Mr. President, I offer you sincere congratulations on having been elected to your high office and wish you luck and success in carrying out your responsible task. At the same time I extend my thanks to Foreign Minister Choudhury for his circumspect and successful guidance of the forty-first session of the General Assembly, which ended a few days ago.
I also take the opportunity cordially to thank the Secretary-General for his untiring endeavours on behalf and in the interest of our Organization. His latest report gives us confidence and a perspective for the future. As in the past, he can count on our unqualified support. The principal task of the United Nations is to maintain and safeguard peace. We begin this session of the General Assembly with hopeful signs of new thinking in West-East relations and in the field of disarmament. Yet the world is still filled with war: war between countries, in which people suffer and die; man waging war on man, for where human rights are violated war is being conducted against man; global terrorism is waging war against order in every form; deadly diseases are waging war on life; mankind is waging war on nature; and what is the hunger and poverty suffered by many nations but the outcome of war on human dignity through man's failure in North and South?
In the final analysis, it is always man who threatens man. Our children cannot be blamed for the state of the world, but it is they who suffer most. They expect us to give them a world free from war, free from expulsion, free from fear, free from hunger and disease. Parents all over the world love their children. But ate we in the United Nations really doing enough to protect the rights and the future of our children? We want to leave our children a better world, a world in which human dignity and social justice are guaranteed, in which peace prevails and in which the natural foundations of life are protected and cultivated.
But, above all, we must fight against the war inside us as well as that outside us. Peace begins within ourselves; it begins in the mind, with respect for our neighbour and awareness of our responsibility for that neighbour and for all who will come after us.
War strategies must be superseded by peace strategies. We want peace in a comprehensive sense. If we fail in our task, none of us will survive. Hence, the crucial task today is to ensure the survival of mankind. Mankind has become a community in pursuit of survival. No one can steal away from our common fate. A nuclear war would destroy us all.
Contaminated rivers, seas and soil, desertification, dying forests - especially tropical forests - and the widening hole in the ozone layer are all problems that affect and concern us all.
A few weeks ago the world population passed the 5 billion mark. If the present demographic trend continues the world community will number more than 6 billion by the turn of the century. Our children will live to see that day. If we do not act the world's problems will pass beyond our control solely as the result of population growth. Now is the time to set the right course. This is the responsibility of every civilization, every religion, every ideology and every political and social system.
The call must be; fight the wars that threaten mankind from all sides. The peace we need is more than the elimination of military conflicts. It implies common responsibility, solidarity and respect for our neighbours. Peace implies making our world human. It implies respecting our natural environment. It implies securing freedom, life and the survival of mankind.
Many people live in poverty, exposed to hunger, ignorance and disease. The prospects for the third world depress us all. Commodity prices are falling. This means that developing countries must continuously increase production, and this in turn reduces prices still further.
In the industrial countries, however, demand is on the wane because markets for certain commodities are satiated and other commodities are increasingly being replaced by new materials. The disintegration of commodity prices is not a temporary market fluctuation  it is a long-term trend. For most developing countries, however, commodities are still the principal - indeed, in many cases, the only - source of income. Thus their one-sided dependence on commodity exports must be reduced. We must help them to turn their raw materials into manufactures and semi-manufactures of their own. But the diversification of an economy takes time. Until that point is reached, ways and means must be sought of improving existing arrangements, as in the case of the European Community's Community model for off-setting shortfalls in export earnings.
Last year the indebtedness of the third world rose by 9 per cent, to l trillion. In 1986 over 30 per cent, and in some cases nearly 50 per cent of the income of 22 sub-Saharan countries was mortgaged for debt service. The debt problem threatens to explode. It is a threat to the economic, social and political future of many heavily indebted countries, but it also poses a threat to donors. It threatens to undermine the will of North and South to co-operate with one another.
All those concerned, whether in the public or the private sector, need to increase their efforts. Every country should be treated according to its special circumstances. But the general principle must be to make debt-servicing reasonably proportionate to a country's productive capacity. It is in the true interest of donors to seek in their negotiations with debtors to solutions that will provide a perspective for the future. Hopelessness will crush the best will in the world.
Since 1978 the Federal Republic of Germany has remitted 4,2 billion marks of the debt owed it by the poorest countries. I appeal to all donor countries to follow suit, and I appeal to the socialist countries of the North also to provide adequate development aid, at long last.
Proceeding from future-oriented reform programmes and financed by new loans on easy terms, the economies of the debtor countries must be put back on a course of growth. But diversification and investment in growth sectors will be helpful to developing countries only if the industrialized world opens its markets wide to their manufactures and semi-manufactures and adapts its own economic structure to such new conditions. We are prepared to make that adjustment.
To restrict the role of the developing countries in the world economy to that of mere suppliers of raw materials and energy would be to deprive them of their prospects for the future. The industrial countries must eliminate import

restrictions and other barriers to trade. They must stop subsidizing branches of industry that no longer pay their way.
They must also reduce agricultural surpluses. The adjustments necessary in the industrial countries are difficult and painful but that can be no reason to keep putting them off. At any rate, exports of weapons are not the solution to these problems. On the contrary, they Increase tensions and the danger of war, and they squander resources that are needed for works of peace. Weapon exports facilitate neither the necessary structural change in the industrial countries nor the process of economic recovery in the developing countries.
At its seventh session, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) underscored the special significance of peaceful international trade for development. The final act of that Conference indicates the strategies that need to be pursued with regard to finance and indebtedness and trade and commodities, and with regard to the problems of the land-locked developing countries. Now is the time for action.
The industrial countries are undergoing a technological revolution, a revolution that will completely change society. At the moment we have but little idea of the repercussions it will have on the developing countries. Whatever happens, it must not be allowed to divide the world for ever into rich and poor. We cannot allow the great human dream that has inspired all nations, the dream of one just, peaceful and free world, to be outstripped by technological development. On the contrary, science and technology must be the powerhouse for the development of mankind. Only modern science and technology are capable of solving the world's problems of food supply, health, education and energy. Genetic engineering, modern medical research, state-of-the-art information technologies and new forms of energy must be pooled to this end.
AIDS (acquired immune-deficiency syndrome) is a challenge to the whole of mankind. It threatens all nations. My Government is pleased to note that the gravity of this problem is increasingly recognized by Governments and by international organizations.
Advanced technology not only provides opportunities; it also entails risks. Chernobyl has demonstrated to the world that the safety of nuclear power stations is the common responsibility of all countries producing nuclear energy. A progressive human society cannot regard nuclear energy as the ultimate solution to the world's energy problems.
The task of eliminating the political, social and moral risks inherent in high technology and science is common to the whole human race.
Genetic engineering can secure adequate food supplies for many billions of people, but it can also be abused to violate the dignity of man if it is used solely as a means of manipulating man, if it encroaches upon each person's individuality. The United Nations is the forum where the best brains in our countries can establish common ethical standards with which to measure the consequences of technological development.
The earth's atmosphere and its high seas are the common property of mankind. They have to be preserved so that the human species can survive. But, like the world's climate, they too are being jeopardized. The Brundtland report has presented a plan for development that is both lasting and environmentally compatible, and it must be taken seriously. The world must be made more acutely aware of these issues and interactions. This is a matter for the United Nations. We should soon consider proclaiming a year of global environmental protection. We should also consider proclaiming the 199Os a decade for the environment to provide the necessary stimulus worldwide.
Everywhere we face problems which we can only solve together or not at all. We have long since entered an age of global domestic policy in which each one of us is dependent upon everyone else. Thus, the importance of the United Nations grows from year to year. It is our common duty to preserve and develop the world Organization. The gap between the concept of the United Nations and its present indateriali2ation in a world of nation-States is still considerable. We must all learn to find global answers to global problems. The United Nations offers a wide range of instruments for this purpose. The more determined our efforts to reform the world Organization, the more effectively will be able to use those instruments. I wish at this juncture to thank the Secretary-General for his far-sighted approach to this problem.
