I seize this opportunity to
extend, on behalf of my Government, my warm
congratulations to Mr. Han Seung-soo on his election
as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth
session. I am confident that, with his experience and
profound dedication, he will successfully guide the
proceedings of this session. I also avail myself of this
opportunity to thank his predecessor, His Excellency
Mr. Harri Holkeri, for his excellent stewardship of the
fifty-fifth session of the General Assembly. May I also
extend our warmest congratulations to the Secretary-
General, His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan, on his
election to a second term and on the award of the
Nobel Peace Prize to him and to the United Nations.
Last year, at the Millennium Summit held here in
New York, the President of Somalia, His Excellency
Mr. Abdikassim Salad Hassan, stood before the
Assembly after Somalia’s absence from the
international arena for about a decade. That was a
moment of historic significance for my country, which
continues to strive to emerge from the abyss of conflict
and to reassert its position as an active Member of the
United Nations. I reiterate our deep gratitude to the
international community for welcoming us back into
the fold.
In the last century, humanity witnessed great and
laudable achievements in the political, scientific,
technological and economic fields. Yet, despite those
accomplishments, we continue to face challenges that
need to be fully addressed. Conflicts are abundant;
poverty is rampant; the economic divide between North
and South continues to widen; and the scourge of
HIV/AIDS remains unabated in the world. Nations
around the globe are reeling from the attendant
consequences and call for urgent and immediate action.
The events of 11 September shocked the
conscience of all decent human beings. We in Somalia
relate to the pain and suffering of the people of the
United States in a very profound and special way. The
Somali people have been subjected to a reign of terror
perpetrated by the warlords. We in Somalia, therefore,
know very well what it means to lose loved ones. Let
me say that those who committed the heinous and
36

atrocious crimes of 11 September have nothing in
common with Islam or with the Islamic faith. Islam
preaches peace within one’s spiritual self and with
one’s neighbours; it preaches tolerance and
compassion.
Allow me to reiterate our heartfelt and sincere
condolences to the families of the victims and to the
people and the Government of the United States of
America on their tragic loss. We continue to share their
grief and pain.
The inhuman terrorist attacks of 11 September
brought to the forefront new challenges to international
peace and security. Our fight against terrorism must be
based on collective action by the international
community and on the principles enshrined in the
Charter of the United Nations. The immediate and
strong response by the Security Council and the
General Assembly, including the adoption of Security
Council resolution 1373 (2001), reflects our collective
approach in the fight against terrorism. The
Government of Somalia fully supports Security
Council resolution 1373 (2001) and is firmly
committed to translate its provisions into action.
Having said that, I must observe that terrorists
will exploit situations of injustice and imbalance as
well as conflicts in fragile and unstable States. The
international community is under a moral obligation to
come to the aid of those States in the form of post-
conflict peace-building and national reconstruction so
that they do not become vulnerable to the evil forces of
terrorism. In that context, we welcome the statement
made before the Assembly by His Excellency President
George W. Bush, in which he expressed the readiness
of the United States Government to extend assistance
to those countries that lack adequate resources to
combat terrorism. A case in point is the situation in my
country, where there was a political vacuum and no
Government for a decade.
The present Somali Government has been in
office for about a year and a few months. It is a
Government that inherited destroyed institutions and
devastated infrastructure. There are two options before
the international community in dealing with the
situation in Somalia: watch the country slide back into
anarchy and chaos or fully support the struggling
Somali State by providing the necessary resources to
enable it to play a meaningful role in the fight against
terrorism. The Somali Government needs urgent and
adequate assistance from the international community
to be able to comply with resolution 1373 (2001).
Let me at this juncture address the persistent
reports in the media and elsewhere alleging, among
other things, the existence of terrorist camps in
Somalia. First, I should firmly state that the Somali
Government hosts no terrorists nor does it offer bases
or training camps for them. My Government has not
offered and will not offer them any sanctuary. We will
arrest and hand over immediately any known terrorist
who comes to our shores. Secondly, we want to
challenge the veracity of these reports. It is also
important to evaluate objectively the integrity of the
sources of this kind of information.
We are a transparent and open society and are
more than willing to cooperate fully with the United
Nations and with States in this regard. The Somali
Government is ready to invite the media and other
interested parties to visit our country to verify the facts
on the ground. First, we need to see the evidence and
establish the facts first. It is a fundamental principle of
law and natural justice that every person is presumed
innocent until proven guilty. This principle, in our
opinion, is equally applicable to States.
In view of my Government’s serious concern
about these accusations, we propose setting up an
international committee of inquiry under the auspices
of the United Nations Security Council to investigate
these allegations. We also propose that the committee
identify Somalia’s needs in regard to the
implementation of Security Council resolution 1373
(2001). We are fully prepared to cooperate with the
proposed committee, if established, in the fulfilment of
its mandate.
As I mentioned earlier, the Somali Government
has been in office for approximately a year and three
months. During this time, the Government has faced
daunting challenges, primarily in enhancing security in
the capital and others areas. We have succeeded in
demobilizing 25,000 militia personnel. We have
established police stations and deployed 3,000 police
officers in the capital. A judiciary system has been put
in place, courts are functioning, and the Government is
collecting taxes for the first time in a decade.
The Somali Government continues to search for a
lasting peace in Somalia through dialogue with those
37

