.
44.	Like others who will participate in this debate, I have received much advice on what I should say that might be helpful in solving the many problems we face. It has been a frustrating experience.
45.	I have concluded regrettably that I could read my last year's speech again, word for word, and no one would notice the repetition, nor would they care! The sad truth is that every serious issue I and many others raised last year remain unresolved and some now pose a greater threat to peace and security than they did 12 months ago. It has not been a good year for the United Nations.
46.	Small wonder that our deliberations have so little relevance for our publics back home or for the many millions around the world whom we are committed to help but who have become disillusioned and cynical about our ability to fill answers to what are in many cases, matters of life and death.
47.	I make these judgments with regret. No country has been more consistent than Canada in supporting the principles of the United Nations. We do not have to apologize for our record here or for the attitude of the Canadian people in accepting responsibilities for peacekeeping, for leadership in the North-South dialogue and for making a fair contribution to all United Nations initiatives. Canada and Canadians have earned the right to be heard and what Canadians are saying is that the performance of the United Nations is not good enough.
48.	Canada does not, of course, exclude itself from all blame for this inadequate record. Like other countries, there are times when we get our priorities mixed and lack the proper sense of urgency in dealing with new or continuing threats to world order and security. Nor am I interested merely in pointing the finger at others for the dubious pleasure of giving vent to my own frustrations. I speak as I do because I know that many of you share my views. It is not our sense of commitment that is flagging; no one in his right mind would wilfully project the world towards more bloodshed and potential global conflict. All of us want peace and order in international affairs.
49.	Yet we are trapped in the tangled thickets of history, of fear, suspicion, and ancient deep-seated antagonisms. Self-interest usually prevails over our efforts to define and foster larger, more generous objectives. I am aware of the conviction of many in this Organization and elsewhere that this is the reality of international affairs- the real world  as they call it—that glaring imperfections are a normal and unavoidable part of the human condition and that we must resign ourselves to the mere containment of the most virulent and dangerous manifestations of human greed and irrationality, accepting that the world's fate is to stumble on from one crisis to the next. There are grounds for healthy scepticism, I agree; but in the United Nations that scepticism gives way too often to resignation and to a form of professional cynicism that views all new approaches as yet another example of short-lived idealistic naiveté.
50.	Let me assure you that I am not naive; but I cannot accept, Canada cannot accept, that this Organization and its Member States are powerless to remove the root-causes of those major tensions that now require all of us to live out our lives in the constant shadow of impending disaster.
51.	There is among us another widely held view that, while any country can light a fire, only the super-Powers have the option of either fuelling its flames or putting it out. There is, of course, a key role for the large, wealthy and powerful nations and their actions should not be greeted by automatic mistrust. But for smaller countries to do nothing or adhere blindly and unquestioningly to this or that power bloc is to avoid responsibility and to make a mockery of the United Nations and the opportunity it provides for reasoned, free and open debate.
52.	However awesome the outcome of super-Power decision-making and action can be, we must never forget that many of today's flash-points are not of their making. Many smaller countries have shown that they are perfectly capable entirely on their own of causing problems for all of us. And such actions are all the more reprehensible when they risk or even invite the escalation of East-West tensions.
53.	If we are to make progress here, there must be an end to the sterile debates of recent years where the outcome is always a foregone conclusion. If the vitality of open debate is not restored to the United Nations then increasingly the important decisions affecting the fate of mankind will be made elsewhere and this Organization and most of its agencies will wither into insignificance and, eventually, unlamented oblivion.
54.	Lest any consider this too harsh a judgment and too pessimistic a forecast, I ask you to recall objectively the reaction of many of our own publics to United Nations deliberations and resolutions. My own experience at home and around the world has been bad.
55.	Granted these criticisms are often based on prejudice or ignorance. But we know too that much can and should be done to make the United Nations more effective. I propose to give certain examples as well as suggestions for improvement.
56.	Two of the main issues that will come before us at this session are the Middle East and southern African situations. Last year we adopted 20 resolutions on the Middle East and no less than 34 on questions related to southern Africa. To what purpose was all that time and effort, not to mention money, expended? The answer is surely  very little  because many of those resolutions simply expressed moral judgments and were devoid of practical proposals for action. Furthermore, everyone knew that they had little if any prospect of being implemented. Yet the vast and increasingly expensive machinery of the United Nations ground on not only through the 50-odd resolutions I have mentioned but through nearly 200 more, many in the same category and thus predestined to suffer the same fate. Already gathering dust, I suspect, is the 400-page compendium of those resolutions, most echoing word for word the deliberations of previous years.
57.	No one should be surprised therefore at the indifference with which the media and the public greet their publication. By adopting more resolutions we have succeeded paradoxically in ensuring that they receive less, not more, attention. Changing our collective habits will not be easy. By passing more resolutions we are certainly letting our situation deteriorate. We should scrutinize the agenda closely to resist the automatic re-inclusion of old items and the addition of less essential new ones. We should group items so that similar debates will not take place in different committees on closely related subjects. We should avoid the proliferation of resolutions which express the Members' aspirations or objectives but do not contribute in a practical way to achieving any of them. A few short, precise and practical resolutions will have more impact than the many rambling and ineffective ones we now consider each year.
58.	As a member once each decade of the Security Council, Canada has accumulated some experience but also has a chance to take a fresh look at its activities every time we return. So far this year, the Council has debated several significant issues in a sensible, restrained fashion. None of us would claim, however, that it has done much to enhance its position as the United Nations organ with primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Our Secretary-General has wisely warned us of the risk that there may come, in his words,  a time when the Council is desperately needed and will be found to be too weak to fulfil its responsibilities.
59.	The problems arise, not because of weaknesses in the Council's structure or powers but, rather, from a lack of impetus. To give a greater sense of purpose to the Council, the Charter provides for periodic meetings at which members be represented by a Cabinet member or other specially designated representative. Remarkably, Mr. President, as you well know, the Council held the first of such meetings in its history at the time of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebrations. This Assembly welcomed the Council's intention to hold further periodic meetings, but none has taken place.