Many forms of co-operation can also develop in a smaller framework. Here in lies the special significance of regional organizations. The European Community has shown the world the kind of dynamism for peace that can emanate from regional organizations. For centuries the nation-States of Europe fought one another in wars, which also spread beyond their continent to other parts of the world. Today, war among the 12 members of the European Community is impossible; it is inconceivable.
That is the first and most important task of a regional organization: to make sure that war in its region will be impossible. The more nation-States become integrated the better their chances of achieving that aim. That is why my Government strongly supports all efforts to establish peace in crisis areas originating in the region itself.
We welcome the signing of the Arias Plan by five Central American countries as a step towards peace and stability in Central America and encourage them on that road. The result of the Guatemala conference is a sign of hope. We give our unqualified support to the nations of Central America in their efforts to secure social justice, to ensure the application of the principles of democracy, to secure independence and to foster peace and co-operation. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany is helping the cause of world peace by encouraging co-operation between the European Community and the regional organizations in Central and South America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa.
The countries of one region can best preserve and develop their cultural identity through joint efforts. The wealth inherent in cultural diversity is the purest source of energy for man's task of safeguarding peace. All nations on earth are, without distinction, civilized nations. Their cultural contribution is indispensable for the creation of a single global society based on justice, peace and freedom. We are serving the cause of peace if we preserve and protect the unmistakable identities of these civilizations. Nations that respect the cultural achievements of other nations cannot be stirred up against one another. Cultural arrogance has time and again been the root cause of catastrophes.
Thus the North-South dialogue, too, needs a cultural dimension. Only if nations start from the basis of their individual culture and cultural exchanges and partnerships with others can they develop the national consciousness that will help solve mankind's common problems.
Regional organizations in the third world are the best way to ensure that their members are not drawn into the West-East confrontation. This is also the great mission of the Non-Aligned Movement, which is a growing factor of stability in the world. Genuine non-alignment offers third-world countries in particular a great opportunity to preserve their identity and consolidate their Independence.
We are all aware of the magnitude of the world's problems. This being so, we know we cannot solve political, social, religious and ideological differences in one gigantic leap. These differences exist and we have to live with them. But that should not stop us, notwithstanding all the differences of principle and ideology, from doing what we can to safeguard world peace now.
There is a growing awareness of this. The seventh session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), like last year's special session of the General Assembly on Africa, has given encouraging signs that North and South are capable of disregarding positions of principle and concentrating on what is necessary and feasible at the present time.
We must now take this opportunity to move forward. Security Council resolution 598 (1987) is an encouraging sign of common responsibility for global peace. The special significance of that resolution lies in its unanimous adoption. It can serve as an example for the settlement of other regional conflicts as well.
We strongly support resolution 598 (1987) and the Secretary-General's efforts to establish peace on its basis. That resolution affords Iraq and Iran an opportunity to embark on the road of peace. With Iraq having stated its approval, I urgently appeal to Iran to implement the resolution fully.
War has been going on in Afghanistan, too, for nearly eight years now. We expect the Soviet Union to withdraw its forces from that country and put an end to the suffering of the Afghan people. No one apart from the afflicted people of Afghanistan should gain advantage from the Soviet withdrawal. Consequently, the conditions for the genuine independence and non-alignment of the new Afghanistan must be established now.
We also call for the withdrawal of foreign troops from Kampuchea so that this country may exercise its right to self-determination. The new, fundamental developments between West and East with their far-reading consequences for world peace have only become possible through both sides opting for co-operation. The clearest manifestation of that willingness are the negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union aimed at the global elimination of their intermediate-range nuclear missiles. For the first time, agreements are being made between West and East which not only limit but actually remove arms. This marks a turning-point in history.
We Germans greatly encouraged this development and we welcome the result - this great agreement - with relief. It enhances security and stability in Europe. My Government has viewed its role in this process not merely as that of an interested spectator. We have played an active part in achieving this success as a country aware of its responsibility for peace. Through our advocacy of the "double-zero solution" we have paved the way for the world-wide elimination of intermediate-range missiles.
I endorse the statement Chancellor Kohl made on this subject on 26 August 1987 that, by the time the American and Soviet intermediate-range nuclear forces have been removed as agreed, the German Pershing la systems will also have been phased out.
This agreement is still a long way from completely solving the problem of nuclear disarmament, but it represents the first, and thus the crucial, step towards the great objective to which the nuclear Powers committed themselves before the world in the nuclear-test-ban Treaty.
A process has been set in motion which must be made irreversible. Further steps must, and will, follow. We deem it essential that the United States and the Soviet Union should now concentrate on a drastic reduction of all strategic offensive weapons and in so doing also consider the further application of the Treaty on anti-ballistic missiles (ABM).
In the Western Alliance we will move ahead with the preparations for negotiations on nuclear missiles with a range of less than 500 kilometres. We will vigorously pursue the negotiations on conventional stability in Europe. The statements issued by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the Warsaw Pact afford a good basis for such negotiations. A convention globally banning chemical weapons is overdue. That convention must now be concluded  We cannot permit an ever larger number of countries to manufacture or produce these ghastly weapons of destruction. The best protection against their proliferation is their global elimination and their global prohibition.
In our efforts to achieve that aim, we are not facing an insurmountable wall. New thinking that stems from the knowledge that we can only survive with one another, not against one another, governs oar actions more and more· Ho nation can have a greater interest in the success of all these negotiations than that of the Germans, for most weapon systems are concentrated in their country - on both sides of the dividing line - so they would be the first to be threatened with extinction·
The agreement on intermediate-range nuclear force© will provide the spark the effects of which will be carried well beyond the confines of arms control. Both sides will draw from that agreement the energy and the confidence to extend their co-operation to all fields where such co-operation is currently possible. That will be a major step towards the political objective of Atlantic defensive community, which is to establish solid structures for peace in Europe through co-operation between West and East in all areas and on the basis of a reliable defence capability.
The fact that we can cherish this hope today in the result of the discernment and the constructive approach of both sides that had already become clear at the summit meeting of the United States and the Soviet Union in Reykjavik. There, the two super-Powers showed that they are conscious of their responsibility for mankind's survival· in this they deserve the support of all peace-loving people. We must not stray from this path. ·The signposts to a better future are not the prejudices and enemy-images of yesterday but the will of nations, the will of every individual, to live in peace and dignity. Only in that manner shall we fulfil our responsibility for the future of mankind.
The era that was dominated by hegemonic aspirations, the era in which the world risked being pulled into the vortex of a never-ending arms race, is drawing to a close. This process cannot be stopped} it is paving the way to a better world. In such a· world there can no longer be any room for the old enemy-images. If we dismantle our weapons we must also dismantle those enemy-images. On a global scale and in Europe we must create reliable systems for maintaining security on a co-operative basis, as well as mechanisms for the early detection and management of crises. The Federal Republic of Germany will assist in this task in the North Atlantic alliance and in the European Community. We shall do everything in our power to promote the process of European union and to strengthen our alliance, the aim of which is to prevent war.
Our desire to achieve the union of the twelve European democracies, our desire for co-operation with our Eastern neighbours, is a manifestation of the policy of the Federal Republic of Germany for peace in Europe. We are aware of our responsibility  we shall use all our energy and every opportunity in working for a better Europe, a Europe based on peace.
The position of the twelve members of the European Community of international issues and on the Community's internal development was presented by the Danish Foreign Minister two days ago. The Single European Act, which entered into force on 1 July this year, is significant for the international community. The Twelve wish, as is stated in the preamble to the Act, to make together "their own contribution to the preservation of international peace and security in accordance with the undertaking entered into by them within the framework of the United Nations Charter".
To that end we intend to establish a common Community foreign policy.
The completion of the European internal market, scheduled for 1992, will greatly increase the Community's strength. Significant steps towards a common monetary policy and towards the aim of converging the economic and financial policies of its members will have to follow, as will steps towards the creation of a technological community. That is the road to European union. To our neighbours in the East we extend the hand of wide-ranging co-operation - envisaged in the Final Act of the Helsinki Conference on Security
and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) as the course towards the establishment of a peaceful order in Europe. At the CSCE follow-up conference in Vienna we are not merely seeking progress in matters of security: we are also seeking progress on the realization of human rights, on humanitarian issues, on economic exchanges, on the exchange of science and technology, on the exchange of information and culture. West and East can give each other a great deal through co-operation through confrontation they can deprive themselves of progress entirely - they can lose everything. Through co-operation we seek to build confidence, to serve mutual interests and, in a positive sense, to create dependencies that will make peace and co-operation irreversible.
