The present statement was scheduled to be made before the General Assembly by the Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations on behalf of the Minister for Foreign Affairs of my country, Mr. Tariq Aziz. Unfortunately, Doctor Al-Anbari is feeling indisposed, which has prevented him from coming here to deliver this statement. He therefore charged me with making the statement on his behalf.
The present statement was scheduled to be made before the General Assembly by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of my country. As matters stand, however, he has been prevented from doing so by the position of the United States authorities, as explained in the letter dated 23 September 1990 addressed to the Secretary-General by my country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and circulated in document S21812.
As has been the case in past years, we requested the United States authorities to permit a special aeroplane carrying the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the members of the Iraqi delegation to land in New York. Those authorities, however, refused to grant our request and suggested the use of commercial airlines. This could only mean that the United States is in fact deliberately preventing the Minister for Foreign Affairs of my country from coming to New York to participate in the proceedings of the General Assembly, present Iraq's point of view on the events and enter into dialogue with representatives of other States.
It is worth mentioning in this regard that, in spite of our contacts with the Secretary-General and the United Nations Secretariat and its contacts with the United States Mission on the matter, the Secretariat has done nothing to press the United States side to reverse the measures which have prevented the Foreign Minister from participation.
Having made this clarification, I shall now proceed to read the statement: "Sir, it is a source of pleasure for me and ray delegation to congratulate you on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly's present session. In this regard, I should like to assure you of our total willingness and sincere desire to co-operate with you to ensure the success of your task.
"My delegation expresses its congratulations to the delegation of Namibia, which is present at this session after the achievement by the struggling people of Namibia of its glorious victory against the racist Pretoria regime and the establishment of its newly independent State.
"We also welcome Liechtenstein as a new Member of the United Nations Iraq also salutes the German people on the recent achievement of its unity. This has special significance for Iraq, which believes in Arab unity and aspires to it. Proceeding from this, Iraq hails and offers its blessings to the achievement of the unity of brotherly Arab Yemen.
"The recent events which have taken place in the region have raised and continue to raise a number of vital issues which the international community, and the countries of the third world in particular, need to analyse deeply and draw the right conclusions from them. The reason is that these events and the way the United States and its Western allies have acted in relation to them indicate beyond any doubt that our world is entering a new era. Some would imagine that for the peoples of the world, and the peoples of the third world in particular, holds the promise of more favourable conditions than those which prevailed in the cold war era. However the bitter truth is that this new era is one of resurgence of Western imperialism under the leadership of the United States, at times with the tacit acquiescence of other great Powers and at others with their active participation.
The Western imperialist alliance, under the leadership of the United States, is now orchestrating a large-scale disinformation campaign on a world level for which all the capabilities of the United States and Western political and information machinery - to say nothing of the military machine - have been pressed into service with a view to deluding the peoples of the world into believing that that alliance, whoso history in dealing with the causes of the world's peoples is dark indeed, has turned today into a defender of international law, the Charter of the United Nations and a so-called international order.
Regardless of any diversity of views on the Kuwait issue, we must not ignore the quintessential issues which the United States and its allies are doing their best to obfuscate and overshadow with disinformation. Those issues are the following,
First, the United States and its allies are deliberately and arbitrarily trying to conceal the fact that the Kuwait issue has a history that has its roots in the colonialist past. In 1913, Britain took it upon herself to sever Kuwait from Iraq; the fact that all the successive Iraqi Governments over the past 70 years, regardless of whether they were monarchical or republican, have refused to accept that colonialist act. As a matter of fact, this question has been the subject of dispute in the Arab League and the United Nations in the 19608. At the same time, the United States and its Western allies are deliberately concealing the developments and events which have led to the present situation and the fact that they started several months before 2 August 1990 with a large-scale campaign of conspiracy, defamation and siege against Iraq which included boycott measures that covered the stoppage of food exports to Iraq and embraced the scientific and technological fields.
On 4 September 1990 I addressed to the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the world a letter in which I explained the history of this question and those developments. Therefore, I shall refrain from touching on these matters here.
"Secondly, the events in question have taken place in the Arab region. This is a region which, for many decades, has had its own mechanisms and procedures for dealing with the problems which arise there. The events began on 2 August 1990. On 3 August, His Majesty King Hussein sought to convene, on 4 or 5 August, a mini summit meeting in Jedda, which was to be attended by Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Yemen and Jordan and was scheduled to deal with the problem within the framework of the usual Arab mechanisms and procedures. But the Arab party that was supposed to host the meeting, namely, Saudi Arabia, reneged on the meeting after having agreed to have it convened. Two days after the date scheduled for that meeting. United States forces landed in the Arabian Peninsula. That makes it clear enough that it was the United States which put the Arab mechanism out of action and decided to take control of the political situation itself. One day after its forces had landed in the Arab Peninsula, the United States had its henchmen in the region convene a meeting in Cairo not with the aim of considering and dealing with the question within the mechanisms and procedures by which Arab issues are normally resolved but with a view to obtaining its collaborators' support for the United States occupation and United States control over the political situation, a matter which led to a sharp deviation in the ranks of Arab governments. Since then, sincere Arab parties have sought to restore the Arab mechanism and procedures for dealing with this question, but the United States has suppressed and reviled such attempts; it has even threatened the leaders undertaking them and used the Security Council as a tool to frustrate any sincere Arab effort.
"Thirdly, this fact sheds light on what has taken place and continues to take place in the Security Council. From the very first day of the events, the United States has resorted to the convening of an emergency meeting of the Security Council and placed before the Council a resolution based on Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter. For the first time in its history, the Security Council did not allow enough time for the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State concerned in the issue to be able to participate in its deliberations; nor did the Council provide any opportunity for the participation of any Arab representatives who could make a responsible contribution to those deliberation·. The United States called for the meeting at 4:45 New York time on the morning of 2 August; it submitted a draft resolution and insisted that it be adopted just hours after its submission; then it proceeded to build the subsequent political activity on the basis of that resolution though it knew full well that to have a resolution of that kind passed in such a hasty fashion would preclude all possibility of any serious and responsible search for suitable solutions to the issue, especially on the Arab side, It is especially regrettable that other international parties have yielded to this line of action which has blocked and continues to block the responsible approach to the issue. Resolution 660 (1990) is unprecedented in the history of the Security Council whether in terms of the hasty way in which it was passed and discussed or in terms of its direct leap to Chapter VII within the first hours of the occurrence of the events.
Fourthly, in a manner which has no precedent in history of the United Nations, the United States and its Western allies had the Security Council pass a series of consequent resolutions, each of which has had the effect of causing further aggravation and escalation of the situation and of blocking every responsible effort to seek a resolution. In addition to this deliberate political hysteria on their part, the United States and its allies proceeded following the events to mobilize their fleets, their aircraft and their ground forces in the region in a manner that had had no parallel in contemporary history, thus bringing the entire region, and the entire world - to the brink of a devastating war.
"Fifthly, we have to ask, and to ask forcefully with the events of contemporary history in mind, are the United States and its Western allies taking this stand to defend international law and the Charter and the just rights of peoples? If the United States and its Western allies are, as they now claim, such firm upholders of principles why then have all the problems and crises in the world remained unsolved? Why do we come here every year to complain of the continued existence of those problems and crises? To whom have our complaints been addressed? Have they not been addressed to America and its allies whose actions and policies have been at the root of the problems and crises as well as of the procrastination in resolving them? Have not America and its allies been the ones who have used the veto to gnash the resolutions we have submitted to the Security Council, thus providing a cover for the violations committed by their allies in Tel Aviv and Pretoria? Have they not been the ones who have treated with contempt the resolutions which, once in a while, we have succeeded in having adopted by the General Assembly where the third world States have a numerical majority?