60.	I propose that the Security Council should begin meeting regularly at ministerial level. Fifteen ministers meeting together could give a new sense of life and political purpose to the Council. Instead of following a formal agenda, they could have a free discussion of major issues of international peace and security, based on, perhaps, a special report by the Secretary-General. The meetings should be held in an informal atmosphere, without a small army of advisers, thus allowing the ministers to exchange views informally. Meetings at ministerial level should be held once or twice a year rather than once every 25 years. The first meeting might well be devoted to finding ways to make the work of the Council more relevant to the major issues of peace and security.
61.	When I spoke here last year, I suggested that the Economic and Social Council should be given a more significant role. At its spring and summer sessions, the Council considers a bewildering variety of issues. It has even less success in what should be its central task-setting priorities and  coordinating the work of this family of organizations in the economic, social, cultural, educational, health and related fields. My delegation believes that the Council should have more frequent and shorter sessions. At each of these it could deal thoroughly with one group of subjects, covering all of its agenda over a two-year period. From time to time the Council should also meet at ministerial level to review major economic or social questions when policy considerations justify participation at this level. In all United Nations organs, I welcome new practices of informal consultation and negotiations through contact groups which help to turn the United Nations from a deliberative body into a real negotiating forum.
62.	We must also work for an improvement in the work of the specialized agencies. Many of them have a distinguished record. But our method for controlling the system as a whole has been unsatisfactory. We have been good at devising new programmes, but less so at identifying ones which are obsolete or at preventing duplication. One result has been an escalation of costs. A few years ago one of my predecessors complained to the Assembly that the assessed budgets of the United Nations family of organizations had doubled in 10 years. Now they have more than doubled in five. We shall have to ensure that budgets are kept down, and that money is spent only on subjects that have the highest priority.
63.	A second problem with the specialized agencies has been the extent to which they have-been turned from their main purposes to deal with the political issues which are the responsibility of this Assembly. Canada is determined to resist this process. We have been particularly concerned about the ILO. We value that organization for its record of achievement on human rights and its unique contribution to the United Nations system as a whole. We are anxious to preserve the impartiality and authority of its procedures so that a member State will not be condemned without impartial investigation. I believe that many members share our views and will work together for this purpose.
64.	These proposals deal principally with improvements in our procedures. If implemented, and I confess quite frankly that I am by no means sanguine that they will be, they would put us in a better position to deal with the important issues; but the complexity of the issues themselves will no: be lessened.
65.	Although they manifest themselves in a variety of troubling ways, including open conflicts, it is now apparent that the principal concerns of most Members here are, in fact, economic. The United Nations and its agencies have their work cut out for them if we are to move closer to a more just and equitable world economic order. The barriers to success are enormous as unemployment and inflation continue to plague even the wealthiest countries. Unless a spirit of reasonableness prevails, unless demands and responses are tailored to present economic realities, I must caution that even in Canada, which is far from being the least generous of the developed countries, pressures will develop to focus on our own considerable problems even to the exclusion of the international consequences. I need hardly tell the Assembly that we are not alone in this difficulty.
66.	Canada's goal is to build on the foundations it helped to create through its co-chairmanship of the Conference on International Economic Co-operation. Given the proper climate we will work hard to devise a strategy that is both broadly acceptable and realistic. In the coming weeks, Canada's representatives here and at other United Nations and related meetings will announce additional Canadian financial commitments to a large number of international organizations. I shall not take time today to relate the details. I do wish, however, to say a word about food aid.
67.	The world food shortage has been eased by good harvests in many countries. However, the factors which gave rise to the recent crisis are still present, and, as many representatives know, recent studies concur in the likelihood of a shortfall in the next five to ten years. One proposal to improve world food security concerns the idea of a 500,000-ton emergency grain reserve. Canada previously announced a willingness to contribute, along with other donors. I am now able to announce that, subject to Parliamentary approval, we would be willing to provide the equivalent of $7.5 million in food grain-roughly 50,000 tons or 10 per cent of the total objective.
68.	At this session we must establish the machinery for developing a new international development strategy for the third development decade. This task provides us with a rare opportunity to demonstrate the continuing relevance of the United Nations. We can take advantage of it, or we can allow our  deliberations to deteriorate into sterile rhetorical exchanges which will sap the goodwill of those who must give and deepen the bitterness of the receivers. Let us resolve now to choose the first course.
69.	Since I last spoke to this Assembly there have been important developments with respect to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. This historic Conference illustrates very well some of the best and some of the worst aspects of United Nations deliberations and processes. Without the United Nations there is little doubt that management and control of the oceans and their resources would have deteriorated into anarchy. The Conference is, therefore, one of the United Nations great achievements; its originators and all who have participated deserve great credit. But it is an agonizingly slow process.
70.	In the past 12 months many countries, including Canada, have extended their fishing jurisdiction over living resources in their coastal waters out to 200 miles. While it is true that these actions are based upon the common will of States reflected in the draft conference texts, it is also true that before that point could be reached many fish stocks had become dangerously depleted, vital elements of the world's fishing industry were jeopardized and serious confrontations developed between traditionally friendly countries.
71.	There are legitimate and complex reasons why the negotiations were difficult. But we cannot ignore the fact either that old habits and patterns are hard to abandon, and it is ironic in some respects that only by acting in advance of the conclusion of the Conference did Canada and countries that took similar action enhance the United Nations and the undoubted value of the Conference. This lesson should, and I hope will, lend new urgency to the important work of the Conference that remains to be completed. We have taken 10 years to come this far, and the gains will be dissipated by a series of unilateral actions unless a comprehensive agreed international regime comes into force very soon.
72.	It should be self-evident, but sometimes, strangely, it is not, that all of our painfully slow progress towards a more just and well ordered society rests on the fragile assumption that we can create and preserve a peaceful world. No argument should be necessary in defence of that proposition. Yet we continue to witness new outbreaks of violence and to hear from leaders genuinely convinced that the only path to their objectives leads across the battlefield. That belief is prevalent at present in parts of southern Africa.