We do not want to bleed one another to death through the arms race, nor do we want to cripple anyone economically. The political and military division of Europe is bad enough. We must not divide Europe economically and technologically when there are already gulfs to be filled and walls to be climbed. Our aim is to help achieve genuine progress in all fields. If the Soviet Union opens up to the world it will find a reliable and constructive partner in the Federal Republic of Germany. The Treaty of Moscow affords a basis for such co-operation as well as the necessary perspective. We shall have recourse to that Treaty, aware of the central importance of German-Soviet relations, which have an impact on the situation in the whole of Europe beyond their bilateral relationship.
If, after decades of confrontation, it were possible today to reach a turning point in the East-West relationship it would be a mistake of historic dimensions if we were to let the opportunity pass. All must shoulder their responsibility. Twelve years after the signing of the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) we can declare: a process has been set in motion leading to a peaceful order in Europe. My country has made substantial contributions towards this goal through its accession to the European Community and the Western defensive alliance and through the unprecedented Franco-German partnership.
We have cleared the way for a new West-East relationship by means of the Treaty of Moscow; the Treaty of Warsaw, which established the basis for a new beginning with the Polish People's Republic in the awareness of the special quality of the German-Polish relationship following the vicissitudes of their history; and also through the treaty with Czechoslovakia and the Basic Treaty on Relations with the German Democratic Republic.
Not only is there no feasible alternative, there is no responsible alternative to this process. We always perceive Europe as a whole; we want to improve the situation in the whole of Europe. We realize that the wheel of history can never be turned back, only forward.
Part of this perspective for Europe's future is the relationship between the Federal Republic of Germany and the other German State, the German Democratic Republic. Both States are firmly integrated in their respective alliances. But precisely this fact makes it possible for them to campaign in their alliances for co-operation throughout Europe. The differences in their two value-systems are fundamental. Nevertheless the two German States are agreed: never again must war originate on German soil, only peace.
There is still disagreement between the two German states as to the future of the German nation. The Federal Republic of Germany remains committed to its aim of working for a state of peace in Europe in which the German nation will regain its unity through free self-determination.
The visit to the Federal Republic of Germany by Mr. Erich Honaker, Chairman of the Council of State of the German Democratic Republic, demonstrated the intention of both German States to render a major contribution to stability in Europe by improving the quality of their relations and through their efforts to promote disarmament. Through these efforts we are also serving the welfare and interests of the people.
Mr. Honaker's visit revealed not only fundamental differences but also a willingness to co-operate with one another. We Germans, too, must live with the disparities that characterize the world, and above all Europe, even though they affect us more than other nations. But these disparities must not prevent us Members of this great world Organization from meeting our responsibility for peace and the survival of mankind.
Common international responsibility also means a common responsibility to combat terrorism, to combat racism and to prevent violations of human rights. Today, now, this must be the great common denominator for all nations who have committed themselves to the principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations. The community of nations' are becoming increasingly aware that terrorism is a threat not only to political enemies but also to one's own country. We can confront terrorism only if its perpetrators are unable to find refuge anywhere in the world. But we shall be able to rid ourselves of terrorism for good only if we also remove its causes, and there are many.
The Middle East crisis, for instance, may keep on spawning violence. Consequently, peace must at long last be established in Lebanon on the basis of freedom, sovereignty and territorial integrity. The Middle East conflict, as we have seen in the course of past years, cannot be settled by force, only by negotiation. We therefore advocate an international conference on the Middle East, which must proceed from Israel's right to exist within recognized and secure borders and from the right of self-determination of the Palestinian people.
If terrorism is inimical to any order, racism is the most terrible deprecation of human dignity. A regime that rules in the name of race must be opposed by the conscience of the world in the name of humanity. The Western democracies are a community oriented to common values and based on equal dignity for all. In view of this, we condemn the violation and mockery of human rights in the Republic of South Africa. We call upon the South African Government to create at last the conditions that will enable black and white to meet at the conference table and commence the dialogue that is so urgently needed. Apartheid must be totally eradicated; it is not capable of reform.
The state of emergency must be lifted, the political prisoners, first among them Nelson Mandela, must be released unconditionally and the banned organizations of the black majority must be allowed to operate again. If this is done, there is still hope that the violence that is bound to keep on producing yet more violence can be stopped. With regard to Namibia, we demand the application, at long last, of resolution 435 (1978), without any ifs and buts.
We condemn violations of human rights wherever they occur. A particularly horrific aberration of State authority is torture. It is not an instrument with which to fight one's political opponents. Least of all it is a means of administering justice. It is the most abhorrent and barbaric manifestation of injustice. By means of the United Nations Convention against torture, the world has taken a big step forward in the development of its political culture.

By virtue of its Charter, by virtue of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the human rights covenants and its human rights institutions, the United Nations is a citadel and a bulwark of human rights. The exercise of civil, economic and social human rights is essential in the construction of a better world. A high commissioner for human rights and a court of human rights would be able to protect and promote these rights.
Only on human tights and the right of self-determination of nations can the universal house of peace be built. They are its foundations. That is why my country reaffirms to everyone before this world Assembly its pledge to respect every nation's right, to self-determination and to defend human rights all over the globe.
And with the same earnestness we pledge ourselves, by dint of our policy of peace at home and abroad aimed at developing peaceful relations with our neighbours and all nations on earth and at making peace with nature, to safeguard life on this planet and the survival of mankind for this and all future generations.
Only when there is life is there freedom and human dignity. To preserve it must be the aim of our Organization.


Mr. President, I should like first of all to convey to you the congratulations of the Italian Government on your election. You represent a country which, because of its geographic position, strategic significance and economic weight, is called upon to provide, within the framework of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe, a major contribution to the existing delicate balances on the European continent. Your personal skill and experience are important guarantees for the Success of our work. I should also like to convey my appreciation to the outgoing President. We carried out his functions at a particularly difficult time for the United Nations and succeeded in ensuring results in the work of the General Assembly to the general satisfaction of all. We deserves our gratitude for his endeavours and our appreciation for his accomplishments.
Finally, I should like to pay tribute to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the considerable efforts he has undertaken - for which we should all be grateful - to put an end to the Iran-Iraq conflict, which represents one of the longest and most destructive tragedies of modern history.
The opening of the forty-second session of the General Assembly took place at almost the same time as the announcement of a virtually concluded agreement between the Soviet Union and the United States on the total elimination of intermediate and short-range missiles. For the first time in the history of humanity, massive quantities of armaments - enough to devastate the entire European continent - will be destroyed as a result of negotiations rather than of war. The significance of the agreement in principle to conclude a treaty on intermediate-range nuclear forces, however, does not just lie in arms reductions - in its thinning of the forest of missiles that threatens Europe. Its real significance, in my view, lies in the process it will set in motion as well as in the search for new concepts of security which will no longer be based only on the accumulation of arms and which will put an end to the present state of instability, where peace is impossible and war is improbable. It is thus fitting that the United States and the Soviet Union consider this agreement to be an historic event. I would add that this agreement constitutes a turning-point, more because of its future potential than because of what it can achieve in the short term.
We must therefore unreservedly praise those men of good will who were the architects of this major achievement for the tenacity they have shown in the search for a middle ground between two concepts of the world and two very different political programmes.
President Reagan, in close consultation with his allies, worked long and hard to translate into deed his long-declared intention to create a world in which the role of nuclear arms would gradually be reduced.
General-Secretary Gorbachev, for his part, deserves our appreciation for the vitality and openness he has imparted to the foreign policy of the Soviet Union. We has shown considerable courage in recognizing that there is not necessarily a relationship between the historic ambitions of his country and the steady accumulation of offensive weapons. Italy has always worked to encourage the policy of dialogue. My country was the first nation to hail unhesitatingly the achievements resulting from the Reykjavik meeting. We did so because we were convinced that the approach adopted on that occasion was the correct one. Dialogue must be based on strongly held convictions but it must also be marked by the humility needed to renounce intolerance and by trust in the other party's understanding and good faith.