Why have the questions of Palestine, the Middle East and Lebanon remain unsolved to this very day? What was the fate that overtook the Security Council resolutions on those questions, which have numbered, so far, 166 ¡resolutions? Why does Israel continue to occupy Arab territories and why bas it had the temerity to declare that they are part of the land of Israel? Why has Israel been able to call the West Bank, Judea and Samaria and declare that occupied Al-Quds is its eternal capital? Why has all this been possible under the vary eyes of those who have shown fir, resolve to have Security Council resolutions implemented - only after the Council adopted its well-known resolutions following the events of 2 August 1990?
"The record of the United Nations is replete with condemnations of the policy of the United States. We all know the stand taken by the United States and its allies, especially Britain, towards such issues as independence, racial discrimination, coequal economic relations and the ,any other issues which every year are presented here in the General Assembly only to be opposed by every possible means by the representatives of America and the Nest, thus hindering our sincere efforts to have the, resolved in accordance with international law, the United Nations Charter and the criteria of justice and equity.
"The United States has used the veto 81 times to stop the adoption of Security Council resolutions which, in the majority of eases, dealt with the rights of the Palestinian people, Israeli aggressions against the Palestinian people and neighbouring Arab States, together with resolutions on South Africa. This year alone, the United States has used the right of veto seven tines to oppose draft resolutions on the question of Palestine.

"Furthermore, the resolutions which the Security Council has been able to adopt on the questions of Palestine, the Middle East and Lebanon, and in which it calls for the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian and Arab territories it occupies, have not been implemented to this very day. The same is true of 44 resolutions on Lebanon adopted since 1978. Israel has continued to occupy South Lebanon since 1982.
"The General Assembly, for its part, has adopted over 400 resolutions on the question of Palestine and the Middle East. The majority of those resolutions have been opposed by the United States. The resolutions, especially those which called for enabling the Palestinian people to exercise its inalienable rights, have not been implemented because, alone among the peoples of the world, the Palestinian people is denied recognition of its right to self-determination by the United States and Israel.
"To this number must be added the many other resolutions on the rights of the Palestinian people and the question of the Middle East passed by the specialised agencies - resolutions which Israel has ignored just as it has ignored Security Council and General Assembly resolutions, relying on United States opposition to them. We would mention in particular the resolutions adopted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, the International Labour Organisation, the World Health Organisation and the International Civil Aviation Organisation.
We are witnessing in this particular period a new campaign of settler colonialism taking the form of Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries for the purpose of perpetuating the Zionist occupation of Palestinian and other Arab territories and establishing the so-called greater Israel. The States which are sponsoring this campaign on the pretext of defending human rights and the right to emigrate, refuse at the same time to allow the Palestinian people to exercise those very rights the right to return to its homeland in spite of the numerous resolutions in which the United Nations, since 1948, has recognised the right of return and which have remained unimplemented to this very day. Now the Zionist emigration operation is being carried out at the expense of this Palestinian right and with a view to squeezing those Palestinians who have remained out of their land.
"We Arabs, and we the peoples of the world, must not draw the wrong conclusions. The United States and its Western allies, who are raising such a hue and cry in connection with the recent resolutions which they have dictated in the Security Council, are not now experiencing a belated awakening of conscience. On the contrary, they are rushing the world, on a tidal wave of one of the most dangerous and pernicious campaigns of disinformation in history, into a new imperialistic era. In this they are taking advantage of the disruption of the international balance which followed the events in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. There is now a rush to put that new imperialistic order in place and consolidate its foundation before the peoples of the world wake up, recover from the stunning blow and start looking for ways that would enable them to restore the balance in such a manner as to protect their independence and make it possible to base relations on a certain degree of justice.
"The rulers of the United States and its Western allies are neither defenders of international law nor upholders of the Charter. Just exactly as the United States President, George Bush, has stated, they are defenders of the capitalist monetary system, of which the investments by the former Kuwaiti regime, amounting to over $200 billion, constitute one of the principal props. They are seeking to gain control over the oil reserves in the Gulf so as to have a free hand in manipulating the needs of the world, and especially the needs of the peoples of the third world, for this important commodity. The United States is seeking, in a dangerously coercive vein, to impose its leadership on the world. This intention was disclosed by
President George Bush in his speech before Congress on 11 September 1990, when he said that the American objectives in the Gulf were clear, and American goals were well-defined and well-known. America and the world, he said, must defend common vital interests, and in pursuit of these goals the United States should fear nothing. He emphasised that the involvement of the United States predated the events and would survive them. That is why the United States is raising artificial fears about Iraqi control of 20 per cent of the oil reserves while it and its Western allies were quite happy when those reserves were under the control of a handful of sheikhs.
"The real reason for this operation to incite fear is that Iraq, although it is an oil-producing country, considers itself, both in fact and in principle, a third-world country, a country that shares the feelings of other third-world countries, stands in solidarity with them and upholds their causes. In the 1970s, before the war with Iran, Iraq had given more than $9 billion in aid to various countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
"That, then, is the reason. They are out to fight against the control by an independent country over its national wealth, of which it was robbed by force and conspiracy in the days of colonialism. They are dead set against the investment of such wealth in sound self-reconstruction. Their aim is to ensure that that independent country should not become an active party in extending selfless, disinterested assistance to its brother Arab and third-world States as it did up to 1979.
"When, on 10 September 1990, Iraq announced that it was prepared to supply oil, free of charge, to third-world countries, the United States and its allies mobilised their political and military machine to intimidate those countries and make transportation of the oil impossible. Now those countries are compelled to pay twice the price they paid just a few weeks ago. On the other hand, the United States, which until a few weeks ago resisted normal and balanced increases in the price of oil in response to supply and demand, is now intent on keeping the price high, because it is now blackmailing its oil-producing allies into using the earnings accruing from the higher prices to cover the heavy financial costs of its military build-up against Iraq.
"We must fully ponder the generosity shown by the United States, the other major capitalist countries and the capitalist Arab countries in defraying the expense of the military build-up against Iraq. In the course of a few weeks, some $20 billion has been amassed for that campaign. When did these countries ever show such generosity and raise even a few million dollars to provide relief to those who die of hunger in Africa, to the millions of refugees from the wars in Afghanistan and Cambodia, or to the Palestinian refugees who have been and continue to be expelled by Israel from their own land?
"When did these countries ever show such generosity in dealing with the problems of indebtedness that are crushing third-world peoples in Latin America, Africa and Asia? When did these countries ever show any generosity at all in helping countries in the Middle East region that are suffering crippling economic crises? One of those countries, a country which has enlisted in the ranks of the American campaign, has hundreds of thousands of citizens who actually live in cemeteries in the absence of any realistic hope of finding any kind of housing.
"The United States is not doing what it is doing for the sake of the Charter, international law or the rights of peoples. The United States and its Western allies are seeking, through this military, political and information campaign, to gain control over the oil-fields and to impose their imperialist political, economic and military hegemony over the world, especially over the countries of the third-world.
"Therefore, the countries of the third-world should be on their guard against being carried away by the disinformation campaign now being orchestrated by American and Western imperialism. The countries of the third world should take cognisance of the quintessential facts of the situation and should look after their own very real interests. Should any of them have their own views on the subject of Kuwait, they would be well advised to avoid taking hasty positions before acquainting themselves with the facts as they really exist on the ground and should not confuse their own motives with the ulterior motives of America and its allies. America and its allies are only seeking to provide a cover with their disinformation campaign for the imperialist aims which lie behind their military occupation of the Gulf and of the Arabian Peninsula.