73.	Soon we shall be discussing the most recent plan for the attainment of majority rule in Rhodesia. Canada fully supports the plan not only because we believe that it provides the basis for a fair and equitable solution but also because we reject totally the alternative of further bloodshed. There must be no lessening of our resolve to see the end of the present illegal minority Rhodesian regime, and for that reason we must redouble our efforts and our commitment to peaceful means. Otherwise, whatever the eventual outcome, it will have about it the smell of failure and the sad realization that good can be achieved only through death and destruction.
74.	In the Middle East the issues are even more complex and the dangers to world security proportionately greater. All of us are hoping that present initiatives and negotiations will prove successful and today, as in the past, Canada urges all concerned to recognize fully their awesome responsibility to make every effort and explore every avenue that can lead to a peaceful and permanent solution to longstanding differences.
75.	Canada remains committed to the framework for peace embodied in Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). Our support for Israel's right to exist as defined by those resolutions is firm and unequivocal. We deplore, and we shall continue to do so, all efforts within this Assembly and elsewhere to attribute patently false motives to Israel or to diminish its status and rights within the United Nations or as a legitimate member of the world community.
76.	Canada believes that all countries in the region need and have a right to expect more than just another cease-fire or merely a formal end to belligerency. If this kind of peace is to be achieved, the crucial issues of territory must be solved. The only truly secure borders-those which are freely recognized by the parties on either side of them-must be determined by negotiations within the framework of resolution 242 (1967). Until then, we believe that nothing should be done unilaterally or illegally to change or predetermine the status of any part of the occupied territories. We regret that such actions are still being taken without regard to their effect on the prospects for peace. It is also clear that any resolution of territorial issues, if it is indeed to bring-about the lasting peace that all desire, must provide a just, humanitarian and political solution for the Palestinian Arab people by which they can live in peace without threatening the security of any country in the region. Any solution for the Palestinian Arabs must of course include their clear and unequivocal acceptance of Israel's permanent existence as their neighbour. During this Assembly, we should bring our weight to bear to bring about .In early resumption of negotiations and not attempt to substitute empty debates or one-sided resolutions for the complicated, slow, but essential process of working out a settlement by the parties themselves.
77.	Obviously, the Middle East situation has reached a crucial stage. For all concerned, these are days of opportunity. We must pray that they act wisely and with a full awareness of the awful consequences of unwise actions.
78.	For, whenever there is a potential for conflict these days, we must not only contemplate localized, limited hostilities, frightful as those always are. We know that each new flare-up wherever it occurs in the world is a potential threat to us all and even to world survival. We must remind those who would risk the use of arms that they are endangering more than the lives of their own people. Every weapon fired in anger is aimed, potentially, at the heart of civilization. Thus we have a right and a duty to speak out; for what is at stake's in truth the peace of Canada and of every other country in the world today.
79.	Because this is the simple truth, no problem is of greater concern to this Assembly than disarmament, but, equally, no subject has more frustrated our efforts and disappointed our peoples. Next year's special session can provide us with an opportunity to move towards real disarmament. Canada was a sponsor of the resolution calling for the session, and we shall put forward specific proposals to make it a success.
80.	But we cannot wait for the special session. The need is immediate to improve and strengthen the international non-proliferation system, implement the non-proliferation Treaty more effectively and re-examine the risks and benefits in various nuclear cycles and processes.
81.	If anything is more frightening than the prospect of rapidly escalating local hostilities, it is the nightmare of unrestrained nuclear proliferation with all its attendant horrors. I find it difficult to understand how anyone among the world's leaders could consider that an expansion in the number of nuclear-weapon States would contribute to greater world stability. Canada, despite its known competence in the field, rejected the nuclear-weapons option long ago. Now we are making every effort to ensure that others do likewise. We shall co-operate, in terms of nuclear supplies and technology, only with those countries which have signed the non-proliferation Treaty or are otherwise committed to safeguards of full scope. We are encouraged by the fact that some other nuclear suppliers, including Australia and Sweden, have adopted a similar policy. We hope that there will be more.
82.	For Canada recognizes that, with the inevitable decline and increasing costs of conventional energy sources, much of the world will have no choice but to turn to nuclear sources to meet energy demands. We appreciate also that there are legitimate differences of opinion on the question of the safest and most efficient means of utilizing nuclear resources and technology. This is true even in countries whose commitment to non-proliferation is total and unquestioned.
83.	Canada therefore welcomes and supports the proposal made at the London summit meeting for a thorough study of alternative fuel cycles that avoid the use of plutonium or improve safeguards. We commend the United States for its initiatives in this field and hope that all countries will give it their full support. This subject is much too broad and too important to be dealt with in a few moments. I hope that this Assembly will provide the time for a full-scale discussion, for there can be no subject of greater importance.
84.	Because of Canada's special interest, I hope and expect that there will be an opportunity also to discuss United
Nations peace-keeping activities. In the Middle East, Cyprus and South Asia, United Nations peace-keeping forces or observer groups are in place. Soon there may be further requests involving Zimbabwe and Namibia.
85.	Canada has consistently responded to United Nations requests to provide personnel as available for peace-keeping, because we believe this to be a significant way to contribute to world peace. But in Canada there is growing concern about peace keeping for two reasons. First, many of the disputes which led to the need for peace-keeping forces appear no nearer to solution than they were one, two and even three decades ago. We recognize that these basic and intractable problems may indeed take a lot of time and cannot be settled overnight. What we wish, but do not always see, is evidence that the parties are intent on negotiating an end to their disputes. Secondly, although the two most recent forces-UNEF and the UNDGF-are being property paid for through collective assessment, we have failed to reach general agreement on how future peacekeeping operations should be financed and UNFICYP is over $50 million in debt. If operations are not properly funded, many Members of the United Nations will not be able to afford to provide forces-a situation which will not be healthy either for this Organization or for the concept of peace-keeping.
86.	In considering future participation, Canada will weigh these two considerations: whether peace-keeping forces will contribute to a settlement rather than provide temporary relief or even contribute to a perpetuation of the problem, and whether arrangements to pay for them represent the common will of Members to assume the financial burden and permit troop contributors to be selected from a broad cross-section of countries.