No other lesson could be more timely in an era when mistrust is often the main stumbling-block. Let us not forget that in international politics there are # opportunities that might not recur and that history is made by seizing such moments. For the first time, the United States and the Soviet Union seem ready to heed the concern expressed by John Fitzgerald Kennedy when he pointed out that if humanity did not put an end to war, war would put an end to humanity.
The meetings that took place in Washington last week are likely to promote the development of the entire spectrum of East-West relations. They will facilitate the establishment of a network of reciprocal interests that will enable the international community more effectively to contain and resolve its crises.
We should, of course, refrain from harbouring illusions. We must not think that overt or latent rivalries will disappear, that suspicion regarding the intentions of the other side will suddenly be replaced by complete trust. However, we can expect greater convergence in the search for stability. That is why the importance of the understanding reached by the United States and the Soviet Onion transcends Fast-West relations - it heralds a model of behaviour and collaboration based not on the search for unilateral advantage but, rather, on the conviction that a disadvantage for one party is not necessarily an advantage for the other.
This convergence can also be seen in the manner in which the great Powers have confronted the crisis that most concerns us today - the Iran-Iraq conflict - and in the unanimity shown by the Security Council in adopting resolution 598 (1987).
The war between Iran and Iran is a very complex phenomenon, whose implications can only he perceived with difficulty since it is a war with both religious and political aspects, it has the potential to alter the balances in the region and to make its consequences felt throughout the Middle East, even transforming the area into a Lebanon of enormous dimensions.
It is for this reason that we value highly the peace effort undertaken by the United States and the Soviet Union, Here, again, a convergence has been achieved between the two countries - this time through the exercise of joint responsibility, the framework for which has been provided by United Nations machinery. It will be necessary to bear this in mind at all times in the course of a peace progress that is likely to be difficult. No effort should be spared in safeguarding the process launched by Security Council resolution 598 (1987) and in inducing the interested parties fully and rapidly to implement its provisions,
Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuellar's mission to Teheran and Baghdad resulted in the gathering of elements capable of providing a basis for future action. I wish to assure the Assembly that Italy, as a member of the Security Council, where it will assume the presidency for the month of October, will do everything possible to ensure that the Secretary-General may be able successfully to implement the mandate entrusted to him.
I sincerely hope that the intransigence of the two parties and the difficulties in overcoming ill will, hatred and aggravated nationalism will not prevent us from harvesting the fruits of the determined efforts of the Secretary-General and of the wider participation of the international community in this effort to restore normal conditions to the area.
In my view, the search for peace in the region between Iran and Iraq revolves around the relationship between a cease-fire and the restoration of normal conditions at the borders between the two countries, on the one hand, and the determination of the responsibility for initiation of the conflict, on the other hand. The problem is difficult but not insoluble, and it is necessary to continue to do everything possible to bring the belligerent parties to Join in the peace process laid down in Security Council resolution 598 (1987).
Finally, in the event that the efforts of the Secretary-General and our support were to prove unproductive, new measures would become necessary. The very threat of such measures, even before they become a coercive instrument, should constitute a matter for reflection for the nations involved in the conflict.
The determination of responsibilities is certainly a complex problem. I believe, however, that it should be possible to distinguish at least two phases in the process which, in conformity with Security Council resolution 598 (1987), should lead to this result. The first phase would be the determination of the party that initiated hostilities. A second phase would be the determination of the underlying and immediate causes at the origin of the conflict, which, in any event, must be removed in order to strengthen the peace process and render it definitive.
The decision taken by my Government to send naval units to the Gulf to offer protection to the merchant ships flying the Italian flag does not represent a deviation from this policy, which has as its principal objective the end of this conflict and therefore also the protection of the freedom of navigation in international waters. Our action has the limited goal of protecting well-defined Italian interests with no hostile intentions towards any countries of the area.
We have all had bitter experiences with the ability of regional crises to turn into global conflicts. Such experiences should strengthen our common resolve to support the action of the United Nations and its capacity to prevent destabilizing developments in the various regions of the world.
We are aware of what abandonment of the principles and instruments of multilateralism meant in terms of destruction and violence in the history of the European continent. For that reason, we strongly believe in the United Nations often unique capacities for action and intervention. The Organization is all the more indispensable in that peace and stability are challenged by groups that are expressions of North-South and East-West rivalries and inspired by divergent ideologies, strategic requirements and economic interests.
It was the very awareness that regional crises can unleash global conflicts that strengthened the determination of the Western European countries to unite, together with the countries on the other side of the Atlantic, in a defensive alliance and to initiate among themselves a process of political and economic integration.
The history of the 40 years since the end of the Second world War demonstrates how such regional agreements have uniquely contributed to creating, on the one hand, security conditions not otherwise attainable and, on the other, the premises for the development of East-West relations.
The search for dialogue and solidarity on regional bases, which corresponds with one of the principles of the United Nations Charter, is making headway in other regions of the world, owing in large part to the example and impetus provided by Europe. We see the movement progressing today, despite great difficulties and widespread inertia, in a region such as Latin America, whose destiny Europeans had for too long considered to be confinement in - to use the expression of Gabriel Garcia Marauez - its "hundred years of solitude". But the recently signed Guatemala City agreement provides an example of vitality and creativity, it is a victory for reason that deserves the support of the community of nations, which it needs in order decisively to assert itself.
Then there are other conflicts, such as the Arab-Israeli conflict, over which a veil of silence seems to have descended, particularly of late. However, problems are not solved by ignoring them. It is necessary to confront them openly and in a timely manner. It is also necessary to avoid giving the impression that they become matters of concern only when they reach a stage where they directly endanger our own interests.
I am aware that the path towards an international conference on the Middle East is still long, strewn with obstacles and rendered uncertain by numerous elements yet to be defined. However, I wish strongly to reiterate that it is necessary to overcome paralysing doubts and to avoid turning the Middle East into t yet another forgotten and hopeless conflict, as was until recently the case with the Gulf war. It is necessary to defuse this process that fuels violence and ,,, frustration, because it would be illusory to think that its consequences could be confined to purely local dimensions.
The problems of peace that we face are immense. In addition to those I have j. mentioned there remain other unacceptable situations of regional tension; situations dealt with extensively in the statement made yesterday by the current " President of the European Community on behalf of its 12 member States. I do not, therefore, believe it is necessary for me to comment further on those crises. I would only note that one sometimes has the impression that our Governments and the international organizations, including the United Nations, are unable to work out viable solutions to the problems before them.
This consideration should not be construed as criticism of the actions of the United Nations or of individual countries. General conviction that, inevitably, not only our State institutions but our societies as a whole, particularly those sectors with the greatest knowledge of the instruments needed to confront current difficulties, must become involved in the search for peace.
Here I am thinking of the world of science, which we should like to be more open and not divided by ideological barriers, a vehicle for common progress rather than just an arena for competition. The idea of joint nuclear tests raised in the contacts between the two major Powers would be in keeping with that goal.
At the meeting held at Erice, Sicily, this summer, Edward Teller recalled the extent to which great discoveries of physics were subjected to secrecy as a consequence first of the Second World War and then of the cold-war climate. That famous scientist warned that in the future it would be necessary to prevent the cloak of secrecy again descending on scientific discoveries.
Science can respond to all the challenges that are hound to carry increasing weight in the approaching third millennium of our era. It can do so by spreading an awareness that in our time fundamental balances can be achieved by involving science and those who have mastered it. Here I am thinking of meteorological and seismic phenomena and climatic variations, and endeavours such as the protection of the environment and the war against hunger and disease, which can be included in the framework of the larger effort to keep our planet under control.