"From all this, there clearly emerges a basic fact that cannot be ignored - namely, that in the Middle East region there are so many bitter and complex issues that it would be practically impossible to give preference to one over the other. The whole region is seething with anger and teeming with explosive problems. Such was the case before August 1990. What used to be said from this rostrum by the representatives of the States in the region confirms this fact. Therefore, if the five permanent members of the Security Council, and the Security Council as a whole, are really interested in upholding the Charter and international law and are really earnest in wishing to establish peace and justice in the region, the way to such goals is well known. On 12 August 1990 President Saddam Hussein proposed that all the issues of the region - Palestine, Lebanon, the Gulf, and others - should be considered on an equal footing; that the Security Council should seek to establish common principles and criteria to deal with these issues; and that these principles and criteria should be applied in dealing with all the issues of the region, with due attention to the particularities and backgrounds of each issue. In this way, it would be possible to achieve real justice and peace, resolve the difficult problems of the region, and make the people there feel that they can have peace and can look forward to a future.
"A number of countries have shown interest in these ideas, but the United States and Britain have sought to suppress any tendency to give them consideration. This indicates bad faith and an unwillingness to deal with the issues of the region on an equitable basis. It even amounts to a reaffirmation of the insistence of the United States and its allies in dealing with the issues of the region and of the world with double standards.
"The free countries of the world that really believe in the Charter and in international law, and are sincerely interested in peace, are under an obligation to press unremittingly for a comprehensive and just solution to all the issues of the region."


Permit me to congratulate you, Sir, and your country, Malta, on your election to the presidency of the forty-fifth session of the General Assembly. It is an honour which is richly deserved and which I am sure you will carry with due dignity and authority. I pledge the full support and co-operation of the Commonwealth of Dominica in this task. I also wish to take the opportunity of commending your predecessor for the quality of leadership he displayed during his term of office.
I feel deeply honoured and profoundly privileged to be making my speech in the Assembly at a time when such significant and far-reaching changes are taking place, both in the world at large and in the Organisation which brings together the leaders of the world in the critical task of securing international peace, security and development.
This final decade of the twentieth century is turning out to be one of the most turbulent in recorded history. Yet in contrast to other periods of great and revolutionary change, many of the most far-reaching changes are taking place in an atmosphere not of violence end war, but of negotiation, conciliation and compromise. Whole systems, entrenched for half a century are being examined and evaluated, often overturned and discarded, or at least radically reformed, but all from within, through a battle of intellect. The two great Powers of the century, which have expressed totally opposing ideologies and postures in the past, are now standing shoulder to shoulder and appear truly to be committed to co-operative action towards the ideal of international peace and security. That is truly a remarkable achievement for which much of the credit must go to the boldness, courage, perspicacity and perseverance of the President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Mr. Mikhail Gorbachev, as well as to the open, constructive response of the West.
The Commonwealth of Dominica enthusiastically welcomes the fall of the Iron Curtain, the end of the cold war, the democratization and decolonisation of such of Eastern Europe, and the new spirit of friendship and fraternity, communication and co-operation between East and West. We look forward to the day when the tremendous resource, which have heretofore been tied up in the instrumentalities of hostility between those two great world blocs can be released and redirected to the effort to bring development, social justice and peace to the entire world. The existing inequalities in today's world, of extremes of wealth and wastefulness on the one hand and poverty and privation on the other, cannot be tolerated in this new world which is emerging in the twilight years of the twentieth century.
While profound changes are taking place in the world, much remains unchanged. Many small States in the world continue to b· highly vulnerable to external economic influences and to subversion from within and invasion and annexation from without. The Commonwealth of Dominica, as an extremely small Stat· with experience of this vulnerability, is concerned that the international community must develop new approaches and new concepts for the protection of the security of small States and the preservation of the democratic process where these are threatened by elements hostile to the ideals of the United Nations.
In our region, recently in Trinidad and Tobago, virtually the entire Cabinet was taken hostage by a small band of disaffected terrorists who effectively paralysed the entire country and held its population to ransom because of their belief that they could solve the intractable problems of the third world, as manifested in Trinidad and Tobago, more effectively than could the incumbent, democratically elected, legitimate Government of that country. This action almost destroyed the social and political structure of that country and has certainly set back its economy several years. The ripple effect of this tragic event has had, and will continue to have, an impact on the economies of the other Caribbean States, including my own. My country highly commends Prime Minister Robinson and his Government and people for their courage in standing up to the threats - in some cases to their very lives - and in refusing to make concessions to these terrorists.
The security of the States of the Caribbean region and of Central America is severely threatened by the scourge of international drug trafficking, which has become one of the most serious problems of the Caribbean region. The implications are obvious. The incredible financial resources of the Central American drug cartels, or for that matter of drug rings in many parts of the world, outstrip many times the financial resources of States. Experience has shown that, militarily, it would not take much to achieve the violent overthrow of the established order in these States of the region.
We want to take the opportunity to express our profound admiration for the courage and perseverance of successive Governments of Colombia in their fight against the scourge of drug trafficking. The international community, in our view, should give greater recognition to the sacrifices being made by the Government and people of Colombia, not only on their own behalf, but perhaps more particularly on behalf of the consumer nations of North America and Western Europe. The production and trafficking of narcotic drugs will not stop while the consumer nations are willing to buy the product at the prices which they are prepared to pay. Until we eradicate drug abuse from our societies, none of us can feel safe. Consumption must be more vigorously attacked, but, as well, the producer nations and their peasants must be enabled to earn a living through legitimate activities, the necessary supports for which must be provided in an appropriate manner.
We hold in the highest possible esteem, not only for ourselves but for peoples all over the world, the principles of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and the right of peoples to determine on the basis of their own free choice the destiny of their nation.
One of the most impressive events of the age is the manner in which the entire world community has come together in condemnation of the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait. That dastardly act has succeeded in unifying countries which have been bitter enemies, in defence of а common cause. However, the fact that almost the entire world can stand behind this common cause is itself a remarkable achievement. The Government and people of Dominica stand firmly behind the legitimate Government and the people of Kuwait, and while we cannot do much in practical terms, we have shown our solidarity by prohibiting all trade with Iraq and Kuwait while the occupation of Kuwait continues, and we express our readiness to comply fully with Security Council resolution 661 (1990).
We wish to reiterate here the importance of full respect for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of States and for the settlement of inter-State disputes without resort to the threat or use of force. We join our voice to the voices of those many States in demanding that the Government of Iraq immediately cease its aggression against the legitimate Government and people of Kuwait, and withdraw all its military personnel from the territory of that State,
We welcome recent progress towards a negotiated settlement of the situation of Cambodia, directed towards enabling the Cambodian people to determine their own political future through free and fair elections organised and conducted by the United Nations in a neutral political environment with full respect for the national sovereignty of Cambodia. We express the hope that the spirit of constructive compromise will prevail and that the people of Cambodia can soon effectively express their will in relation to the governance of their country.
The progress of Namibia towards independence and democracy is a matter of deep gratification for the Commonwealth of Dominica and for the Organisation. The world community must continue to support that country as it builds its institutions and exercises its independence in the years ahead.
The new effectiveness of the United Nations, evidenced by all these developments, is to be noted with deep satisfaction. The rapprochement between East and West; the end of the cold war; the new emphasis on development rather than ideology, have enabled the United Nations after all these years at last to begin to play the constructive role in the maintenance of international peace and security that it was established to play. The Security Council, in particular, has been able to achieve a truly remarkable level of unanimity and constructive action on such critical issues as the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the embargo of Iraq and Kuwait sanctioned by the United Nations, and the United Nations efforts in assisting the refugees created by that conflict.
The new spirit of co-operation which has emerged between the super-Powers in the last several months has enabled the United Nations, at last, to begin to fulfil the mandate of its Charter.