outside the Arta process. This is in conformity with the
Transitional National Charter and resolutions adopted
by regional, subregional and international
organizations, as well as the presidential statements of
the Security Council on Somalia.
In this regard, let me also refer to the numerous
important initiatives that have been launched to
promote national reconciliation and peace in Somalia.
We extend our profound thanks and appreciation to all
those countries that have contributed to the search for
peace in Somalia.
Let me, in this regard, pay special tribute to
President of the Republic of Djibouti, Mr. Ismail Omar
Guelleh, and Government of Djibouti for their
significant, continuous and positive contribution to the
national reconciliation process. I would also like to
thank Mr. Omer Al-Bashir, President of the Sudan and
the current chairman of the Intergovernmental
Authority on Development (IGAD), for his consistent
support for Somalia and the search for a lasting peace
in my country. The United Nations, the Organization of
African Unity, the League of Arab States and IGAD
continue to play a positive role in this regard, for which
we thank them.
Finally, I want to express, on behalf of my
President, our thanks to President Daniel arap Moi for
his recent efforts in bringing peace to Somalia.
President Moi’s latest initiative was the recent meeting
held in Nairobi last month. The meeting brought
together the President of Somalia and some of the
opposition groups. A joint communiqué was signed,
stipulating the principles upon which future talks could
be based. We expect a broader-based meeting to be
held soon.
In conclusion, let me once again emphasize that
Somalia is a struggling country working toward
achieving peace. This country needs massive assistance
for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of its
infrastructure and institutions. We urgently need the
assistance and goodwill of the international
community. It is my sincere hope that the international
community will respond positively and in a timely
manner to our appeal for urgent and immediate
assistance.


I
am delighted to be able to congratulate you, Sir, on
behalf of the delegation of the Islamic Republic of
Mauritania, on your election to the presidency of the
fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly. We are
certain that your experience and wisdom will indeed
guarantee success at this session.
I also avail myself of this opportunity to express
my gratitude to your predecessor, Mr. Harri Holkeri,
for his skilful and distinguished guidance of the work
of the past session. This is also an opportunity for me
to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the Secretary-
General and the entire United Nations staff on their
tireless efforts to achieve the noble objectives of our
Organization. Those efforts have quite rightly been
recognized by the Nobel Academy, which decided to
award the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize jointly to the
Secretary-General and the United Nations. This
distinction reflects the most striking recognition of the
efforts undertaken by our Organization to strengthen
international peace and security. It also constituted
recognition of the personal merits and contributions of
the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan. Moreover, the
re-election of the Secretary-General to a second term
reflected the satisfaction of the international
community.
This session is taking place in a climate of
sadness in the aftermath of the criminal attacks on New
York and on Washington, D.C., with their heavy toll of
thousands of innocent lives. The moment they were
perpetrated, Mauritania voiced its absolute
condemnation of those terrorist acts. My country
reaffirms its condolences to the people and the
Government of the United States. These tragic events
have cast light on a new situation: terrorism is no
longer a marginal phenomenon but is rather a key
problem that knows no boundaries and that can be
combated only by means of a global strategy.
Mauritania continues to be an active participant in all
regional and international activities aimed at a
concerted and comprehensive fight against that
phenomenon. In that context, we reaffirm our
unreserved support for all relevant resolutions, along
with our determination, specifically, to implement
Security Council resolution 1373 (2001) of 28
September.
It is obvious that the role and international
legitimacy of the United Nations in bringing about
international peace, security and stability must be
enhanced. No one must suggest that fighting terrorism
is a campaign by one civilization against another, or
the supposed supremacy of one civilization over any
other. To the contrary, we must act together to show
that the endeavour to eliminate terrorism marks a new
phase in humankind’s march forward, building on the
heritage of all civilizations and converging in an
17