Of the evils that afflict our daily lives but can be combated only on a global scale - that is, through the United Nations - the drug problem is, next to terrorism, certainly one of the most alarming. In some countries more than half of all crimes are linked to the use of drugs. Drugs are connected with the Illegal arms traffic, with terrorism and with subversion. According to some calculations global profits from the drug traffic are equivalent to the gross national product of my country. That is one of the reasons the Italian Government has become the main supporter of the United Nations specialized agency entrusted with the struggle against this silent and clandestine scourge that saps the roots of our societies. We also welcomed with great satisfaction the results of the conference held last June at Vienna.
The bloody conflict between Iran and Iraq has once again drawn the world's attention to the problem of the transfer of conventional weapons and of their reduction.
Exactly 10 years ago the United States President, Jimmy Carter, drew the General Assembly's attention to the fact that the rate of growth of military spending was increasing at a faster rate in the developing countries than in the more advanced countries, at a time when the cost of equipping a single soldier was 60 times greater than the cost of a child's education. Ten years later this situation has certainly not changed for the better. Indeed, there are countries where it can be said that weapons kill ever before they are used, since they drain resources from economies already on the edge of subsistence.
Aware of this situation, Italy proposed as long ago as 1977 that the possibility be considered of establishing within the framework of the United Nations appropriate machinery to place the conventional arms trade under control. We think that it would be possible to go even further and agree on a code of conduct in this area. In my view, recent developments make our previous proposals particularly timely and we might well put them forward again.
It is increasingly evident, as was noted recently at the summit meeting in Venice of the seven most industrialized nations, that peace and prosperity can be pursued only on a global scale. Interdependence makes it necessary not only to ensure co-ordination of the stronger economies but also to follow with close attention the economic development of developing countries.
The struggle against underdevelopment is a means of relieving human misery and especially of fighting the terrible scourge of hunger. Solidarity with those who bear a/burden so much greater than ours is also a means of establishing new relationships in a world which increasingly requires the co-operation of all, a world which is constantly becoming smaller, in which no one can remain a spectator of the misfortunes of others, in which on the contrary all must consider themselves members of the same team.
This solidarity must also permeate the international economy, although I am well aware that the idea of a single world with common problems and of the interdependence of the regions of the earth gives rise to many objections, to selfishness and to the compromises of the policies of the day. In fact, only with a sense of solidarity will we be able to make steady progress and belie catastrophic visions and predictions.
It is the responsibility of all countries, but above all the industrialized ones, to overcome existing economic imbalances. The international community, through its various mechanisms, is trying to resolve the serious challenges within the North-South framework, such as the grave situation of indebtedness of many developing countries, the recurring food crises and the difficulties of access to the markets of the industrialized economies.
The economist Arthur Lewis could write in the 1960s that the combined economies of Africa, Asia and Latin America amounted to less than 0.5 per cent of the gross national product of the industrialized countries. The numerous ties that we maintain with the economies of those regions through international trade and because of their external debt show the extent to which such an assessment would no longer be valid today.
Italy's resources are inevitably limited, but my country is nevertheless determined to make a special contribution to the solution of these problems by intensifying its programmes of development assistance through increasingly effective and diversified instruments of intervention. The massive integration of our programmes of bilateral assistance in the activities of the United Nations in the form of either financial contributions or participation in the Organization's projects is an element of this action which lends greater coherence to our foreign policy as a whole.
The difficulties that we will meet should not lead us to indulge in pessimism and inaction because, as I have already said, the most recent evolution of the international political situation requires of us an even greater commitment to the well-being of developing countries. It is a commitment that is in our own interest. Abraham Lincoln said of his country on the eve of its most testing experience that America could not live "half slave and half free". I conclude with that quotation, which applies today to our entire planet.


First of all, Sir, please allow me, on behalf of my Government, to congratulate you on your unanimous election to the office of President of the General Assembly at this session. There can be no doubt that your election is testimony to, and recognition of, your personal devotion to the struggle that is being waged by the international community to realize the rights of peoples to freedom and independence. It is likewise a well deserved tribute to the country you represent so worthily. I should like therefore to take this opportunity to convey to you our best wishes for success in carrying out your task.
Permit me to take this opportunity also to express my appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Choudhury of Bangladesh, for the outstanding, very wise and skilful way in which he was able to overcome the obstacles to his mandate and to carry out successfully his difficult mission. It would be unpardonable if I were not also to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, the Secretary-General, for his untiring efforts in the quest for solutions to the many problems still facing mankind and for his devotion to the basic principles of the Organization, despite the limited means available to him and the political and economic circumstances which are so difficult and which characterize today's world.
Allow me also to congratulate Mr. Reed on his recent nomination to the high post of Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly Affairs.
At the same time every year, the representatives of most of the nations of the world meet in this same hall to take up the questions that afflict mankind and to try to find lasting solutions to them. Despite this, the spectres of famine, drought, underdevelopment and foreign debt continue to haunt the minds of the leaders of the least developed countries, and these factors, together with the unbridled arms race, particularly in the nuclear sphere, continue to pose a serious threat to international peace and security. Moreover, the arms race remains, we feel, a grave threat to the survival of all of mankind.
The Government of the People's Republic of Angola is convinced that a policy of dialogue and harmonization is the only assurance of a genuine policy for reducing conflicts and tensions among nations thus creating a climate of trust conducive not only to the peaceful settlement of disputes but also to disarmament. We therefore welcome the historic meeting between the leaders of the German Democratic Republic and the Federal Republic of Germany which took place less than three weeks ago, as well as the agreement of principle reached between the Soviet Union and the United States of America several days ago to sign a treaty on the total elimination of medium-range nuclear weapons in Europe.
The problems of development are inseparable from the problem of peace.
Without peace there is no stability and without stability there will be no possibility of development. The implementation of the development programmes in our country is inseparable from political and economic stability. This requires solving the so-called regional conflicts which some of our countries have faced either directly or indirectly. In our humble opinion these efforts for peace should be made by the international community as a whole. For that reason the Government of the People's Republic of Angola supports the idea of the creation of a fund for the economic and social development of the developing countries.
Indeed, the problem of underdevelopment facing most of the third-world countries is widening the gap that already exists between the rich and poor nations and thus constitutes a serious threat to international peace and security.
In this context, we hail the holding, under the auspices of the United Nations, of the International Conference on the Relationship between Disarmament and Development. To be sure, much remains to be done: there are many gaps in the final document and it does not reflect all the hopes of the underdeveloped countries, particularly the hope for the establishment of a development fund for the developing countries. The holding of the Conference and the adoption by consensus of a final document by the Conference, despite the attempts to frustrate it, are, in any case, an important milestone in the efforts we are all making to attain our objectives of peace and security. It marks a beginning and we hope that this trend will continue and increase and that it will yield much more tangible results for the benefit of peace and development.
Moved as we are by the desire to contribute to the attainment of the objectives of the United Nations Charter, the African countries are sparing no effort to keep our continent free of nuclear weapons. The People's Republic of Angola feels that the proclamation of the southern Atlantic as a zone of peace and co-operation, free of nuclear arms and military pacts, is a sure way to guarantee peaceful co-existence. In this context, the independence of Namibia, on the basis of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) , and the elimination of apartheid would also contribute to strengthening international security and co-operation in the region in the mutual interests of the countries of the southern Atlantic region.
Allow me to express our profound gratitude for the untiring efforts of the international community and of the United Nations to find fair and lasting solutions to the problems of our times. Nevertheless, I cannot fail to express my concern at the fact that there remain many unresolved issues, such as decolonisation, apartheid, famine and drought.
Since its independence almost 12 years ago the Government of the People's Republic of Angola has followed a policy of non-alignment and peaceful coexistence. This policy is set down in its constitutional law, which establishes, as clearly as possible, its intention to maintain diplomatic relations with all the countries of the world on the basis of mutual respect, sovereignty, territorial integrity, non-aggression and non-interference in the internal affairs of each State, and respect for the norms of international law governing relations among independent States.
Unfortunately, in the sub-region of southern Africa, a reactionary and anachronistic regime, that of racist South Africa, continues to flout United Nations resolutions and arrogantly carries out, with impunity, acts of subversion and destabilization against the countries of the area, including my own, with the sole purpose of perpetuating its illegal occupation of Namibia and thereby delay the elimination of the odious system of apartheid.