Perhaps this new spirit of co-operation will make possible a negotiated settlement of other issues in the Middle East. I am referring, in particular, to universal recognition of the right of Israel to exist within settled and secure borders, as well as of the right of the Palestinian people to a homeland of their own. Recent developments in the Middle East may present new opportunities for a satisfactory settlement of these intractable problems. Every opportunity must be seized to achieve comprehensive peace and stability in that region.
The unification of Germany and the liberation and democratisation of much of Eastern Europe carry tremendous prospects for the future. However, many of these emergent democracies will require assistance in their effort to transform their societies from politically controlled and economically planned societies into market economies and open, democratic societies. We whole-heartedly encourage the international community to lend every support to these efforts, the equally emphatically assert, however, that assistance to the emergent democracies of Eastern Europe should not be at the expense of traditional - and already inadequate - levels of assistance to the developing countries, which have been the traditional recipients of development assistance. We urge the international community, and more particularly the industrialised nations o£ the world, to seek out and identify creative ways to divert the tremendous resources, both human and financial, which have heretofore been poured into sustaining a non-productive cold-war effort into a new drive for the development of the developing countries of the world. We need now to see a rationalisation of the use of the world's resources: an application of those resources to bring about an acceptable level of international economic justice. The developing world must be helped to break out of the cycle of poverty and deprivation which has persisted for so many years, to escape the humiliating dependency which we now suffer, and to be able at last to stand on our own feet in meeting the essential needs of our peoples. This, however, will never happen as long as the relationship between the rich and poor nations, and the trading patterns which exist today, persist as the basis of our existence. And, of course, so long as there is no justice there will be no peace.
Much progress has been made in South Africa in the last 12 months in breaking the grip of apartheid, that inhuman and abominable system for the oppression and exploitation of man by man. The entire world community has long abhorred this abomination, but many countries have been unwilling to do anything about it anything, that is, that would effectively break the stranglehold of the power structure and secure the eradication of that horrendous imposition on the fundamental human rights of millions of black, coloured and Asian South Africans. How, through the struggles of the South African peoples themselves, supported and given heart by the unwavering solidarity of many nations represented here; through the shedding of their blood and the sacrificing of their liberty; through their persistence in confronting the injustice of apartheid even at the greatest imaginable risk; through the boldness of children and the fortitude of women, it begins to appear that justice, after all, can prevail. There begins to appear a glimmer of light at the end of the dark tunnel. In this connection, I cannot avoid mentioning Nelson Mandela, a man who, even as he has faced the challenges and grappled with the problems of the new South Africa into which he has been at last released after 27 years of imprisonment, has demonstrated the depth of wisdom and the strength of his character, uncompromising in principle but remarkably flexible in his approach, a man of great vision, who is prepared to sacrifice ell of himself, as he has incontrovertibly demonstrated, for the good of his people and for the triumph of justice. I salute this great hero of the twentieth century, whose greatest virtue is his humanity, whose wit and sense of humour, tolerance and love, have survived the greatest imaginable odds, and who has emerged smiling and brilliant, challenging the assumptions on both sides of the battle and opening up ways towards a solution.
Doubtless, some of those who have sanctified him while he was in prison will criticize him now that he is grappling, in an entirely principled but pragmatic fashion, with the very real problems of negotiating transition to majority rule while preserving the country - not the structures of apartheid - from a possible collapse into chaos and anarchy. The course he has navigated is a very difficult one, fraught with hazards and obstacles. It requires a giant such as Mandela is, with the wisdom, integrity, tolerance and courage which he has acquired over many years of struggle, to prevail.
We are confident that under such leadership the people of South Africa shall overcome. In the mean time the pressure for real progress must be maintained. The Commonwealth of Dominica has heeded the call of the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and appeals to all the nations of the world that are concerned about human rights and are committed to the objectives of the Charter of the United Nations to maintain economic and other sanctions against South Africa until real and irreversible progress has been made towards the goal of "one person, one vote" in South Africa.
The Commonwealth of Dominica is committed to eradicating nuclear weapons and other investment of mass destruction from the face of the Earth. To that end we have ratified the nuclear non-proliferation Treaty and are negotiating a safeguard agreement. We have supported the initiative to declare the Caribbean region a nuclear-free zone and urge that that concept should be perpetuated and disseminated over an ever-increasing area of the world's surface. The Commonwealth of Dominica urges the international community to work vigorously towards nuclear non-proliferation and the eventual total abolition of all nuclear and chemical weapons.
Too many nations spend too high a proportion of their national wealth on armaments. Even poor, developing countries spend millions of dollars on armaments at the expense of the development of even basic amenities for their peoples. It would be naive to hope for the elimination of expenditure on armaments. However, the world should apply its best efforts to minimise expenditure on destructive weaponry and apply our talents and resources instead to development, peace and justice.
We have noted with satisfaction the reunification of Germany, and in our region the four Windward Islands of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States are working vigorously towards the establishment of a unified State made up of those four separate and independent States. In that contest, we note with satisfaction the recent efforts which indicate a new seriousness in the approach of the Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea to the issue of the reunification of Korea. We realise that there are many difficulties in the way of that process of reunification. We affirm our full support for the objective shared by both North and South Korea that their country be reunited. At the same time, we do not share the view that the process towards unification should stand in the way of United Nations membership for the Republic of Korea or for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, if they desire it. We note that separate membership in the United Nations did not prevent or in any way retard the progress of East and West Germany towards reunification. North and South Yemen were not obstructed in any way by separate membership of the United Nations in their drive to unify their country. We in Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines will not allow separate representation in the United Nations to stand in the way of our unification.
If the Republic of Korea, an independent sovereign State, seeks membership in the United Nations and is willing and able to carry out all the obligations of a Member State in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations - as we have no doubt it is - the Commonwealth of Dominica will support its application for membership.
Reverting to the Caribbean region, I wish to touch upon the traumas being suffered by the people of our sister State of Haiti. Liberated from the brutal dictatorship of the Duvalier regime, the country now finds it difficult to break out of the dictatorship of terror that appears to be so much a part of Haitian life. But it appears to be in a perpetual see-saw of rising hopes and dashed dreams, to such a point where one wonders at this stage whether cynicism has overcome hope. But it is said that "hope springs eternal in the human breast", and while it is for the people of Haiti to work out their destiny, surely it is for their neighbours and the international community to lend appropriate encouragement and support to the efforts of the local population.
The cycle of violence and terror that has dominated the life of Haiti for such a long time must be broken. We endorse and support United Nations initiatives to contribute to the organisation of free and fair elections in that country, so long deprived of the opportunity to attend seriously to the legitimate needs of its people in an atmosphere of peace and security. Indeed, we urge the United Nations to place much greater emphasis on this problem and not to treat it as merely peripheral.
Lastly, on a more positive note, the government of the Commonwealth of Dominica has, over the years, been developing and implementing a very comprehensive programme to promote the prudent use of natural resources for social and economic advancement. Such a programme is of critical importance in an island setting with fragile ecosystems, limited physical conditions end pressures from competing interests for scarce land resources.
Recent developments on the global level have prompted my Government to pursue its environmental management programme with much urgency and commitment. Issues such as global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, tropical deforestation, inadequate housing and poverty are seen as matters to be tackled immediately while searching continuously for long-term solutions.
In an effort to diversify the nation's economy, tourism has been given greater priority and Dominica is being promoted abroad as the "nature island". Indeed, our small nation is very rich in natural and cultural resources which are found nowhere also. Dominica has an abundance of forests, wildlife, rivers, lakes, waterfalls and sulphur springs. Such outstanding natural features are complemented by numerous historical sites and archaeological features. It is logical, therefore, that the development: and promotion of those resources must he carried out with the highest regard for environmental consequences, in order to achieve the goal of sustainable development.