87.	I have no doubt we will hear a great deal about human rights during the coming months, and not only here at the United Nations. Within a few days the review conference on the Final Act adopted by the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe at Helsinki opens in Belgrade. Canada, as one of the signers of that document, will make its views known at that time.
88.	But we must also recognize that the United Nations has a major responsibility in the human rights field; one we have not always discharged fully or effectively.
89.	Last year we welcomed the coming into force of the International Covenants on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and on Civil and Political Rights. Paradoxically, however, at a time when these new human rights instruments have defined more fully the rights of persons in States which have ratified these instruments and have created new machinery to monitor the compliance of Member States with their legal and moral obligations the gap between the ideals of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the practice of States has widened noticeably. It is regrettable that only one third of the total membership of the United Nations has ratified the major human rights covenants, and that even fewer States have accepted the Optional Protocol. The various monitoring and reporting procedures are too slow and cumbersome to be truly effective, and offer little tangible assistance to victims of violations.
90.	More progress can and must be made in those areas where abuses are flagrant and persistent. We should direct our efforts towards finding a means of monitoring compliance with the Declaration against torture passed by the General Assembly in 1975. We should improve the procedures for screening complaints and for acting on those that reflect serious abuse. We should consider better procedures for co-ordination of all United Nations activity in defence of human rights.
91.	We recognize that the Charter of the United Nations obliges Member States to respect the sovereignty of others. But it is surely consistent with acceptance of the principle of non-interference to urge more complete and universal recognition of other freely assumed obligations-the promotion and encouragement of respect for human rights and fundamental freedom for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.
92.	The fact is that on this as on all the other issues I have mentioned the performance of the United Nations and of all of its Member States is being examined more closely and critically than ever before, for the sound and obvious reason that the stakes are higher than ever before.
93.	I have spoken critically of some aspects of our past performance and present practices. I have done so not out of any desire to weaken this Organization but because Canada is convinced that without a marked change of attitude on the part of Members and without the reforms that are so clearly necessary, the erosion of the effectiveness and prestige of the United Nations will continue.
94.	We must dedicate ourselves to work for this Organization as if our lives depended on it. In truth they probably do.


41.	Mr. President, may I first of all express to you, on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco and on my own behalf, our warmest congratulations on your election to preside over this thirty-second session of the General Assembly.
42.	Choosing you as the person to undertake this heavy burden is the expression of the confidence and the esteem which you enjoy among us. I am sure that our Organization will find in your qualities and competence the best guarantee for a wise and enlightened guidance of our work, in seeking a significant reduction of the acute crises which loom over the horizon of the international community and
an approach which is both determined and wise to each of the problems before us. Without doubt your election is also the expression of a recognition long due to your country because of its ceaseless contribution to strengthening the cause of peace and international co-operation and its dedication to the principles and ideals which guide our Organization and govern international relations.
43.	I cannot fail to express the gratitude of my country to your eminent predecessor, the head of the delegation of Sri Lanka, Mr. Hamilton Shirley Amerasinghe, the Chairman of the Group of Non-Aligned Countries, for his exceptional efforts up to the end to ensure that our previous session closed with tangible results. I also wish to state to him our complete satisfaction with his diligence and the high sense of responsibility with which he presided and, we sincerely hope, will continue to preside over the yet uncertain destiny of the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. Indeed, a happy outcome of this important international conference, dedicated to the establishment of complete and total order in the law of the sea, will owe much to his outstanding guidance and invaluable personal contribution. His name will forever be linked to that great undertaking.
44.	I should like at the same time to express my best wishes and welcome to the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam and to the young Republic of Djibouti which, by acceding to membership in the United Nations, and by committing themselves to undertake the obligations and responsibilities deriving there from, will, I am sure, give full meaning to the universal calling of the United Nations.
45.	There is no doubt that our Organization has, within the space of a generation, fully demonstrated its indispensable character as an instrument reflecting the lasting nature of human civilization, and as a bulwark for the highest values of that civilization against a massive return of destructive barbarism. It has to its credit far from negligible achievements in its vigilant safeguarding of international peace and security, even though the obstacles it has had to confront at times seemed insurmountable.
46.	The appeal launched by our Secretary-General, to whom we must pay a well-deserved tribute for the lucidity and devotion he has shown at all times in serving the true objectives of the Charter, represents the aspirations of the international community towards the work of the Organization and the confidence that it will continue to place in its future. No Government conscious of its duties can remain indifferent at this time of major historical changes which are at the same time decisive, perilous and promising.
47.	The General Assembly will have to deal with a number of important items on its agenda during this session. Many problems before it, of necessity, remain linked structurally. The number and magnitude of those problems should not lead us to despair of the virtues of patient dialogue and continuous action in harmony, where there is good faith and a real will to reach a viable and constructive solution.
48.	The questions of the Middle East and of the rights of _ the Palestinian people, the situation in southern Africa and
of disarmament, the international economic order and development, as well as the universal respect for human
rights-to cite only a few of the burning issues before us-are not the kind that may be continually deferred to other sessions without being given at least a partial solution at present.
49.	Among the gravest political questions at the present time, the question of the Middle East remains one of the major concerns of my Government because of Israel's persistent aggression, stepped up as it is day after day, by its military occupation of the territories of Arab States, Members of the United Nations. It also remains a major concern of my Government because the Palestinian people, whose spoliation and intolerable humiliation are the essence of the problem, struggle continuously to recover their legitimate and inalienable rights, in particular, though the building of a sovereign and independent national entity.
50.	My Government reaffirms its complete support for its fraternal Arab countries in their efforts to recover their occupied territories and to establish a genuine and lasting peace based on justice throughout the region of the Middle East and, in consequence and above all, on the basis of a solemn guarantee of the national rights of the Palestinian people.
51.	The participation of the Palestine Liberation Organization, which is the sole representative of the Palestinian people in every diplomatic effort to solve the crisis of the Middle East, remains the prerequisite without which these efforts cannot reach any decisive results. That is why my Government is particularly pleased about the recent development in relation to the attitude of the Government of the United States of America on the question, and in particular its statement on the need for the participation of Palestinian representatives in all negotiations for peace in the region.