We are a people that cherishes peace and justice, but ever since our country achieved independence we have not known a single day of peace. In an undeclared war imposed on it, Angola has been victimized by acts of armed aggression on the part of the racist regime of South Africa. Our people and our Government are thus obliged to make enormous sacrifices for the effects of the war are fraught with heavy consequences in terms of our financial, material and human resources and inevitably undermine the economic and social development of our country.
In this unjust war imposed on us by South Africa, women, children and the elderly have no defence, and our basic infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, railroads, hospitals, schools and industrial plants, is not spared; these are indeed the preferred targets of the South African army and its UNITA auxiliary forces.
The damage suffered by our country as a result of the atrocities committed by the South African regular army and the UNITA puppets is estimated today at more than $US 12 billion. That figure does not include lost earnings resulting from the fact that our young people are engaged in military service, instead of attending school or working in factories where they would be contributing to increasing production and improving the living standard of our population.
After achieving independence at the cost of great sacrifices our people aspire to life in peace and the reconstruction of their country; they wish to build a strong nation by exploiting the vast natural potential of our soil.
Contrary to what some of the media would have international public opinion believe, there is no civil war in our country, it is in fact a case of foreign invasion of a State Member of the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity and of the Movement of Non-Aligned Countries, part of whose territory remains occupied by the racist South African troops. That is why the People's Republic of Angola continues to demand the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of South African troops from the southern part of its territory.
South Africa is using Namibia's territory as a springboard for acts of aggression against Angolan territory. Thus South African military bases - where armed bandits and mercenaries are trained and later sent to our territory, and from where South African troops carry out incursions into our territory - are to be found in the north of occupied Namibia.
In the face of these facts, and based on the rights recognized under international law and the relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter, particularly Article 51 the Government of the People's Republic of Angola has appealed for assistance from friendly countries, in particular Cuba and the Soviet Union - assistance for which we wish once again to express our gratitude.
Nevertheless, aware of the complexity of the situation in southern Africa and in order to remove the impasse created by South Africa and its allies with regard to the implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) , the Government of the People's Republic of Angola submitted an approach to global negotiations contained in its letter, dated 17 November 1984, addressed to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar, by the President of the People's Republic of Angola, Mr. Jose Eduardo Dos Santos.
Despite this gesture of understanding and goodwill on the part of the Angolan Government, the plan for the independence of Namibia still faces the intransigence of the Government of South Africa and its allies.
Once again, in a spirit of co-operation and openness, ray Government very recently proposed to the parties concerned, the general framework for a comprehensive agreement on the settlement of the Namibian question, a solution taking into account not only the legitimate right of the people of Namibia - under the leadership of its sole, genuine representative, the South West Africa People's Organization (SWAPO) - to self-determination and independence, in accordance with Security Council resolution 435 (1970) , but also the right of the other countries of the region to live in peace and security. The agreement would be signed by the representatives of the Governments of Angola, Cuba and South Africa and of SWAPO, under the auspices of the Security Council or its permanent members.
Moreover, the recent talks held in Luanda between representatives of the
Angolan Government and the United States Administration clearly show my Government's constant readiness to seek a solution to the problems of peace and security in southern Africa. It is now up to the regime of South Africa and the United States Administration to accept or reject this new olive branch. If they persist in their obstinacy, history will judge them, for in wanting to link the implementation of Security Council resolution 435 (1978) to the withdrawal of the internationalist Cuban troops from Angola the South African regime and its allies are simply invoking a cowardly and fallacious pretext to prevent the independence of Namibia and allow South Africa to continue using its territory as a base for aggression against and the destabilization of the People's Republic of Angola and other States of southern Africa, thus interfering with our efforts for national reconstruction.
Twenty years have now elapsed since the establishment of the United Nations Council for Namibia. But we must note that implementation of its mandate is being obstructed by the intransigence of the apartheid regime. Such behaviour is possible only because of the support and encouragement that some Western countries continue to give it. In view of the illegal occupation of Namibia by the South African regime, the international community must now adopt firm measures to ensure that international legal order is restored.
In South Africa we are witnessing extremely violent confrontations between the power of the white racist minority on the one hand and the oppressed and exploited black people on the other hand. New facts, however, have recently surfaced. Some elements of the white minority are beginning to understand that only a policy of dialogue and harmony can avoid a bloodbath with unforeseeable consequences. Thus, a delegation of white South Africans met with a delegation of the African National Congress (ANC) in Senegal. This is one more proof that many members of the white minority recognize the role of the ANC in the solution of the problem of South Africa. The People's Republic of Angola commends the courageous action of that group of South African citizens who have dared to defy the repressive power of apartheid. We feel that such initiatives open the way to a peaceful solution in South Africa and should be encouraged.
Unfortunately, despite these positive steps, the present political picture within South Africa remains sombre. The racist regime continues to use oppression as its main weapon against the patriots of South Africa, as was the case in the recent cruel repression of the striking miners, who were seeking fair wages and the satisfaction of their just social claims. This alarming situation in South Africa presents a greater challenge than ever before to the international community, which should without further delay tackle the root causes of these phenomena that are endangering regional and international security and stability. The total elimination of apartheid and the end of the illegal occupation of Namibia must therefore be demanded.
Consequently, the Government of the People's Republic of Angola believes that comprehensive mandatory sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter should be imposed as a form of pressure on the racist South African Government,
It is disquieting to note that despite some encouraging signs the international situation continues to be darkened by the persistence of various other hotbeds of tension.
On the African continent the Western Sahara conflict continues to affect the lives of the people of the territory. We believe that the implementation of resolution AHG/104 of the 19th Conference of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) would make a great contribution to the settlement of the conflict. We therefore appeal to the parties concerned to continue the dialogue begun through the intermediary of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Concerning Chad, we hope that peace will be restored in that country in the interest of well-being and social progress of its people.
The Middle East, where the State of Israel continues to carry out its aggressive expansionist policies against the Arab people, is another source of serious concern for us. We reaffirm the sacred and inalienable right of the Palestinian people, under the enlightened leadership of the Palestine Liberation Organization (FLO), to form their own State. We thus support the idea of convening an international conference on the Palestinian problem, with the participation of the PLO, and hope that this session can take the relevant measures to bring this about as rapidly as possible.
We advocate respect for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Lebanon and the safeguarding of its independence, and we oppose foreign interference in the internal affairs of that State.
The war between Iran and Iraq cannot fail to concern us, too, since it is a war between two non-aligned countries that seriously threatens international peace and security. We hope for an early end to that war.
We also note with great concern that the question of East Timor remains deadlocked. We call for a dialogue between Indonesia and Portugal, with the mediation of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, to find a just and lasting solution that takes into account the interests and rights of the Maubere people. The situation in the Korean peninsula is also a source of alarm for us. We welcome the initiatives of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea concerning the reunification of the great homeland of the Koreans and cannot support the admission of the two parties separately to the great family of the United Nations.
 We welcome with great satisfaction the initiatives of the Government of the People's Republic of Kampuchea with regard to its policy of national reconciliation and are convinced that these will contribute to peace and stability in the region.
In Latin America, we welcome the positive results achieved by the Heads of State of the five Central American countries - Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Guatemala - at their last meeting and hope that these results will contribute to peace and thereby reduce instances of foreign interference in the internal affairs of the countries of the region.
We condemn the policy of intimidation, aggression, blackmail and economic blockade directed against Cuba and advocate the immediate cessation of the occupation of the Guantanamo base.
We reaffirm our support for the inalienable right of the people of Puerto Rico to self-determination and independence, in accordance with resolution 1514 (XV) and the Declaration adopted by the Eighth Conference of Heads of State or Government of Non-Aligned Countries, held in Harare, Zimbabwe, last year.
The world economic situation has hardly improved since the last session of the General Assembly, and the economic and financial crisis has become established and taken root in all the developing countries. The growing indebtedness is preventing those countries from carrying out their national recovery plans and becoming, as a result, an additional factor of instability and insecurity.