expression of our common aspiration to a secure life
and a better future.
In that connection, my country notes with
satisfaction the sustained efforts and the success of
repeated appeals to bring peace to the Middle East so
that the peoples of that region can live in peace,
security and prosperity. We hope that the peace process
will be resumed in accordance with the principles
enunciated at the Madrid Conference, in keeping with
the principle of land for peace, and in conformity with
Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973)
and 425 (1978), thus bringing about the complete
withdrawal of Israel from all Arab territories occupied
in 1967 and the establishment of an independent
Palestinian State with its capital in the holy city of Al-
Quds Al-Sharif.
We express our hope for a return to stability and
concord in the Gulf region, consistent with
international legality and with respect for the
independence and territorial integrity of Kuwait, as
well as with respect for the unity and territorial
integrity of Iraq. In that context, we call for the lifting
of the embargo that has been imposed for more than 10
years on the fraternal Iraqi people, who have suffered
immensely from that embargo.
With respect to Western Sahara, my country
supports the efforts of the Secretary-General and of his
Personal Envoy, Mr. James A. Baker III, to guarantee
stability in the area through a final solution that would
enjoy the support of all parties concerned.
Turning to developments in the Lockerbie crisis,
we welcome the success of diplomatic initiatives, but
at the same time feel that the Security Council should
act to lift the embargo imposed on Libya.
We hail everything that has been done to resolve
conflicts and wars on the African continent, which
have stymied development efforts there. We welcome
the recent all-Africa development initiative and the
support it has won from our development partners in
terms, inter alia, of sources of financing.
It has now been proven that phenomena such as
violence and extremism are the outgrowth of poverty
and frustration. The international community must
therefore go further to demonstrate its solidarity and
help achieve social development throughout the world.
Developing countries hope for a greater, more reliable
spirit of solidarity that is expressed in deeds. They
need increased support from the rich countries in the
form of greater investment and the opening up of
international markets to products from the developing
world.
We must recall too that debt continues to be
among the major obstacles to progress in the
economies of developing countries and a handicap to
economic development.
Notwithstanding the scope of the challenges and
the unfavourable international situation, the Islamic
Republic of Mauritania, under the enlightened
leadership of His Excellency President Maaouya Ould
Sid’ Ahmed Taya, has made major strides towards
sustainable development, with a view to improving the
standard of living of our people, achieving social
advancement and consolidating democracy and the rule
of law in a climate of peace, security and stability.
Pluralistic democracy has been restored in full with the
holding some weeks ago of our fifth municipal
elections and our third legislative elections. Among the
latest reforms are the introduction of proportional
representation, which has made possible the
involvement of all parties and which has expanded the
voter base and involvement in political life. Observers
and opposition parties praised the conduct and the
outcome of the elections. The broadest possible
participation by the people is the best guarantee of
success in the fight against poverty, illiteracy and
exclusion. This has strengthened our conviction that
true enjoyment of human rights and fundamental
freedoms depends on the ability of the people to take
part in economic, social and cultural decisions.
A purpose of the Charter of the United Nations is
to realize our common goals. Now more than ever, we
must make an effort to live up to our Charter
commitments in order to bring about a new world
based on law and justice, guaranteeing peace, security
and solidarity.


First of
all, I would like to congratulate Mr. Han Seung-soo on
his election as President of this fifty-sixth session of
the General Assembly of the United Nations. Likewise,
I would like to congratulate the Organization itself and
its Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, on having been
awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize. Mr. Annan's
re-election guarantees the continuous leadership of
someone who has enormously contributed to
strengthening the prestige of the United Nations and its
role in the world.
I also wish to emphasize my full support for the
statement made in this Hall by the Minister for Foreign
32

Affairs of Belgium on behalf of the presidency of the
European Union.
The horror of the terrorist attacks of 11
September shocked the world. We were all attacked on
that day  all of us who defend freedom, tolerance and
respect for the dignity of human beings. Spain knows
well the cruelty of terrorism and the grief that it can
cause. Therefore, Spain, its Government and its
citizens are in complete solidarity with the American
people, the families of the victims and this city of New
York, which is also our city  the city of the United
Nations.
Once again, I wish to express my solidarity and
my condolences to the families of the victims of
today's tragedy.
After 11 September, we cannot continue acting in
the same way. There has been change in the political
paradigm  the coordinates that have guided us until
now. The paradigm has changed, and now the political
culture must also change. Terrorism cannot continue to
be regarded as an inevitable evil for our peoples, but
rather as a mortal enemy of them all. There can be
neither excuses nor pretexts: this is the time to
demonstrate the political will of each and every one of
us to take effective measures for international
cooperation against terrorism  measures which Spain
has been promoting for years  to take a qualitative
leap forward.
Since 11 September, an important international
consensus has emerged on the need to confront
terrorism. This shows that terrorism has nothing to do
with the differences between North and South or East
and West, much less with a supposed conflict between
civilizations. Many Islamic countries are among its
main victims. It does have to do, however, with the
difference between those who commit these kinds of
acts or give them their support, and those who consider
them to be atrocities and violations of the most
elementary principles of human coexistence, which are
common to all the great civilizations.
The United Nations has risen to the occasion. Its
action has been quick and effective, demonstrating that
the Organization is indispensable at the dawning of the
new millennium. Resolution 1368 (2001) made it
possible for a coalition of wills, of which Spain is a
part, to emerge in order to respond to the attacks.
Resolution 1373 (2001) expresses the determination of
the international community to maintain concerted
action for as long as necessary against terrorism:
against terrorism without adjectives, against the
terrorists themselves, and also against those who lend
them any type of support, active or passive.
Progress has also been made in the negotiation of
a general convention against international terrorism,
overcoming some of the obstacles that had blocked the
negotiations for years. Now that we are close to
reaching an agreement, we must make an effort to
eliminate the problems that are still pending. The goal
must be to draw up an operative and effective
instrument against terrorism that cannot be paralysed
by interminable discussions of a political rather than a
legal nature. The subject is of pivotal importance, and
the very credibility of the United Nations is at stake.
We have a historical opportunity before us; it would be
a shame if we were to squander it.
To their cynicism and disdain for elementary
human values, terrorists often add a shameless
opportunism in order to manipulate particular
situations to their advantage. These situations
undoubtedly require a solution on account of their
intrinsic nature, on their own merits, without any
relation to terrorist claims. We must all work together
to find that solution.
These situations involve structural problems such
as poverty and the marginalization in which many
millions of people live all over the world. They also
have to do with regional conflicts, such as that in the
Middle East, where there is an urgent need to stop the
blind cycle of violence and return to the negotiating
table. If the political will exists, negotiations are
possible. Madrid, Oslo and the advances made at Camp
David and Taba prove this. There is no alternative to
the peace process and, at the end of the road, the State
of Israel and the Palestinian State will coexist
peacefully within secure borders.
Terrorist attacks against innocent civilians cause
alarm among our peoples, but they are not the only
cause for uncertainty at the beginning of the new
millennium.
When the political and ideological confrontations
that had defined the second half of the twentieth
century were largely overcome, other types of conflicts
emerged with force. These tend to be not international,
but rather internal, conflicts and are therefore difficult
to address with the instruments of traditional
33