The Government of Dominica has embarked on a systematic approach to sustainable development. One important component of that programme is the setting up of forest reserves and national parks. Today 20 per cent of the total land area of Dominica has been legally declared either forest reserves or national parks. The forest and park systems plan has identified other areas for inclusion, but the present system consists of two forest reserves and two national parks. Those forest reserves and parks and the resources found in them provide the base for the development of tourism on the island. Therefore our policy of tourism calls for environmental protection and enhancement.
The Commonwealth of Dominica takes pride in the fact that its citizens today enjoy clean air and water and an environment relatively free of most of the problems faced in other parts of the world. We are well aware, however, that those conditions are not likely to exist much longer if the present indiscriminate and world-wide destruction of the environment continues.
While recent approaches to environmental questions by the industrial nations give reason for hope, the international community needs to commit greater resources to the eradication of practices that result in the pollution of our rivers and atmosphere, the depletion of our forests and the indiscriminate discharge of industrial wastes into the oceans of the world. After all, we must be guided in the end by the proposition that we are mere trustees of this Earth and we should endeavour to pass it on to future generations in a condition which will allow them to enjoy the full gifts of nature.
The recent World Summit for Children affords us the opportunity to reflect on the impact of the issues of drugs, war, justice, development and the environment on the children end therefore on tomorrow's world. We must take up the challenge and seize the opportunity today if we are to escape the harsh judgement of tomorrow's history.
I wish the United Nations continued growth in influence and effectiveness as it seeks to respond to the challenges of a rapidly changing world.


I congratulate you, Sir, on your unanimous election as President of the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session. Your election is testimony to the high esteem in which both you and your country, Malta, are held by the international community, we are confident that you will provide effective leadership to the work of the Assembly.
Let me also take this opportunity to pay tribute to ray compatriot, Major-General Joseph Garba, President of the General Assembly at its forty-fourth session. I congratulate him for a successful tenure and for bringing honour to our country. May I also thank the international community and, in particular, Africa for the support accorded Nigeria during the period we hold the presidency.
I commend the efforts and the contribution of the Secretary-General to the enhancement of the role of our Organisation.
Since the last session our Organisation has undergone positive changes in its membership. On behalf of the Government and the people of Nigeria, I wish again to welcome the Republic of Namibia to membership of the United Nations. In this connection, we commend the role played by the Organisation and the entire international community in the attainment of Namibia's independence. May I also welcome our newest Member, Liechtenstein. Similarly, we congratulate the Government and the people of Yemen for their reunification.
In the same vein, we also look forward to the historic reunification of Germany. We expect that a united Germany will be accorded a significant role within the Organisation. We expect, through these changes, that the United Nations will reflect not only the new realities in world affairs, but will also embark on equitable geographical representation at the highest level of the Organisation. Indeed, the time has come for the United Nations to be restructured to give Africa a permanent seat in the Security Council. Other regions equally deserve consideration. This will give full expression to the universality of our Organisation.
Since the last session of our Assembly, new positive trends have emerged in the international political environment. There has been a new universal wave of democracy. The Berlin Hall has been pulled down. Even more important, in the immediate aftermath of the cold war, ideological rivalry has been replaced by increased super-Power co-operation, opening the way to the enhanced relevance of the United Nations in global affairs. We can only hope that these positive trends will provide the requisite climate to enable the developing countries to pursue their objective of development in freedom and peace.
Despite some positive treads, there are still unresolved questions which may put in jeopardy the emerging world order based on co-operation. The breach of peace and security in the Gulf, which we have all condemned, the threat of renewed conflict in the Middle East and the economic stagnation and decline in the developing countries, all point to the fact that our optimism should be guarded, and that security and survival remain the most important questions on the international political agenda.
The crisis in the Gulf constitutes the greatest threat to international peace and security today. Nigeria believes firmly in the non-use of force in international relations. It is for this reason that Nigeria commends the Security Council for all the measures it has adopted in dealing with the Iraqi invasion and annexation of Kuwait. Nigeria not only endorses all these measures, but has also taker, steps to implement appropriate Security Council resolutions. Nigeria once again calls on Iraq to pull out, unconditionally, all its forces from Kuwait. Kuwait is a sovereign nation. Consequently, its territorial integrity cannot and should not be compromised.
It is gratifying to see a vibrant and enhanced role for the United Nations in the emerging world order. We hope that this swift and collective response and action in the Gulf will be the norm in cases of tension for all time.
The experience of the developing countries in the 19308 has not borne out the notion that sustained growth in the industrialised North would serve as an engine of growth in the South. While the industrialised nations have had about eight years of uninterrupted expansion, the economies of the vast majority of the countries in the South have either stagnated or even declined. This emerging dual pattern in the economic performance of Member States of the Organisation is attributable to many factors. Some of these factors are the escalating debt burden, the sharp fall in commodity prices, protectionism, the decline in foreign investment, and the net transfer of resources from the developing to the developed nations. It is indeed a fact that the developed countries have not pursued or sustained policies that aid the economic growth of developing countries.
The pervasive and deep decline among developing countries in the 1980s indicates that poor domestic economic management is not the main culprit for their economic woes as commonly suggested. The fact is that the external shocks of the 1980s have had a devastating impact on many of our economies. Nigeria's plight and experience is very illustrative. Our oil export revenue fell by 75 per cent between 1980 and 1986. On the other hand, our external debt rose from $3.4 billion in 1978 to $30.7 billion in 1988, due in large measure to a sharp rise in interest rates. The combined effects of these externally-induced shocks have led to s dramatic reduction in the living standards of our people.
In the period 1989 to 1990 the total debt stock of all developing countries stood at $1,300 billion. That figure is nearly twice our export earnings, with our annual interest obligations currently at about $100 billion. And the debt, of course, is still growing.
On our continent, Africa, total debt stock rose from approximately $48 billion in 1978 to an estimated $250 billion in 1989. The effect of this debt burden on sub-Saharan Africa has been devastating. By the end of 1988, sub-Saharan African debt was equal to its gross national product and three and a half times its export earnings. Most countries in the sub-region have found it impossible to meet debt-servicing obligations African countries have had to bear debt-servicing obligations averaging between 35 per cent to 40 per cent of their export earnings, a most punishing burden for such low-income economies to bear.
As a result of the negative net transfer of resources, principally arising from debt-servicing, developing countries have suffered painful reductions in income. Consequently, within the decade of the 1980s, six African countries were reclassified from middle-income to low-income economies. On this scale of dismal economic performance, arising from an unfavourable international economic environment, the number of African countries classified as least developed countries increased from 17 to 28. There is a real fear that this number will increase if present global economic policies are not redressed.
The Nigerian delegation calls on the major industrialised countries to exhibit the political will needed to address and resolve the main economic problems of our particularly the debt problem. The resolution of the debt problem, will significantly reduce the pernicious phenomena of the negative transfer of resources and therein release resources needed for development and growth.
We recognise that effective solutions to the debt problem must be the joint responsibility of debtor and creditor countries as well as the multilateral financial institutions and the commercial banks. Recent initiatives aimed at the reduction of the debt stock and debt service are well conceived. However, these initiatives are not sufficiently far-reaching to deal with the profound crisis that has already wrecked and prevented the growth of the economies of many developing countries. What is required is co-ordinated and intensified international economic co-operation to address the economic problems of our era, as well as the proposal, adoption and implementation of durable, far-reaching and forward-looking solutions.