The absence of the political will on the part of some developed countries to respond to the appeals of the international community, the arms race and the political instability created in some regions have helped to make the imbalance already existing in international economic relations even worse. The present structural crisis is also the result of the anachronistic development of the world economic system, which is shown by the fact that some countries are becoming ever richer, while the overwhelming majority of countries are becoming ever poorer and lack the means with which to tackle the problems of under development.
The foreign debt is the clearest indicator of the scope and gravity of the world economic crisis. To deal with this, political effort and will are necessary not only on the part of the developing countries, which are at present the most affected, but also and above all on the part of the developed countries.
The Government of the People's Republic of Angola continues to advocate the establishment of a new international economic order as an effective tool for overcoming the crisis and restoring balance to international economic relations.
With regard to the present financial and monetary system, we feel that our action should be oriented towards its restructuring as quickly as possible so that the developing countries can participate in the taking of decisions and profit as much as possible thereby. Scrupulous respect by the developed countries, for the principles, rules and norms in force in this area would also contribute to avoiding deterioration of the situation and exacerbation of the crisis
The proliferation of discriminatory measures imposed by the developed countries in their trade with the developing countries, protectionism and other restrictive measures are resulting in the reduction of the earnings from products exported by the developing countries and a consequent reduction in the resources and funds available for development. However, all these measures required of the developed countries should not prevent the developing countries from themselves taking steps to restructure the management of their economies in such a way as to facilitate the task of those of the rich countries that wish to help them to overcome the crisis.
My country has just taken various measures along those lines. In this context, the People's Republic of Angola reaffirms the importance of the ratification by both developed and developing countries of the Integrated Programme for Commodities, dealt with in resolution 93 (IV) of the fourth United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD IV) , and its Fund in order to permit its rapid entry into force. We therefore welcome the Soviet Government's decision to subscribe to the Fund.
In the context of co-operation, the People's Republic of Angola also reaffirms the role of economic co-operation between developing countries - South-South co-operation - as a means of promoting the rational and effective use of their human, material, financial and technological resources. In this context, co-operation between the States of southern Africa in the framework of the Southern African Development Co-ordination Conference (SADCC) has already yielded significant results in various sectors, as acknowledged by the regional Heads of State or Government at their last summit meeting in Lusaka.
However, we recognize that much remains to be done. The convening by the Organization of African Unity (OAU) next December of a conference of Heads of State and Government devoted to the foreign debt of the African countries reflects the importance that our countries attach to this problem and the political will to combine their efforts to redress Africa's economic situation.
In reviewing all these situations, we have tried to interpret in our own way the problems of peace and development and to express our desire for the progress and well-being of all mankind. In this context, we reaffirm our devotion to the principles of the United Nations and to multilateralism as a whole as an instrument for seeking solutions to the complex problems of a world that is growing more and more interdependent.
The struggle continues. Victory is certain.


On behalf of the Chadian delegation I congratulate you, Sir, on your election to preside over the forty-second session of the General Assembly. We are convinced that under your leadership the session will examine vigorously and effectively the matters on its agenda. You may rest assured of the full co-operation of my delegation during this session. I should also like to express my delegation's gratitude and thanks to your predecessor, Mr. Humayun Rasheed Choudhury, who conducted the proceedings of the General Assembly at its forty-first session with such skill and tact.
I wish to take this opportunity also to pay a well deserved tribute to Mr. Javier Perez de Cuellar for the tireless and constant efforts he has made to promote peace and development.
We are happy to see a friend of Chad, Ambassador Joseph Verner Reed, occupying the place of the person responsible in the Secretariat for matters relating to the General Assembly. He can count on our support to succeed in his new tasks.
In recent years my country, Chad, has experienced particularly difficult situations, which almost put into question its very existence as a State. Not only was there chaos because of the aggression and occupation carried out by Libya, but natural disasters added their calamitous consequences.
For a long time Chad's enemies succeeded, through all kinds of tactics, in pitting Chadians one against the other, transforming an international dispute into merely a domestic one. Now that these sordid and dilatory manoeuvres have been exposed thanks to the awareness of all Chadians that they belong to one, single nation, united Chad has come face to face with its true enemy, its neighbour Libya, which because of its territorial greed and its desire for hegemony is occupying and attacking our country.
Libyan aggression and occupation were unmasked at the beginning of this year through the heroic attacks of Chadian patriots, who destroyed the powerful air and land bases built by Libya on Chadian territory. Faaa, Ouadi, Doum, Faya, Zouar, Ounianga, Bardai, Wour and Aouzou have all become graveyards for the occupier and incontestable proof of its aggression against Chad.
The powerful equipment of these air and land bases proves irrefutably that Libya had no intention of leaving Chad. On the contrary, the mass occupation of its townships deep inside internationally recognized borders clearly indicates the diabolical and hegemonistic designs of the Libyan regime.
This Libyan aggression against Chad has today been recognized by all States who sincerely love peace, justice and freedom.
On the basis of a still-born Franco-Italian agreement, the fascist and racist regime of Tripoli has since 1973 beleaguered the Chadian area of Aouzou, from which it organized armed aggression against the rest of Chadian territory, spreading its occupation over the whole area of Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti - some 550,000 square kilometres.
Is there any need to remind you that Qadaffi dreams of creating a so-called United States of the Sahel, of which he would be the leader? According to Qaddafi's logic, Chad should serve as a stepping-stone to the achievement of these colonial objectives of another age.
While reserving the right to use any means to recover the occupied territories, Chad is sparing no effort to bring Qaddafi back to his senses by peaceful means. Chad has always loyally co-operated with the Ad Hoc Committee of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), set up in Libreville in 1977. This Committee has therefore been studying this conflict for ten years, but because of Libya's arrogant and contemptuous refusal to co-operate in its activities, the
Hoc Committee has to date been unable to take a final decision. Libya's bad faith and dilatory tactics, and its contempt for the Pan-African organization, for the United Nations system and for law in general are now well-established facts.
This is proved by the fact that Libya did not attend the meetings of the Committee and of the Sub-Committee of Experts held from 28 to 29 April and 18 to 20 May 1987 at Libreville under resolution AHG/RES.ISB (XXII) of the OAU. By the same token, though explicitly invited by the OAU at its twenty-third summit meeting to take part in a meeting of Heads of State who were members of the Ad Hoc Committee on the dispute between Libya and Chad, Qaddafi did not deign to make the trip to Lusaka on 23 September 1987.
Confronted with such a contemptuous attitude, the Chadian government thought it necessary to bring this dispute to the General Assembly so that the whole world would be aware of the barbarous actions of the Gaddafi regime. The inclusion of the question of the aggression and occupation of Chad by Libya in the agenda is in keeping with this logic.
Our action is well founded for day after day Libya is violating the cease-fire requested by the Acting President of the OAU, to which it freely subscribed.
Indeed, scorning, as usual, the appeal made by the Acting President of the OAU, Libya is obstinately continuing to violate Chadian air space, concentrate its troops on the border and in the area of Aouzou, and engage in massive recruitment of mercenaries of all nationalities, especially Palestinians and Lebanese.
This bad faith was evidenced at Lusaka by Libya's refusal to accede to the Ad Hoc Committee's request that it hand over any relevant documentation within a month.
In fact, Libya has no documentation to support its claims. It is merely playing for time. Because of all the international agreements between the administering Powers of Chad and Libya and those between independent Libya and Prance, and later between Libya and independent Chad, Aouzou is Chadian territory. We have brought proof of this to the Security Council just as we did before the Ad Hoc Committee of the OAU. We defy Libya to do the same.
When a State, like Qaddafi's Libya, defies the entire international community so blatantly, international law and morality demand that it be treated as an outlaw, that it be condemned for its acts and all the ills it causes other States and their peoples. Through me, Chad therefore calls on the international community to assume its responsibility and demand that Libya act in conformity with the law and with the relevant principles set forth in the United Nations Charter and in that of the OACJ, as well as resolution AHG/RES. 16 (I), which enshrines the principle of the intangibility of frontiers inherited from colonial times. For this the international community must demand that Libya immediately and unconditionally withdraw its wild and barbarous hordes from Chadian territory. Moreover, the human and material losses inflicted on Chad by the Libyan regime are immeasurable. It goes without saying that Libya owes Chad compensation for war crimes, and the international community has a moral obligation to demand that Chad be compensated.