52.	Nevertheless, it is regrettable that Zionist leaders, by increasing their provocative initiatives, continue to develop a situation which represents a danger to world peace and security.
53.	My Government strenuously objects to the Israeli measures intended to establish new settlements on occupied Arab territory in. a senseless attempt to modify their legal nature, their geographical characteristics, and their demographic composition.
54.	The Israeli claims in considering Arab territories as "liberated Israeli territories"-claims criticized by almost the whole international community—are a clear violation of the provisions of the United Nations Charter and of the fourth Geneva Convention of 1949. These claims are a threat to the careful negotiations which have been taking place for four years with a view to establishing a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.
55.	Furthermore, Israel's persistence in violating the principles of the United Nations is an outrage to our Organization and to the international community
56.	In addition, my Government vigorously objects to the recent deployment of Israeli forces on parts of Lebanese territory. By invading southern Lebanon, Israel is extending yet another tentacle over a fourth Arab country-and thus allows no respite for healing the wounds of war-whose prolonged tragedy bears witness in the most painful manner to the vast criminal plan being pursued methodically and mercilessly in that region by the Zionist State.
57.	Israel's obstinacy in pursuing its expansionist and egocentric policies is a short-sighted view, and its perpetually negative reaction to every initiative to obtain genuine peace on the basis of justice and right inevitably exposes the region to a return of tension and of the turmoil which can only soon threaten world peace and security. It is now more necessary than ever for the international community to review its position on this open rebellion against society's laws and fundamental principles, and even against the most elementary rules which should govern a civilized international society.
58.	It is up to the General Assembly once again to reaffirm that a just and lasting peace can only be established by a total withdrawal from all of the territories occupied since 5 June 1967, the return of Jerusalem to its legitimate status, and recovery by the Palestinian people of their full rights, particularly by its right to build up a sovereign and independent nation-State.
59.	Jerusalem is and will remain for the Arab and Moslem world one of the centres of its spiritual existence. Its liberation constitutes one of the decisive elements for a just peace and one of the vital conditions for a lasting peace.
60.	It is also up to the General Assembly to declare that all measures taken by Israel in the occupied territories to establish settlements there and to apply its laws to the Arab populations in these territories are null and void and can have no legal effect.
61.	I could not conclude this vital question without greeting with satisfaction the Joint Soviet-American statement of 1 October 1977, which constitutes a positive step towards a just and lasting settlement of the conflict.
62.	What I have said about the policy pursued by Israel in the Middle East may be applied, in the very same terms, to the policy of the "rearguard struggle" of the real "bunkers" of the colonial era in Africa, namely the racist minority regimes of southern Africa
63.	The parallel between the two policies may in the past have seemed bold to some and, for reasons which are more sentimental than objective, may have led to violent and indignant protests. Even if the situation in southern Africa has unfortunately during the past year had to share the spotlight with the situation in the Middle East in their daily efforts to command the attention of world public opinion, it has nevertheless brought into one open the alliance between the rebel regimes of southern Africa and Israel. This de facto alliance, which has become increasingly organized and deliberate, is taking on the aspects of a plot, with incalculable consequences for Arab and African peoples and international peace and security.
64.	My Government reaffirms its full and unconditional support for Zimbabwe, Namibia and Azania in their struggle—which is that of all Africa—to recover their dignity and their legitimate rights to free determination and national territorial integrity.
65.	My Government also supports the front-line countries, in particular the Republic of Zambia, which is subjected relentlessly to most savage terrorist raids by the Salisbury Government.
66.	As regards Namibia, the scandalous last-minute attempt by the Government of Pretoria to detach the port of Walvis Bay from Namibian territory cannot but give rise to additional concern as to the possibility of a forthcoming settlement that will safeguard the national unity and territorial integrity of Namibia, to which our Organization remains legally and morally bound. This attempt cannot but remind us of the no less scandalous Zionist attempt in occupied Arab territories, both dictated by the same illusion of gaining time or keeping all options open by hampering the achievement of a peaceful solution in accordance with international law within the time-limit set by the United Nations.
67.	The World Conference for Action against Apartheid, which met in the month of August this year at Lagos, was a vital step in making the international community aware of the need to accelerate, by every possible means, the promotion of the cause of human freedom and equality in southern Africa.
68.	It is indispensable to isolate the racist minority regimes and to ensure the full and effective application of United Nations decisions and resolutions with respect to the economic boycott of those regimes and the strictest embargo on the sale of arms to them.
69.	We firmly hope that the appeal made in the final declaration of the Conference will be universally heeded so as to eliminate as soon as possible the imminent risk of a generalized explosion, with unforeseeable consequences, in that part of the world.
70.	If our African continent appears to be dramatically within the "storm zone", that is due in part to the permanent violence in which it is placed, despite the Charter, by the illegal and anachronistic regimes of racist oppression, and in part to the geo-political time bombs that the colonial era and the era of recalcitrant decolonization which succeeded it in the past 20 years have thoughtlessly planted among its peoples to perpetuate division and create or exacerbate among them, down the years and at the cost of fratricidal struggles, an unnatural antagonism
71.	The Kingdom of Morocco is convinced that African unity remains one of the most positive achievements of the international community. It is thanks to its strengthening that the continent has been spared from becoming once again, as in the previous century, a mere pawn in international relations, a haven for the exercise of big Power rivalries destined to be ?. mottled chequer-board of so-called zones of influence.
72.	In truth, there is nothing more absurd than the introduction of the notion of so-called "ideological frontiers" in an effort to justify an abnormal cleavage among countries with identical or similar socio-economic problems, countries which, in spite of any self-pro claimed ideological label, share in each of the subregions of the continent a common heritage, particularly when they must, each in accordance with the national course it has chosen for itself and in keeping with its resources, meet the same imperative requirements of rapid and harmonious development and the general social and cultural advancement of their peoples.
73.	Nor is anything more perilous for the continental organization and for its capacity for unity, given the real threats to which it remains exposed because of distracting interventions from outside Africa and the deliberate perversion of juridical and ethical concepts and values which have always served and still serve to support the legitimate struggles for national liberation, in order to provide a pretext -odious in more ways than one-for more or less open subversion and aggression against neighbours.