diplomacy. Some of them have given rise to serious
humanitarian crises that have afflicted our peoples.
At a time when we have decoded the human
genome and the advances of biotechnology pose new
dilemmas, millions of people continue to live in
conditions of extreme poverty, with less than a dollar
per day to cover all their needs.
As we witness the interconnection of economies
worldwide and can send information instantly to any
corner of the Earth, we see how globalization
distributes its benefits unequally, making more visible
and intolerable the breach between rich and poor, the
powerful and the weak, the haves and the have-nots.
These situations give rise to uncertainty, but they
also give rise to a demand for solutions. Our peoples
turn to us  Governments and international
organizations  and they ask us to act, especially the
United Nations. Its global vision, its universal
composition and its vocation to defend the interests of
all humanity give it a unique legitimacy in the eyes of
our citizens.
In order not to disappoint these expectations, the
United Nations must face the challenge of its
modernization, following the path charted by the
Millennium Summit.
My country has also undergone a significant
process of modernization in recent years, which has
enabled it to become fully incorporated into
international life. Spain has been able to break away
from the inertia of the past and seek new solutions to
its new problems. It has done so without renouncing its
identity as a bridge between different cultures and
regions of the world. That is the perspective from
which my country backs the process of reform and
modernization. It will continue to do so from the
presidency of the European Union, which it will hold
during the first half of next year.
The phenomenon of globalization is responsible
for much of the current uncertainty facing the
processes of change. The United Nations, which thinks
globally, is the natural forum for managing
globalization.
In addition to the fight against terrorism, effective
instruments must be developed to combat drugs and
transnational organized crime. This year, progress must
be made in the preparation of a convention against
corruption.
The International Criminal Court is one of the
key instruments of international relations that we will
need in the new millennium. Spain has been involved
from the start in the fight against the culture of
impunity with regard to the most heinous crimes. It
now seems more necessary than ever for the Court to
start to act. The different legal systems of the world
must be duly represented in the court, because
globalization does not mean homogenization. No
country must be marginalized from this historic
process; all must be able to contribute to the Court
their own views regarding international criminal
justice.
Arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation
require greater attention from the international
community. Progress in the destruction and prohibition
of anti-personnel mines as a result of the Ottawa
Convention and the results of the Programme of Action
of the United Nations Conference on the Illicit Trade in
Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects are
encouraging.
The need to protect the environment is real, and
the solutions cannot be postponed. The Kyoto Protocol
offers some answers to this problem. Those who do not
accept Kyoto will have to propose a better solution. In
the meantime, its ratification will be the only practical
measure taken in this field. That is why we welcome
the agreement reached in Marrakech, which we believe
to be a step in the right direction.
New conflicts require new solutions. We must
deal with all the stages of a particular conflict through
a comprehensive approach that includes efforts to
prevent the causes, to keep the peace when crisis
erupts, to consolidate that peace and, afterwards, to
begin economic and institutional reconstruction. This
idea has inspired the efforts being made by my country,
in cooperation with the Russian Federation, in the
demining project in southern Lebanon. It also
motivates efforts, in which Spain is an active
participant, to strengthen African capabilities to
prevent and settle conflicts. For that reason, Spain was
very pleased to welcome the birth of the African Union
at the Lusaka Summit, as well as the New African
Initiative that was adopted there.
This approach must also be applied to
international action in support of the Afghan people,
whose situation is particularly dire. We must urgently
help them to meet their basic humanitarian needs,
34