The war of aggression the Tripoli regime is imposing against Chad has destroyed its entire economic infrastructure and disorganized its administration. The government of the Third Republic has attempted to restore State authority and rehabilitate the economy. The support of the international community has been decisive in implementing the reconstruction programme. In this connection, in November 1982 friendly countries and international organizations, together with the Government of Chad, laid down the main direction for such rehabilitation. In December 19S5 international solidarity was again demonstrated when we passed from the phase of rehabilitation to that of reconstruction and development. Here again, the conference of donor countries held at Geneva enabled Chad to work out a temporary development plan that is now being implemented, and that plan, if totally carried through within the necessary time-limits, would enable Chad to attain its 1978 growth level, which should constitute a solid basis for recovery of the national economy.
Despite the encouraging results achieved in restoring the economy, many obstacles still remain. Indeed, so long as the production capabilities of other sectors of the economy are not strengthened, the State will remain alone to face the actual needs of Chadian society.
The decrease in the price of cotton, Chad's main export, which represents 3 5 per cent of its budgetary resources, has considerably reduced our State's scope of action. The situation is even more serious since the cotton industry, which is the basis of most of our modern production and distribution sector and which is the country's main income-producing element, now has a serious deficit. This crisis has of course influenced the country's overall industrial activities. The budget deficit, which the State is attempting to contain, remains. Taxes on the export of cotton have been suspended, and the State must go deeper into debt to support that industry's restructuring activities. further, drought has gravely affected if not decimated livestock, which represents the other essential element of the national economy. This has brought total poverty to cattle raisers whose sole source of income was cattle breeding.
Thanks to the assistance of certain international bodies the Government is trying to reconstitute herds, but such actions, encouraging as they are, require long-term planning in order to ensure proper health in the herds. In addition, the cattle raisers most affected should receive assistance either to reconstitute their herds or to shift to other productive activities.
To problems involving the depletion of budgetary resources we must add the strict minimum the State must provide persons displaced either by Libya's war of aggression or by drought and desertification.
In this connection the situation of the populations in the Bokou-Ennedi-Tibesti area deserves the special attention of the international community, and particularly of humanitarian organizations. Those populations, who were forced to flee the Libyan invasion in 1983, abandoning all their property, and who are today attempting to return to their recently liberated townships and villages, are the innocent victims of random bombings and other barbarous actions by the Tripoli regime.
Such combined problems further reduce the financial means the State should normally be devoting to improving socio-economic structures. If the agricultural picture of 1986-1987 was relatively good thanks to sufficient rainfall throughout the national territory, the present year will be bad because of the unequal rainfall over time. Further, we are experiencing an increase in locusts and grasshoppers, which are estimated to number 1,400,000 per hectare in certain areas. That situation dangerously compromises the goal of food self-sufficiency set by the Chadian Government.
After the heavy rains at the end of May and beginning of June the situation suddenly worsened throughout the month of July and drought has destroyed first growth in some areas. We are therefore again forced to address an appeal to the international community to express its solidarity once more and to help us to augment our own efforts.
The economic recession, which has led the world to the present crisis, is far from over. For the developing countries of Asia, Latin America and Africa, the crisis has serious repercussions that have compelled those countries, lacking in resources as they are, to review their development strategies.
Thus Africa is in the throes of a particularly acute economic crisis exacerbated by the fall in raw-material prices. This situation, marked by a widening in the gap between industrialized and raw-material-exporting countries, was brought to the attention of the international community in 1986. A special session of the United Nations General Assembly was devoted to the critical economic situation in Africa. A year later, we may question the benefits of that session. Although the majority of African countries are embarked on a basic restructuring of their economies, the expected outside assistance has barely begun to trickle in. Together with the natural disasters that have stricken some African countries, efforts at restructuring, if not supported by a sizeable inflow of capital from outside, and especially from the developed countries, will be doomed to futility.
Evidence of this is the fact that at present the African countries are experiencing greater outflows of capital than they are taking in. It goes without saying that repayment of principal and debt-servicing are in large part responsible for this imbalance that is so seriously affecting the growth policies of African countries. In addition, it would be highly desirable if concrete measures could be taken to find a solution to the debt problem.
In addition to the serious economic problems, there are the armed conflicts that are delaying the progress of developing peoples. The conflicts shaking Africa and Asia, as well as Latin America, are also of concern to my delegation.
With regard to the Middle East, Chad has always supported the Palestinian cause. At the Islamic summit meeting at Kuwait in January of this year. President Al-Hadj Hissein Habré stated; '"The Republic of Chad is at one with the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people, and we thus support the idea of an international conference to be held under the aegis of the United Nations."
However, we were astonished to learn that Palestinian brothers have been recruited, at considerable cost, to fight against the people of Chad in Chad'. Are we to understand that our Palestinian brothers have abandoned the liberation struggle of their own country, or are they merely giving in to the temptations of the international mercenary system?
We would ask the same question of the Lebanese who have followed suit. Would those Lebanese not be better off striving to protect the unity and independence of their own country?
In the Persian Gulf the war between two fraternal countries, Iraq and Iran, is continuing, in spite of the many appeals and efforts at mediation and in spite of Iraq's oft-repeated readiness to enter into dialogue. My delegation unreservedly supports the implementation of Security Council resolution 590 (1987) , unanimously adopted on 20 July 1987.
The occupation of Afghanistan has been going on for eight years, in spite of the numerous resolutions of the General Assembly calling for the withdrawal of Soviet troops from that country. Like any foreign occupation, this one has pernicious effects that often drive those concerned into exile. Chad, which has experienced Libyan occupation, can only express its total sympathy to the Afghan people in their struggle for national liberation. Africa remains infected by the odious apartheid system. The minority racist regime of South Africa continues to keep the black majority outside the management of the country's affairs and deprives it of" all rights. That same policy has been extended to Namibia, where the fascist regime of Pretoria defies the United Nations by refusing to put an end to its occupation and apply Security Council resolution 435 (1978).
To perpetuate its domination, the minority regime spares no effort to destabilize the front-line countries, which are the frequent victims of murderous South African raids conducted under the pretext that fighters from the liberation movements of southern Africa are harboured by those States.
The liberation movements and the front-line States can rest assured of the firm support of Chad. My delegation reiterates the frequent appeals to South Africa to cease its incursions into the territories of the front-line States, withdraw unconditionally from Namibia and immediately start to set up a multiracial society in which all communities can participate on an equal basis in the management of the affairs of the State.
The people of Democratic Kampuchea has suffered for many years from the horrors of a war of occupation imposed upon it by Viet Nam. My country, which has always supported the efforts of the countries members of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) and those of the United Nations to ensure respect for the independence and sovereignty of Kampuchea, demands the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of all occupation troops to enable the Kampuchean people freely to decide on its fate, under the direction of the legitimate Government, led by His Royal Highness Samdech Norodom Sihanouk.
With regard to Central America, we encourage the peaceful initiatives of the Contadora Group and express the hope that the peace plan proposed by Mr. Oscar Arias Sanchez, President of the Republic of Costa Rica, will make it possible finally to find a lasting solution to the problems of the area.
As everyone knows, peace has no price. It is, indeed, the fundamental condition of any social and economic progress. However, some States Members of our Organization like to create conflicts and exacerbate them to serve their diabolical plans for domination, well aware that they are violating the United Nations Charter, to which they have committed themselves.
Chad believes in the virtues of dialogue and has never missed an opportunity to show this. It believes that the United Nations must be involved more deeply in the search for solutions to certain so-called regional conflicts. The United Nations would thus be working for peace and in favour of the law, in conformity with the purposes and principles of the Charter. In expressing the wish that States would act more in conformity with the principles of the Charter, which they accepted by becoming Members of the United Nations, the delegation of Chad reaffirms its full faith in the Organization and expresses the wish that this session will find the solutions so long desired for the problems which are a matter of such deep concern to us.
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