We urge the developed nations to rise to the challenge posed by the debt problem. Effective measures should be devised and implemented that would remove the other obstacles that impede the rapid economic development of the developing countries. We know that we have the ultimate responsibility for our development. In this regard, we in Nigeria have embarked on major reforms and restructuring of our economy. In spite of these measures, the flow of foreign investment and capital into our economy has not matched our expectations and sacrifices. The growth and development of our economies will not reach their full potential without profound structural changes in the global economic and financial system.
Related to the question of economic development is the issue of disarmament. In our view, the question of disarmament is not only restricted to the immediate benefit of the preservation of life, although that is important, but also to the relationship between disarmament and development. The disarmament question is, therefore, important in terms of both military and non-military security.
Recent developments in disarmament negotiations gave us grounds for hope. Unfortunately, this hope has not been justified, and the expectations of the "peace dividend" are rapidly receding.
An important component of our common security must be a binding universal acceptance of the principle of the non-use of force in resolving international disputes. Such a security system must also involve deep reductions in existing global stocks of nuclear and conventional weapons, armed forces and related expenditure, which are draining the world's limited resources and impoverishing humanity.
In our region, Nigeria is proud to be associated with the various efforts towards regional peace and security. The turning of Africa into a nuclear-free zone, as embodied in the 1964 Declaration of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), remains our goal. Our commitment to the strengthening of peace and security in the South Atlantic region is solid. We demonstrated this commitment when, earlier this year, we hosted the Second Meeting of the States of the Zone of Peace and Co-operation of the South Atlantic in Abuja, during which concrete decisions on the practical ways of accelerating the objectives of the zone were reached.
We must preserve our environment. Irreparable damage to our environment will have tragic consequences for our civilisation. Environmental degradation caused by the negative effects of scientific and technological development has, in many cases, already led to adverse changes in the environment. These changes threaten the life-sustaining eco-systems and pose a threat to the health and well-being of mankind. There is therefore, an urgent and compelling need for global action to deal with such environmental issues as deforestation, desertification, protection of the ozone layer and more rational use of land and water resources and energy.
Developing countries are highly vulnerable to environmental degradation.
Owing to the low levels of technological development, our countries are ill-equipped to deal effectively with the complex problems of environmental abuse. Consequently, the developed countries bear a special responsibility to promote environmentally sound policies that will contribute to sustainable development.
International development co-operation for environmental protection should be a central task for this decade. Development co-operation must be based on respect for nationally determined goals and priorities. However, we should not be expected to accept development assistance on terns which are detrimental to our national development. There is now an urgent need for all countries to put in place effective standards for the disposal of toxic wastes within their own borders. Rigorous standards should also be observed for the trans-boundary movement of toxic wastes. Under no conditions should toxic and hazardous wastes be sent to countries that are technologically incapable of their safe disposal.
We have recently set up the Federal Environmental Protection Agency, because of the importance the government of Nigeria attaches to environmental protection and security. In this regard, we look forward to the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, which will take place in Brazil in 1992.
Human rights are of cardinal importance. The promotion of the well-being of the individual, and respect for and observance of his fundamental rights are directly related to the progress of the individual and his society. We hold the view that, whatever the historical background or the material circumstances of peoples, their civil and political rights, on the one hand, end their economic, social and cultural rights, on the other, are indivisible and interdependent category of right is more important than the other. Governments that engage in the flagrant violation of the rights of their people provoke crisis, conflict and instability. Although much remains to be done in the area of peace, the United Nations has been impressive in setting standards in this field.
At its forty-fourth session, the General Assembly requested the views of governments on the need to convene a world conference on human rights. Therefore,  Mr. President, e affirm our support for this call. Nigeria is strongly committed to the principle of political pluralism. In this connection, we have commenced the process of democratisation of our governmental system. We have embarked on a political transition programme to full democracy, which will lead to the election of a democratic government. Indeed, the third tier of government would be elected in December this year.
The problem of production, supply, demand, trafficking and distribution of narcotic drugs is one of increasing concern. A comprehensive approach is required to deal with this problem. Bold and concerted international and national action is required. Consequently, we have established the National Law Enforcement Agency to deal with the problem. We are co-operating with other governments to ensure the effectiveness of the campaign against drug trafficking and consumption. However, only a solution that addresses the demand and supply aspects of the problem has any chance of success.
One of our objectives in Africa is to promote peace and security. It is in this context that the Economic Community of West African States seats a peace-keeping force to Liberia. Our goals are to facilitate a cease-fire among the different warring groups, to protect the lives of Liberians and other nationals. To create stable security conditions in the country, and to create an atmosphere conducive to the installing of a democratically elected government.
We hope that the international community will support this peace process.
There is a serious refugee problem in the subregion arising from the Liberian conflict. We appeal to the international community for urgent humanitarian assistance. We also call for logistic and other related assistance to the ECOWAS Monitoring Group (EC0M0G) in its peace-keeping operations.
The situation in southern Africa remains of primary concern to my country.
This year has truly witnessed important developments in southern Africa. These developments are a result of our collective and individual resolve to eradicate the method of apartheid, which dehumanises both its victims and its perpetrators alike. Nigeria, indeed Africa and the entire international community celebrated the release of Mr. Nelson Mandela. We welcome the dialogue between the African National Congress of South Africa (ANC) and the Government of South Africa. Nigeria notes with interest the opening of the National Party to all races. We also welcome the recent meeting between representatives of other political groups within South Africa. Notwithstanding these positive changes, we must not forget that the major pillars of apartheid remain intact. The racist Constitution remains the basic law in South Africa. Black South Africans are still victims of oppression, of hatred and of direct and inspired racist killings. We urge the international community to maintain existing sanctions against South Africa until the establishment of a free, non-racial, democratic and undivided South Africa. The international community cannot accept anything less.

The consensus Declaration ,adopted by the General Assembly at its sixteenth special session provides the framework for the peaceful elimination of apartheid and the resolution of the crises in southern Africa. Elsewhere in the region, particularly is Angola and Mozambique, we hope that the different groups involved in civil conflicts will have recourse to negotiations, dialogue and other peaceful means is the resolution of their differences. We shall continue, as is the past, to play our part as peace-makers.
On Western Sahara, Nigeria notes with satisfaction the recent actions by the Secretary-General and the Security Council. We welcome the adoption of the initial report of the Secretary-General on the proposed implementations of the joist OAU-United Nations proposal for the peaceful settlement of the crisis. We are prepared to play any suitable role is the proposed United Nations mission for the referendum in Wasters Sahara. In other areas of conflict, such as Kampuchea, Central America and Afghanistan, Nigeria will continue to support and encourage regional and international efforts for attaining peace, security and stability.
Nigeria welcomed the recent meeting of the Prime Ministers of the two Koreas. We hope that such contacts will further advance efforts towards peaceful reunification. That is without prejudice to the desire of the Korean people for membership of the United Nations.
The question of a homeland for the Palestinians is at the heart of the Middle East problem. The Palestinians must be allowed to enjoy their right to self-determination. The lessons of the past and the present show that, as Members of the United Nations committed to the maintenance of international peace and security, we should never be complacent. The struggle to achieve peace and security is a never-ending one. In spite of the gains resulting primarily from increased super-Power co-operation, recent events show that obstacles remain. This must compel us to be more vigilant.
Politics and economics are interwoven. It is therefore regrettable that the same concern and commitment in global political and security matters have not yet been extended to the economic well-being of most of the developing countries. Africa remains marginalised in the evolving world order. In spite of our best efforts at economic development, poverty has become more widespread in our continent. This, I believe, poses a threat to world peace and security.