especially given the approach of winter. This
international action, to which Spain is contributing,
must also include clear support for the economic and
institutional reconstruction of the country. The future
of Afghanistan is something that only the Afghan
people can decide. Nevertheless, the international
community must support them so that they can
establish a stable Government and maintain normal
relations with their neighbours and the rest of the
world. In this task, the United Nations must play a
fundamental role.
The new diplomatic instruments that are required
must accord special attention to humanitarian affairs.
The need to protect the rights of refugees and internally
displaced persons, access to humanitarian assistance
for affected populations and the situation of children in
armed conflicts, in addition to the security problem of
United Nations and associated personnel  all these
issues require effective solutions. If some States fail to
meet their responsibilities in this area, it will be
necessary to draw attention to their attitude repeatedly,
until it changes.
Peacekeeping is an essential instrument in this
comprehensive approach to dealing with conflict. The
General Assembly must take concrete steps to
implement the recommendations of the Brahimi report
on peacekeeping operations by increasing the size of
the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in the
Secretariat, improving the participation of the troop-
contributing countries in the decision-making process
and strengthening civil police operations, in which
Spain has played an active role.
None of this will be enough if peacekeeping
operations do not receive clear and adequate mandates,
backed with the firm political support of the Security
Council. If mandates are not clear and adequate, it will
not be possible to send United Nations units to places
in which they may have to use force. No country is
prepared to risk the lives of its soldiers to defend
empty words.
This brings us to the need to conclude the process
of reforming the Security Council. We need a more
representative, democratic, effective and transparent
Security Council. Spain, which is a candidate for
non-permanent membership of the Security Council in
the elections to be held during the fifty-seventh session
of the General Assembly, will strive, if elected, to
increase the quantity and improve the quality of the
consultations with non-member States, especially with
those most affected by the issues being debated by the
Council.
Human rights and fundamental freedoms  civil
and political, as well as economic and social  are the
birthright of all humanity and not just of a particular
group of States. Their violation today provokes
condemnation in a way that it did not in the past. We
must continue to strengthen such points of agreement,
incorporating the concerns of all.
It is therefore important that the Durban
Conference was able to adopt a final document. Spain,
like the rest of the European Union, upheld to the end
its commitment to the objectives of the Conference. We
must take advantage of the agreement reached at
Durban to continue to make progress in this field.
Along the same lines, my country will organize, in the
next few days in Madrid, in cooperation with the Office
of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human
Rights, an international consultative conference on
student education in relation to freedom of religion or
beliefs, tolerance and non-discrimination.
I cannot fail to refer to the question of Gibraltar.
As has already been communicated to the Secretary-
General, the United Kingdom and Spain agreed, on 26
July in London, to relaunch their talks within the
framework of the Brussels Declaration, issuing to this
end a communiquÈ in which they underlined their
political will to overcome all of their differences over
Gibraltar and to conclude these talks promptly and
successfully for the benefit of all the parties involved.
Furthermore, they invited the Chief Minister of
Gibraltar to participate in ministerial meetings within
the framework of this process.
The problem of development is central to the
activities of the Organization. The Millennium
Declaration constitutes the basic framework for these
activities and must be implemented in its entirety. At
this session, the General Assembly must set in motion
an effective monitoring mechanism for the Declaration.
Spain is also working to define new fields for
development cooperation. For example, Spain is a
pioneer in the development of microcredits, which
constitute a particularly suitable instrument for the
development of the less advanced countries. This year,
Spain organized in Las Palmas a high-level meeting on
tourism and development in less developed countries
with a view to placing its extensive experience in this
35

field at the service of tourism development in such
countries, some of which, such as the small island
States, have comparative advantages in this field from
which they could benefit.
Next April, Spain will also organize the Second
World Assembly on Ageing, thus responding to the
need to pay special attention to vulnerable
populations  those most likely to suffer the highest
rates of poverty. The eradication of poverty is the
primary objective of both the Millennium Declaration
and Spain's policy for cooperation in development.
If there is one group of people who are vulnerable
by definition, it is people who are ill. The special
session of General Assembly on AIDS and other
infectious diseases highlighted the urgency of halting
their spread. Spain will make a major contribution to
the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and
Malaria, which has been created for this purpose.
The United Nations will not be able to
accomplish all of these tasks if it does not have the
necessary resources to do so. The budget for the
coming two-year period will be discussed during this
Assembly's session. The effort to impose budgetary
discipline must continue, but rigid positions that
prevent the Organization from facing up to its
responsibilities must be avoided.
Evading responsibility is something that the
United Nations cannot afford to do, especially today.
Unique legitimacy imposes a unique responsibility. The
United Nations will be judged in this new millennium
by its effectiveness in addressing the new problems
confronting it, by its ability to transform uncertainties
into solutions, insecurity into confidence and fear into
hope.
In conclusion, I would like to make one further
comment. In his statement, the Minister for Foreign
Affairs and Cooperation of the Kingdom of Morocco
referred to the Spanish cities of Ceuta and Melilla and
to other Spanish territories. In the context of the
relations of friendship and good-neighbourliness that
exist between Spain and Morocco, I wish to stress that
the cities of Ceuta and Melilla, and the adjacent
islands, are an integral part of the territory of Spain and
that their citizens are represented in the Spanish
parliament in the same capacity and under the same
terms as the rest of their compatriots.