74.	That is why Morocco, in accordance with the Charter of our continental organization, maintains more than ever solidarity with all other African countries in the actions undertaken jointly to liberate that part of the world from any form of foreign domination and to resist any illicit recourse to force.
75.	This policy has already been demonstrated by the first meeting l." the Heads of the African States, which took place in Casablanca from 3 to 7 January 1961 and which, for the first time in contemporary history, laid down for the continent the bases for African unity, co-operation and solidarity, which were three years later endorsed by the Charter of Addis Ababa.
76.	It was in this same spirit that the first conference of liberation movements in the former Portuguese colonies was held also in Casablanca in April 1961.
77.	It is because Morocco is faithful to those same principles that we have twice accepted the shedding of the blood of our sons on the field of honour in Zaire-first in 1960, after the appeal made by the United Nations, and again some months later following the appeal made by Zaire through the Organization of African Unity
78.	Once the objective had beep obtained, the Moroccan troops were each time repatriated in order, discipline and honour, their action having served first and foremost to circumscribe a serious and thorny problem within an inter-African context, thus avoiding the danger of an extension of a conflict which threatened international peace and security.
79.	The ninth session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU, held at Rabat in June 1972, was undoubtedly one of the most notable milestones in the history of the OAU. "The spirit of Rabat" which emerged on that occasion and which represents a means—frank, realistic and cordial, but free of passion-of tackling questions of importance, continues to inspire the policy of my Government in respect to inter-African relations. We cannot doubt that that spirit will continue to prevail in the higher interests of our peoples in the bodies responsible for taking decisions in the plenary conferences of the Heads of
State seeking truly African solutions for the most difficult problems of our continent.
80.	Morocco, consistent with the duties of brotherhood imposed upon it by the two halves of its identity, which is at once Arab and African, has always sought, whether within the framework of the League of Arab States or that of the OAU, to promote the peaceful and prompt solution of any disputes of any kind which might arise in the Arab world or on the African continent.
81.	It is in this spirit that my Government has seized the two regional organizations of the situation of artificial tension which has been created in the Maghreb subregion since the outcome-11 years after the item was included by Morocco in the agenda of the United Nations—of the process of the decolonization of the Moroccan and Mauritanian Atlantic Saharan provinces formerly under Spanish domination.
82.	It is also in this spirit that Morocco supported resolution 81 (XIII) of the OAU Assembly of Heads of State and Government which met at Port Louis, Mauritius, in July 1976. This resolution advocates the convening of a special African summit meeting to study the ins and outs of what has come to be called the "question of Western Sahara", although the harshest light has been thrown, day after day, on the true nature of that question by the very evolution of events. This in itself enables anyone whose judgement is not obscured by artisan passions readily to see through the subterfuge in which this question has been only too abundantly enmeshed and to see more clearly what is really at stake, in good conscience and with goodwill.
83.	Thus, confident that a meeting at this level of responsibility could not be intended further to envenom the situation, already very regrettable and explosive, with regard to present relations among three neighbouring brother countries and, in general, inter-African relations, Morocco was the first to support the proposal of the current Chairman of the OAU, Mr. Omar Bongo, the President of the Republic of Gabon, to convene the special summit that it was planned to hold in Lusaka, the capital of Zambia, during the first two weeks of October. We know, however, that at the beginning of the month of September the Government of Zambia made known to all States members of the OAU that it was no longer in a position to act as host to that summit meeting because of the grave circumstances confronting its country and because only two countries had agreed officially to take part.
84.	After having placed great hopes in the results that such a pan-African conference, meeting in the required conditions, could have in improving inter-Maghreb relations, Morocco can only profoundly deplore the circumstances which have compelled the Republic of Zambia to rescind its generous invitation. My Government wishes to take this opportunity to repeat to the Government of President Kenneth Kaunda its total solidarity in the trials to which his country is subjected by the racist oppressors of the people of Zimbabwe and its sincere admiration in connexion with the heavy price which the front-line geographical position of that brotherly country obliges it to pay so courageously in the sacred cause of the freedom and dignity of the African people.
85.	The consistently misguided temptations of a certain policy have alone been at the root of the problem of interstate relations existing in our Maghreb sub region and facing the regional organizations to which we belong. They have also, unfortunately and very directly, been at the root of a humanitarian problem of particular gravity, that of the Moroccan and Mauritanian citizens who are at present held against their will in the region of Tindouf. Because of the means and methods by which it was created from whole cloth in the very last phase of a process of decolonization that was difficult and often tedious but juridical and politically inevitable, this problem serves to mask an adverse design, at first modestly unannounced, and then—at the most critical moment when the unanimous solidarity of African brothers should not have been denied us-more and more openly revealed by its actions, which are more eloquent and more revealing than soothing official statements or solemn engagements entered into in conferences of heads of State or the carefully weighed and duly ratified clauses of a treaty of brotherhood and good neighbourliness.
86.	The thousands of original inhabitants of the Moroccan and Mauritanian provinces of the Sahara who have returned, having been dispossessed of their homes because of the vicissitudes of decolonization, are innocent hostages of an ill-judged policy that is doomed, through its successive twists and turns, to reach an impasse.
87.	The ranks of these displaced persons have been greatly swollen, either by the Touraregs of the central Sahara or by genuine refugees who have fled from the Sahel because of the exceptional drought of the last three years. They have also been led by mercenaries, most of whom had belonged to the Spanish colonial forces and who did not hesitate to offer their services to the highest bidder in the confused situation resulting from decolonization.
88.	My Government has absolute proof that the vast majority of persons displaced from the Atlantic provinces of the Sahara and settled in camps in the region of Tindouf have been held against their will. In spite of intensive indoctrination, entire families and armed elements have continued their efforts to regain their homes, at the risk of their halves, ever since the appeal launched by the Heads of State of Morocco and Mauritania, His Majesty King Hassan II and President Moktar Ould Daddah.
89.	It is flagrantly obvious that the Atlantic Moroccan and Mauritanian Saharan provinces are peaceful and perfectly integrated in the national life. The vast majority of their populations, according to the last census taken by the former Administering Authority, have remained in their homes and therefore participated normally this year, with a high electoral turn-out, in communal, provincial, professional and legislative elections.