None the less, as we peer into the future we are full of hope. We are confident that we shall reach our collective goal of a peaceful world devoid of man-made injustice. The Government and the people of Nigeria will not only dream, but will continue to work tirelessly for an Africa that is socially at peace, economically developed and politically plural and democratic. To achieve this we ask for the understanding and co-operation of the international community. Indeed, we ask for genuine partnership. We need partnership to uproot the scourge of apartheid and racism. We need partnership to eliminate and banish large-scale poverty and disease. We need partnership to check environmental degradation. We need partnership to promote respect for human rights in all their ramifications. And we need partnership to advance the process of political democratisation on our continent. Above all, as Members of this Organisation, we need to summon the political will to increase and sustain the commitment to a humane and just world economic order.


The delegation of Senegal warmly congratulates the President on his election to guide the work of the General Assembly at its forty-fifth session. In addition to being a tribute paid to your country for its commitment to peace and justice, this wise choice consecrates his long experience in international affairs and his intellectual, human and moral qualities. It is true that we will have to take up some sizeable challenges during this session, but we are convinced that under his guidance our work will be successful. We may count on the delegation of Senegal to be at his disposal to assist him, to its modest best, as he carries out his difficult mission.
To his illustrious predecessor, Major-General Joseph Garba, Minister of State of Nigeria, I would like to reaffirm my delegation's satisfaction at the effective and skilful manner in which he guided the Assembly's work at its forty-fourth regular session and its sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth special sessions, In so doing, he gave honour to all Africa. Let him find here a renewed expression of my delegation's warm and sincere congratulations.
It is also a pleasure for me to acclaim the constant efforts of the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Peres de Cuellar, to promote peace and security everywhere and to give the United Nations a stronger image, that of an Organization is ever stronger and more credible because it is capable of saying what is right and defending the independence and sovereignty of its Members.
I should also like to emphasise and welcome the ever growing universality of our Organisation. The presence of Namibia and Liechtenstein in this Assembly, which we acclaim with joy and pride, is yet another dazzling illustration of this.

Namibia, which today is independent, needs constant support from the international community to solve, inter alia, the problems related to rebuilding its economy and restoring its territorial integrity. Senegal has given it such support, and we have no doubt that the United Nations, which, particularly through the Council for Namibia, played a decisive role in that country's independence process will give it all the desired support.
I should like, finally, to welcome the presence in our midst of reunified Yemen, and to express again our sincerest wishes for the Yemeni people's stability and prosperity·
Yesterday, 3 October, a crucial page in post-Second-World-War history was turned. I refer to the peaceful unification of Germany. This historic event - a symbol of success and dynamism - should mark the dawn of a new eve where co-operation and understanding will prevail over the old confrontations on our planet.
Thus, the unprecedented joint efforts that have replaced stubborn antagonisms between the super-Powers herald the coming of a new political order. The wind of freedom, which had begun to blow in Eastern Europe during our last session, is now blowing harder and spreading. At the same time, the doors have been opened to solving a large number of regional conflicts, and pertly opened to settling certain others.
Today more than ever before we have reason to hope that we shall see the birth of a new world order, in which solutions to conflicts will be found through multilateral diplomacy in the service of our common security.
But, it is merely hope that is involved and not yet reality, because a world of peace, solidarity and justice is not yet here. One might even say that doubt is wining over our mind because of the resurgence of nationality problems in one place; the persistence of old conflicts, which continue to elude solution in another place; civil wars and threats of regional conflicts in yet other places. Global peace and collective security remain goals for the attainment of which much effort still needs to be made.
We have just been tragically reminded of this by the events in the Gulf region. There, in defiance of international law and in violation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations, one country, Iraq, invaded another, Kuwait, and decided to annex it outright. Senegal, which criticized and condemned this inadmissible act, is already acting in conformity with all the Security Council resolutions, and repeats here its firm commitment to support any other measures taken within the United Nations to end the aggression against the sovereignty and independence of Kuwait, a State with which Senegal is linked by solid, close relations of friendship and co-operation.
Ending this aggression means, at the same time, ensuring the unconditional withdrawal of Iraqi troops from occupied Kuwait, restoring the legitimate Government of that country, headed by His Highness Emir Sheikh Al-Ahmad AΙ-Jaber AΙ-Sabah and obtaining the immediate release of all foreign hostages.
In the name of the right to self-defence, recognised by the Charter of the United Nations for all Member States, Saudi Arabia is entitled to appeal to the international community to help it defend its sovereignty and its territorial integrity. It was in response to the appeal of that friendly country, with which Senegal has special relations, and in order to join the concert of nations in ensuring respect for law, that President Abdou Diouf decided to send a military contingent to that country.
It is, moreover, comforting to see that this crisis seems to have strengthened the international community's determination to consolidate and strengthen the still fragile results achieved during these last months, which particularly concern two essential areas: the self-determination of peoples and the respect for and promotion of human rights throughout the world. Consolidating and strengthening these gains means also resolving the age-old conflicts that challenge the establishment of e. new political order which is able to promote peace and security throughout the world.
For some conflicts, such as those in Western Sahara and Cambodia, encouraging progress has already been noted towards solutions sponsored by the United Nations. Senegal is honoured to have played a leading role in these two cases, thanks to the confidence regularly shown with regard to Senegal's chairing the United Nations Ad Ho  Committee on Kampuchea, and thanks to the initiative of its Head of State, President Abdou Diouf, who, in his capacity as the current Chairman of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) had initiated the process for negotiations on Western Sahara in co-operation with the Secretary-General of the United Nations. I should like to reaffirm that my country is prepared to continue to contribute in every way to the completion of the process under way.
With regard to Cambodia, we welcome the agreement reached in Jakarta on 10 September 1990 to set up a Supreme national Council, and we hope that the parties to the conflict will take this historic opportunity to embark upon the road of national reconciliation.
For other conflicts, such as the one in South Africa, we seem to be at the dawn of a new era, but the foundations of the apartheid system are still in place.
The release of Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners, the removal of the ban on political movements including the African national Congress of South Africa and the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, the start of a dialogue with a view to dismantling apartheid: all these things, it is true, reflect a development that must be encouraged. However, the maintenance of repressive laws, the resort to divisiveness and its corollary, the escalation of violence, which are threats to the pursuit of political dialogue, require constant vigilance on the part of the international community, all countries must ensure that pressure continues to be brought to bear on the South African regime until this process, which has begun, is consolidated and grows in order to lead to the final eradication of the apartheid system.
Senegal, which initiated the decision taken on 24 February by the Council of Ministers of the OAU to recommend to its member States that they commemorate 11 February of each year as Mandela Day, in recognition of the sacrifices made by this freedom fighter, reaffirms its constant commitment to working for the eradication of this crime against humanity.
In the Korean peninsula, the process of peaceful reunification, which my country has always hoped for, seems to have registered son· progress with the recent meeting between the Prime Ministers of North Korea and South Korea. It is our hope that this meeting will b· followed up by further meetings so that the Korean peninsula nay finally be reunited. In that regard and with regard to the question of adequate representation for Korea in our Organisation, Senegal reaffirms its commitment to the principle of universality, in keeping with the Charter and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations.
These are conflicts for whose solution we see glimmers of hope, but, to our great regret, there are others that go on and on and get worse. It is so in the case of the question of Palestine, which continues to defy the conscience of the world. My country, which chairs the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, has already, with others, defined the principles that should underlie any draft solution, as well as the framework for a global settlement.
Today, it is our most fervent wish that, in pursuance of the consensus that already exists with regard to the Gulf crisis, the Security Council will take the necessary measures to bring an end to the conflict in the Middle East through restoration of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the convening of an international conference on the Middle East with the participation of all parties concerned, including the Palestine Liberation Organisation, the sole, legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.