Let me
congratulate Mr. Han Seung-soo on his election to the
presidency of the fifty-sixth session of the General
Assembly and wish him every success in this important
post. At the same time, I take this opportunity to offer
my most sincere congratulations to the Secretary-
General, Kofi Annan, and the entire United Nations on
the occasion of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize award, and
to express my gratitude for their determination to
defend the ideas of tolerance and mutual respect among
nations.
Allow me to extend my own and my country’s
deepest sympathy to all those who lost loved ones in
the horrible terrorist attacks of 11 September. We are
deeply moved by the unspeakable tragedy and share the
grief of the American people and of all those affected.
We perceive the horrifying attack as an attack against
the entire civilized international community against the
principles of freedom, democracy and peace, the
principles upon which the Organization stands. In the
aftermath of the attacks of 11 September, the concepts
of security, peace and solidarity are acquiring a new
and distinct meaning. We recognize the growing
interdependency of individual actors on the
international scene. The dangers of the new threats and
risks that confront our civilization come to the
forefront. To conquer them we must not only move
energetically against the perpetrators, but also
concentrate on the causes that propel them.
At the same time, we are witnessing significant
progress leading to the creation of new relationships in
the international community. The fact that we were
able to create such a wide anti-terrorist coalition so
swiftly is very encouraging indeed. It is imperative to
strengthen that coalition and enable it not only to fight
effectively against terrorism but also to contribute to
solving other pressing problems, especially those
whose solution will strengthen the struggle against
terrorism by reducing tension and promoting justice
and stability. The current, unusually wide, international
coalition against terrorism presents, I believe, a unique
opportunity that we should seize. We should do our
utmost to make it effective and operational. We should
do our utmost not to let it collapse for reasons that
would not stand up to the inevitable future scrutiny of
our sons and daughters. We should do our utmost to
avoid the trap of allowing the struggle against
terrorism, the struggle for peace, justice, stability and
coexistence, to be replaced by a clash of civilizations,
by the very war that Osama bin Laden is calling for, by
a war against Islam. That would be a tragedy.
The international community has at its disposal
great potential to address even the most complex
problems and crises. It must now reach an agreement
on how to approach them and on which tools it will
employ to address them. International organizations,
and the United Nations specifically, play an
irreplaceable role in this process.
The Czech Republic is determined to contribute
to the search for effective ways to meet the most
pressing challenges of today and to support the
international response to terrorism and the actions
undertaken so far, especially if the military operation
continues to be targeted as accurately as possible
against military targets, in this, it is hoped, the final
stage of the Taliban’s defeat. We view these actions as
legitimate and in accordance with the United Nations
Charter and United Nations Security Council resolution
1368 (2001). Today more than ever we feel it our duty
and obligation to preserve and cherish the uniqueness,
as well as the open and universal character, of the
United Nations and push more decisively for a
strengthening of the role we have entrusted to it.
When we approach these most pressing
challenges we must be proactive. For its part, the
Czech Republic is determined to carry its share. The
Czech Republic has submitted its candidacy for the
presidency of the fifty-seventh session of the General
8

Assembly of the United Nations. We hold this highly
demanding and prestigious position in great respect and
are determined to actively participate in the realization
of the demanding tasks ahead of us, in the most
responsible manner. We are prepared to be attentive to
your voices and concerns and to serve the entire
membership. We obviously wish to help with the
implementation of the Millennium Declaration,
including the eradication of extreme poverty and the
integration of human rights into every aspect of our
work, as we were so eloquently reminded by Secretary-
General Kofi Annan a few days ago. We need to inch
forward the necessary reform of the United Nations
system, strengthen the role of the United Nations
General Assembly, help to challenge the
marginalization of important continents such as Africa,
Latin America and parts of Asia. We need also to help
the United Nations to play an effective role in the
struggle against international terrorism.
It is clear that accomplishing the objective of
finding and bringing to justice the perpetrators of the
attacks on the United States is most urgent and topical.
However, other phases can be embarked upon at the
same time. I agree with the President of Pakistan,
General Pervez Musharraf, who said at this Assembly
that a three-pronged strategy is needed: first, to go after
the main culprits, the individual terrorists; secondly, to
move decisively against the terrorist organizations; and
thirdly — what in my opinion is very important — to
address unresolved disputes, which proliferate
throughout the world and must be resolved in a helpful
and just manner. As I listened carefully to speeches
delivered here over the last few days by many leading
politicians of the world, I was pleased to confirm my
conviction that not only the Czech Republic or the
European Union, but also many other countries argue
that the fight against terrorism should combine the
necessary military operations with, above all, decisive
attempts to eradicate the root causes of terrorism. It is
therefore necessary to pay far greater attention to
conflicts that provide fertile soil for terrorism, because
if conflicts remain unresolved for decades, they give
rise to feelings of frustration, despair and
powerlessness or, as the President of the Islamic
Republic of Iran put it, to alienation, extremism and
lawlessness. Political solutions of conflicts, many of
which are essentially political conflicts, will reduce
tensions, promote peace and fairness and, especially,
take the wind out of the sails of those who put forward
the absurd myth that terrorist actions can bring about
anything other than loss of the lives of innocent people
and the exacerbation of problems and conflicts.
In our fight against terrorism we need to look for
comprehensive solutions and to that end employ all
available tools to identify, isolate and destroy the
terrorist networks and to combat terrorism as a whole.
Our anti-terrorist striving must equally concentrate on
combating international organized crime, people
smuggling, and drug and arms trafficking. On the
financial front it is necessary to cut terrorists off from
their resources. A determined focus on preventing
money-laundering is a crucial aspect of this effort.
Long-term and extensive development assistance aimed
at alleviating the most pressing problems of the
developing world should be an integral part of these
efforts by the international community.
The Czech Republic sees the upholding of the
unity and operational readiness of the international
coalition combating terrorism as the most imperative
task of the day. We, the international community,
should not lose this unique opportunity but should take
decisive action. The fight against terrorism is a long-
term mission and will have an impact on all aspects of
our lives. At the national level, the Czech Republic is
preparing a national plan for combating terrorism,
which is inspired by the Action Plan of the European
Union.
In recent weeks the United Nations has shown its
renewed resolve to combat international terrorism. We
commend the Security Council for its swift action and
we support the adoption of Security Council
resolutions 1368 (2001) and 1373 (2001) to combat
threats to international peace and security caused by
terrorist acts. The Czech Republic is taking all
necessary steps towards the full implementation of the
provisions of resolution 1373 (2001), and fully
supports the actions of the relevant Counter-Terrorism
Committee.
My strong belief in the need for political and
diplomatic moves does not in any way suggest that one
should negotiate with the terrorists. Just the contrary.
Terrorists have to be defeated and brought to justice.
There can be no negotiations with the terrorists. The
evil of terrorism must be eradicated. The fight against
terrorism has a higher priority than ever before, and
nobody can stay neutral in this fight. The Czech
Republic is proud that it was able to offer both military
and humanitarian help to the efforts led by the United
9