90.	It is high time, therefore, to put an end to the isolation and sufferings of these displaced persons. In future
only their interest, health and well-being, and their resettlement among their own people, should determine any action taken on their behalf.
91.	It is in this spirit that the Executive Committee of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees adopted at Geneva on 12 October 1976 a decision in which it:
"Took note of the statements made by the observers for Mauritania and Morocco, who drew special attention to the fact that measures were called for with a view to voluntary repatriation, in accordance with the appeal made by the Heads of State of Mauritania and Morocco, and who declared that the persons in question had been brought in and detained against their will;"
and requested the High Commissioner:
"... to continue his programme of humanitarian assistance and at the same time to undertake discussions with the Governments with a view to the speedy implementation, in accordance with the usual policy of his Office, of permanent solutions, including voluntary repatriation and durable settlement".
92.	My Government took note with satisfaction of the decision of the Secretary-General to organize without delay a census of the displaced persons from the former Spanish Sahara. On 2 September we also informed the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees that we were fully prepared to co-operate with his Office so that the census could be held on a completely honest and impartial basis and without any delay that might prejudice its humanitarian objective.
93.	It is regrettable to note that to date the Algerian Government has not replied to the request for information addressed to it by the High Commissioner for Refugees despite the urgent nature of those requests.
94.	Furthermore, my Government wishes to emphasize that the assistance given by humanitarian organizations has done nothing to lessen the sufferings and hardships of the persons concerned. On the contrary, this aid has acted as an encouragement and impetus to a war-like undertaking, systematically sheltering behind displaced-persons camps in violation of multilateral humanitarian conventions and protocols, including the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, signed at Geneva on 28 July 1951 and the OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa, signed at Addis Ababa on 10 September 1969. Of this war-like undertaking, the true objectives of which will be a secret to no one, the attacks at Nouakchott and Zouerate are flagrant examples, if any were needed.
95.	Nevertheless, the Treaty of Mutual Defence, which has united Mauritania and Morocco since 13 May of this year, confirms the determination of the two countries jointly and in solidarity to protect their national sovereignty, territorial integrity and independence, in accordance with article II of the Charter of the OAU.
96.	Morocco solemnly reaffirms its determination to stand by its Mauritanian brothers and to spare no effort to assist them in safeguarding their refund unity and reconstituted territorial integrity.
97.	Any attack directed against either of the two countries would, in the eyes of the other, automatically constitute an attack against its own unity and be a violation of its own territory.
98.	If I have taken the liberty to dwell at such length on the abnormal situation created in our Maghreb sub region during the last two years, it is in order to make it understood that this situation has reached a crucial point where there is a choice between, on the one hand, the obstinate pursuit of a policy of "reasons of State" totally lacking in any normal reasoning, and which, moreover, if continued would constitute an insult to our common past and the recent struggles of the people of Maghreb, and on the other hand, once the page of errors and offences has been turned, a new start in the building, on a basis of mutual respect, of a common future which will for us represent, both rationally and emotionally, something that is historically inevitable.
99.	One cannot speak, furthermore, about the "Maghreb of the peoples" and persist in ignoring a genuine national liberation cause-the will of a people so clearly expressed as that of the peoples of Morocco and Mauritania, who will spare no sacrifice to defend their respective dearly-bought unities.
100.	To quote His Majesty King Hassan II, who said this quite recently:
"One cannot live as neighbours by turning our backs on each other. Every politician who considers such a possibility would be of a reprehensible frivolity ...
"In blocks of apartments there is a manager who settles problems among the tenants; in the Maghreb the manager is the unwavering will of its population...
"Even if we did not desire this aim, the population would desire it because it is the dream of the preceding generation. And it is our dream. Furthermore, it is our well-being. It is vain for each of us to seek our own resources, our own opportunities, in development or elsewhere for we cannot hope, at a time when the world is uniting economically in regional groups in order to survive, to live in isolation, in separate islands. The will of our peoples is the true manager of the building to which I referred."
101.	My Government is concerned to avoid anything that may be irreparable, and wishes to lay solid bases of good understanding and co-operation in our sub region of the Maghreb; we accordingly rejoice at the opportunity offered by the States members of the Conference on European Security and Co-operation to participate with other Mediterranean Arab countries in the work of the forthcoming session of that Conference at ministerial level which is to be held in Belgrade.
102.	It will be recalled that in 1973 that Conference had asked its First Committee, in article (15) of its final recommendations that:
"In considering questions relating to security in Europe, the Committee will bear in mind the broader context of world security and in particular the relationship which exists between security in Europe and in the Mediterranean area.'"
103.	Morocco, geographically the closest to Europe, is impelled to bear witness to its constant interest and its encouragement of the historic enterprise that Europe is undertaking to eliminate the vestiges of the past and to replace confrontation and challenge by dialogue, so as to consolidate, in an irreversible fashion, peace and cooperation in that part of the world.
104.	However, in the light of past and present events, those efforts seem to be limited in their objective and scope. We are convinced that, to become more active and effective, detente cannot be limited only to the European continent but should, on the contrary, be extended to all peoples living on the shores of the Mediterranean.
105.	More than ever, the Mediterranean represents one of the axes on which the destiny of Europe turns. It is still a crucial area particularly sensitive to any factors which affect the destiny of Europe, which in turn is immediately sensitive to any deterioration in the conflicts in the Mediterranean.
106.	Any attempt to separate the security of the two shores of the Mediterranean would seriously jeopardize that security; to leave it incomplete would be to leave it fragile and more apparent than real.
107.	We hope that in the months and years to come a Mediterranean conscience will develop at the political level, in order to realize the region's vocation to be, as it has been called, a "lake of peace" and a unique centre of coexistence, or, even better, of convergence, among civilizations and cultures, in the same way as coexistence spontaneously developed at the technical level, so that the Mediterranean can preserve its marine environment and marine resources
from irreversible deterioration. *
108.	We consider that the restoration of harmony in the sub region of the Aegean Sea, including the reconciliation between the two Cypriot communities that is being actively pursued under the auspices "of the United Nations, to be one of the most decisive tests of the maturity of this "Mediterranean conscience".