With regard to Lebanon, where the situation gives rise to deep anguish, we make an urgent appeal that this battered and torn country be allowed to regain its unity without foreign interference.
As for the Cyprus problem, we encourage the Secretary-General to pursue his effort, with a view to having a plan of action put in place in conformity with Security Council resolution 649 (1990).
In connection with Afghanistan, there is now international consensus in favour of a negotiated solution. All efforts should therefore be directed towards the beginning of an internal process that would enable the Afghan people to exercise freely their right to self-determination.
I should like to say a few words about two problems in our region - West Africa. First, there is the civil war that is raging in Liberia, which grieves us terribly. My country deplores this war. The suffering of our brothers, the people of Liberia, has gone on too long. Therefore it is urgent that there be convened a special summit of the Economic Community of west African States, at which all countries in the region would collectively seek a settlement that would permit this brother country to regain its unity and sovereignty, and enable its sons finally to become reconciled and to devote themselves to the rebuilding of its devastated economy. Senegal is working to this end, in the hope that, when the time comes, the international community will spare no effort to assist Liberia.
With respect to our dispute with our neighbour Mauritania, Senegal, through me, reaffirms its determination to work tirelessly for an overall negotiated solution - a solution that would permit, among other things, removal of the obstacles that this unhappy conflict has put in the way of our pursuit of subregional integration. At the same time I repeat our full confidence and our availability with regard to the mediation committee that the Organisation of African Unity has established. This is the spirit that has always guided us in respect of the much-appreciated initiatives of friendly countries.
An approach to the overall problem of international peace and security, if it is to be global, must take into account also equilibrium in the field of development. In this regard, President Abdou Diouf, in 1979, when he was Prime Minister, said:
"Certainly we feel that all efforts to eliminate hotbeds of tension in the world, to silence guns and to stop fighting are praiseworthy. But we are convinced that even if - and this is something for which we hope deeply – the present conflicts were to end tomorrow, the world will still be on the verge of the abyss of war so long as the gap between rich and poor nations, far from diminishing, continues to grow, throwing into irreparable, Sisyphean despair so many people who have and laudable efforts to emerge from such a situation.”
Eleven years later, those words are still appropriate; never has the economic and social condition of two thirds of Mankind caused more disappointment or given rise to more anguished questions or more pessimistic projections. Despite the courageous corrective and restructuring Measures and the Measures for economic and financial and reorganisation that have been taken in recent years by the developing countries, the situation has been especially disturbing during the past decade. The instruments of economic analysis have shown everyone that when growth in the industrialised countries continues, per capita increase in Africa and Latin America drops considerably. Add to this the deep, and increasing, suffering of the developing countries at a time when new challenges are emerging, and these things are beyond the bounds of anything we have so far seen in the international community.
But while that situation is of concern to any delegation, more disturbing is the low level of the results achieved from efforts at repair. The three United Nations development decades, which carried so many frustrated hopes, are evidence of this - if evidence were needed. We all know that these promises have not been kept, that expectations still have not been satisfied. At the same time the gap is widening between the developed countries and the developing countries where poverty is an offence to human dignity, and human beings, weakened by sickness and ignorance, and heroically struggling to survive and subsist in an often hostile environments. In this regard, one might recall that, for the first time in the history of mankind, an entire continent - Africa - has seen its living standards decreasing for more than 15 years, at a time when the world was at peace. The latest report on the economic situation in Africa, published by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, shows that between 1980 and 1089 per capita income dropped by 1.7 per cent per annual and commodity prices dropped by 3.1 per cent per annum, whereas unemployment grew four times faster than it had during the 1970s. In fact, many other indicators too show a deterioration, this is especially so in the case of total debt, which now amounts to more than $250 billion - an increase of 10 per cent per annum. In addition, the present crisis in the Gulf gives rise to the risk of a considerable increase in the energy bill of the non-oil-producing countries of Africa.
It is time therefore, to translate into reality the many initiatives and actions already embarked upon to find an appropriate solution to the debt problem. In this respect the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Mr. Bettino Craxi, recommends bold and laudable approaches.
For its part Africa has already proposed engaging in serious, in-depth joint efforts to prepare as adequately as possible for the holding of an international conference on the external debt of African countries. This proposal, if it is followed up and carried out, could be a first step in the search for overall solutions to the question of the debt of the developing countries. Without any doubt the debt problem in the most serious teat of our determination to avoid the errors of the 1980s, of our willingness to make the 1990s a genuine development decade and of our ability to use the dividends of detente for the benefit of all humanity.
More than ever the situation and economic prospects overall require careful consideration and joint action by all because, as the first Foreign Minister of Senegal said, "The road to universal peace includes economic justice." We must now come up with concrete positive acts. The lessening of tensions must be followed by a redistribution and redeployment of resources. For its part, having become aware that Africa must first count on itself, Africa seeks to find its own resources, creative potential and faculties, the means to meet the challenges of the 1990s, at the three levels of economic, social and political action. It is in this spirit that the Economic Community for Africa (ECA) at the United Nations proposed an African Alternative Framework to Structural Adjustment Programmes for Socio-economic Recovery and Transformation (AAFSAP). This is a specifically African step which simultaneously takes account of the different macro- and micro-economic parameters, the social dimension of structural adjustment and the long-tem objective· and strategies for development. The adoption of the draft treaty establishing the African Economic Community which is to be signed in Abeja, Nigeria, in January 1991, is also part of this dynamic process.
None the less our actions would be incomplete and insufficient if they were not based on a will to combine our efforts in an economic integration likely to promote interregional exchanges end the complementarily of our economies. Indeed, we need to enhance our regional potential in order to foster the emergence of truly integrated economic groupings. That is why President Abdou Diouf established a ministerial department in charge of African integration and that is why Senegal is actively participating in the work of the so-called Group of 15 at the Summit on South-South Consultation and Co-operation.
Furthermore, Senegal was delighted, as was the last Summit of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), at the international consensus" which emerged at the Conference on Africa held in July 1990 at Maastricht in the Netherlands. That consensus in substance advocates "sustained African efforts backed by an appropriate and constant external financing" through a "global coalition". That should take into account the long-term nature of the African debt crisis and should regroup Africa, the World Bank and other traditional partners, in the framework of a new international partnership for the coming decade.
The environment requires the reflection and diligent action of the entire community of nations. That is why we place great hopes in the conclusions of the forthcoming United Nations Conference on Environment and Development to be held in Brazil in 1992, which should, Inter alia, recommend the mobilisation of adequate International assistance for the developing countries, especially those countries in Africa that are most affected by drought and desertification.
Events of the recent months have demonstrated the importance of freedom of expression in the promotion of democracy we need in a world of peace and justice, for the establishment of a new political order batter able to help us resolve our disputes and to meet the challenges of all types with which we are all confronted. We must now give human rights problems their rightful place in international life. In this context my country would like to encourage the entire community of nations to make the World campaign for human rights launched by the United Nations a resounding success.
I should like to conclude by going back to my initial comments. The present evolution in international relations may be the harbinger of a new era in which our collective security can be guaranteed by the peaceful means of dialogue and of co-operation. But it could also be the harbinger of a new era of instability if selfishness not yield to generosity and if the new spirit of understanding and of co-operation among the major Powers of the world in not applied to alienate injustice, improve economic relations among nations and resolve the many challenges confronting mankind.
These challenges can and must be met. They will be if dialogue, as the means of resolving international disputes, makes headway over confrontation. They will be if, freed from the old antagonisms of the cold war, our world allocates to the war on poverty, disease, ignorance, environmental deterioration, the enormous resources thus far devoted to producing the instruments of its own destruction.
It is in this way and is this way alone that we will be able to make of this last decade of the twentieth century a decade of freedom peace and progress.