States. The Czech Republic is proud that some of its
help was accepted and thus that some of our best
soldiers can now actively contribute to these joint
endeavours.
As I have said, conflicts can be a breeding ground
for terrorism. Terrorism fully exploits unresolved
conflicts and profits from their expansion. Therefore
our intensified fight against terrorism points
unequivocally to the need for the international
community to pay far greater attention to conflict
resolution in various regions. The United Nations must
continue its major role in maintaining peace and
security throughout the world by applying an integrated
approach of conflict prevention, peacekeeping
operations and post-conflict reconstruction.
Recognition of the roots of conflicts and
education towards tolerance must be incorporated into
our preventive strategies. We fully support the
implementation of the comprehensive overhaul of the
peacekeeping operations as proposed by the Brahimi
report (A/55/305) and other recent reports focusing on
this issue. The recent liberation of Mazar-e-Sharif in
northern Afghanistan, and even the most recent fall of
Kabul, improve our possibilities of supplying the
Afghan people with the humanitarian aid that they so
badly need. That must remain at the forefront of our
endeavours. We should do our utmost to alleviate the
suffering of the innocent Afghan people. I believe there
is an extremely important role for the United Nations
to play in the consolidation of the post-Taliban Afghan
State that is so desperately needed. We should fully
support the current efforts of the United Nations, and
especially those of Ambassador Brahimi, to form as
soon as possible a stable, broad-based Government that
will reflect the ethnic diversity of the country. I agree
with Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that the one
institution in the world that can deliver that better
future is the United Nations.
The greatest tensions today undoubtedly prevail
in the Middle East. It is regrettable that much of the
progress achieved in the past few years seems to have
been squandered. But the uphill struggle that faces us
there is no reason for doing nothing and letting things
get worse and would only mean that more people will
suffer and die. The Czech Republic is a traditional and
active supporter of the peace process in the Middle
East. We cannot reconcile ourselves with the current
setbacks. The political violence must be halted.
Diplomatic initiatives aimed at bringing the parties
back to the negotiating table must be fully supported.
The Czech Republic fully supports the right of the
Palestinians to their own viable and independent State.
Nevertheless, its final shape should be the result of
bilateral Palestinian-Israeli negotiations with the full
backing of the international community.
The international community has been
encouraged by the change in political leadership in the
Balkans, which offers a new opportunity to secure
genuine peace and economic reconstruction. The
upcoming local parliamentary elections in Kosovo will
be an important moment in the stabilization process. I
should like to use this opportunity to pay tribute to the
Secretary-General and his Special Representative in
Kosovo, Hans Haekkerup, for their work in the region.
Our admiration also goes to the United Nations Interim
Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and the
Kosovo Force (KFOR).
In Africa, despite some progress, not only
poverty and AIDS but also armed conflict remain
major challenges to the United Nations and the entire
international community. Although the destiny of the
continent lies in the hands of the Africans, the
international community should strengthen its efforts to
assist Africa in its struggle to achieve durable peace
and especially to acquire higher levels of development.
The struggle to reduce poverty has to stand at the
forefront of our joint endeavours. Debt relief and
market access are crucial elements of the economic
development of developing countries. The United
Nations must continue with its activities to promote
sustainable development and continue its programmes
aimed at providing basic health care and education,
fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and averting the
devastation of the environment. A gender perspective
should be included in all these efforts. The gap
between the rich and poor countries continues to grow
and is further exacerbated by the imbalance in the
distribution of globalization benefits. The digital divide
is just an additional symptom of the growing disparity
between the developed and developing countries. The
United Nations, in cooperation with national
governments, the Bretton Woods institutions, the World
Trade Organization (WTO), the private sector, the non-
governmental sphere and civil society, must be
prepared to address the challenges of globalization. In
short, we should respond to the globalization of capital
by the globalization of solidarity and social justice.
10