109.	The international community now views the problems of disarmament as being the most agonizing problems of our time. It is entitled to expect the utmost from the special session to be held on this item next year. While final solutions may be too much to expect, there must at least be an urgent plan to stop the feverish arms race which is now taking the form of a headlong dash to the edge of the precipice.
110.	The human race should take no pride in the fact that armaments is its most flourishing industry. Our community can hardly be expected to achieve its aims on the basis of ideals and principles of the Charter so long as the relations which govern our contemporary world continue to be determined mainly by military and strategic considerations.
111.	As our Secretary-General said in his report: "The task ahead is immensely difficult and complex ..." With him we hope that in the years to come the United Nations: .. will be able to show its collective determination to fulfil them
112.	The close link between a solution to development problems and a global disarmament policy has been perceived with a reasonable degree of certainty. The special session next year will have to consider these priority questions on its agenda.
113.	Since the sixth special session, the plan for a new international economic order has proceeded from the stage of an idea to that of a sufficiently specific concept, both in its regional and sectoral aspects, without, however, yet becoming operational.
114.	For this we must pay a tribute to the President of the Republic of France, Mr. Valery Giscard d'Estaing, for having taken the initiative to convene in Paris the Conference on International Economic Co-operation in order to try to give real content to some of the generous but rather vague and indefinite goals of the plan of action.
115.	Thus, despite the scepticism manifested at the closure of debate, we consider that the Conference has produced results which industrialized and developing countries should consider to be positive. The Conference never claimed to lay down an operative scheme that would lead to the immediate establishment of a new international economic, order not to overcome the differences between groups of countries on such delicate subjects as energy or the indebtedness of developing countries.
116.	We consider that the Conference is a gain for the international community. We shall do everything we can in the international agencies to bring about a project, the technical content of which has been defined but whose realization remains subject to the political will of the industrialized countries.
117.	Now that the North-South dialogue is under the auspices of the United Nations, it must continue of necessity on the basis of broader concepts of North and South both here in the General Assembly and in UNCTAD.
118.	We consider that all forms of agreement, Euro-Arab and Afro-Arab dialogues in particular, are sectors of rapprochement and solidarity, not only between wealthy and poor countries but also among the developing countries themselves.
119.	As regards the Euro-Arab dialogue, I must add that from the Arab point of view this dialogue must be wide-ranging and not restricted to the economic and political areas. One must enlarge the viewpoint that usually prevails in the drafting of political charters, trade agreements or cultural conventions and to engage in this dialogue looking to the future, as the stake in this enterprise demands.
120.	If the aspirations to a new economic order have not been totally dashed during the past year, it is due largely to the Arab-African conference on co-operation, held in Cairo, which has demonstrated the sincere desire of the Arab countries to work for a harmonization of development efforts in the Arab world and on the African continent.
121.	Only with the passage of time will we be able to assess the importance of this first Arab-African conference for the maintenance on a solid basis of an equitable balance between countries with financial surpluses and those which have not.
122.	It is however to be deplored that the most advanced countries have been so inert in bilateral or multilateral negotiations and seem more prepared to act on the basis of expediency rather than to change their structures.
123.	The protectionist reactions of the advanced countries in respect of manufactured and semi-manufactured goods from the developing countries reveal reflex actions rather than reflection. They are the clearest and most irrational manifestation of what an enlightened economist called the "great fear of development", which sacrifices to short-term interests the common prosperity to be gained over the medium term. Because trade remains the major law of industrial development and, conversely, industrial development, as it progresses, leads to trading conditions favourable to the parties concerned, small wonder that the bulk of international trade takes place among the industrialized countries.
124.	We are pleased that our partners in the European Economic Community have finally had the foresight to reconsider the most restrictive measures taken this year. The world trend nevertheless remains disturbing. Unless it is reversed in the spirit of GATT and unless public opinion and the legal bodies of the most advanced countries are not told, as they should be, of the nefarious consequences of such a choice, we very much fear that all opportunities to correct the most flagrant anomaly in international economic relations, that is the continued deterioration in the terms of trade, will be lost.
125.	The upheavals in the world economy in past years have affected the structure of the international monetary system to such an extent that one can speak of dislocation. Despite this structural turmoil, there have been important changes in a positive direction in the activities of IMF.
126.	We consider that it is encouraging to have an agreement on the principles and procedures applicable to a firm supervision of the exchange systems and practices of member countries. We hope that IMF, in applying these procedures, will take into account the circumstances of the developing countries.
127.	As regards the use of IMF resources, we again urge that the conditions for drawing upon IMF should be applied with flexibility so that as many of our countries as possible may benefit from financial assistance. Because of this we attach the utmost importance to the seventh general review of quotas, which would enable the Fund not only to acquire additional resources but also to authorize member countries, particularly the poorer ones, to receive increased aid.
128.	I cannot better conclude than by reaffirming the unflagging faith of my country in the sacred principles upon which our institutions are based and our determination to work together with those who believe in the future of the United Nations so that peace, understanding and solidarity will for ever prevail in international relations.
129.	It is in this context that we are in favour of prior agreement, objective dialogue and a positive attitude which will of necessity lead to positive solutions, if everyone submits to a strict observance of the rules which we have ourselves decided on, and the principles which add to the wealth of our supreme law.
130.	The Kingdom of Morocco, aware of its responsibilities, true to its commitments and vigilant about the respect of its rights, will spare no effort to see that, beyond passion, pondered logic, fruitful moderation and active solidarity prevail in seeking the best solutions.
131.	At a time when, in many parts of the world, armaments seem to have become the only form of debate, it has become more than ever essential solemnly to invite nations to a more humane conception of international life and to a more rigorous respect for the sacred values of our civilization.
132.	I venture to hope that the present session of our Organization will, with all necessary vigour, remind one and all of the vital need for respect for the rule of law.
133.	I believe that our common, sincere and determined efforts will once again prod the consciences of those who bear responsibility throughout the world regarding the moral obligations which they have freely entered into.