We need to create a functioning international
legal environment in order to prosecute crimes against
humanity. The Czech Republic fully supports the entry
into force of the Rome Statute of the International
Criminal Court, an institution that I believe will be a
great asset for the maintenance of international law.
The protection of human rights will continue to shape
the fate of human society. Human rights are universal
and indivisible, and it is in the interests of United
Nations Member States to support their Organization in
its strenuous effort to secure the protection of human
rights in today’s globally interconnected world. We
must not remain indifferent to manifestations of
racism, xenophobia, religious or political persecution,
discrimination against minorities, violence against
women or the violation of the rights of the child,
regardless of where they take place. In this regard
allow me to mention the World Conference in Durban,
South Africa. However difficult the negotiations have
shown themselves to be, they point to the fact that
extreme intolerance and terrorism are closely
interlinked.
The implementation of United Nations reform is
imperative in order to make the work of our
Organization more effective. As I said at the beginning
of my statement, as a candidate for the presidency of
the fifty-seventh session of the United Nations General
Assembly, I fully support the reaffirmation of the
central role of the General Assembly, the revitalization
of its work, and improvement of its procedural
methods. Equally, the reform of the Security Council,
including its enlargement in the categories of both
permanent and non-permanent members and limitation
of the veto, would enhance the authority of that body.
A re-evaluation of the application of the sanctions
mechanism must also play an important part in the
Council’s work. The United Nations, more than any
other international forum, is where people of all
cultures and religions meet. We come here from
various parts of our planet to solve the problems of
today’s world. Despite our different backgrounds we
gather here to approach the problems that face us
bound by the universal human values that unite us. The
highest of them all is the value of human life. We have
been tragically reminded that we need to promote the
culture of peace and to build an environment in which
the principles of these universally shared values will
take root. Now more than ever we must strive to
overcome our differences and be guided by our
common interests. Let us unite our efforts and ensure
that our work during this session of the General
Assembly contributes to a better, safer and more just
world.


It is indeed an honour to
be here in New York City and at the General Assembly.
That we are gathered here now, just two months since
the devastating terrorist attacks of 11 September,
demonstrates both the resilience of this great city and
the determination and defiance of a united global
community.
Having spent last Sunday — like my friend Prime
Minister Dzurinda of Slovakia — running through so
many streets and communities of the five boroughs of
New York City in the annual New York City Marathon,
I have witnessed personally and been quite
overwhelmed by the deep reserves of courage evident
in this city and in all those individuals who are
choosing to take back their lives and reject the menace
of terror.
Our job is to galvanize and to focus the courage
of nations — to transform sentiment into commitment,
and commitment into action. Expressions of a common
outrage are gratifying but they will never be enough to
defeat terrorism. The ultimate success of our
campaign — this long and extremely complex
campaign — rests upon our collective ability to
demonstrate leadership, to harness political will and to
sustain the commitment that we have made to each
other and to our citizens: that we will not allow crimes
so vile, so immense and so shattering to the world to be
unanswered or ever to be repeated.
32

In order to achieve these goals — and to merit the
trust and fulfil the expectations placed in the United
Nations and its constituent Member States — we
cannot go on as before. There can be no more
“business as usual”. There is no more time, there is no
more patience and there are no more resources for
diplomatic gamesmanship and the stoking of dangerous
self-interest. National Governments must take
responsibility and be held accountable for their actions
and decisions — for fighting terrorism, for undertaking
political and legal reforms, for resolving disputes and
for establishing the conditions in which democracy
flourishes and development is sustained.
(spoke in French)
The United Nations is now facing its greatest test
ever since its creation. So far, the United Nations is
performing admirably. The unity of purpose and
effective decision-making that allowed swift passage of
the landmark Security Council resolution 1373 (2001)
and the rapid convening of a special debate on
terrorism provide clear evidence of what we can
accomplish together, and further underscore the
reasons why this Organization and its esteemed
Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, were deservedly
recognized with the Nobel Peace Prize this year.
(spoke in English)
We cannot, however, afford to lose ourselves in
complacency, self-congratulation or distraction. Our
work has only just begun.
Horrific as the atrocities perpetrated on 11
September were, terrorism did not begin here.
Unfortunately, too many of us in this Hall know this all
too painfully. No, it did not begin here; but we as a
global community have the responsibility, and now a
renewed opportunity, to ensure that we end it — here.
The United Nations has a unique and
indispensable role to play. While the campaign against
terrorism will be conducted through coalitions of
different State actors, alliances and organizations, this
is where it must ultimately all come together in its
political, diplomatic, legal, economic, humanitarian
and security dimensions. We in Canada, as long-
standing proponents of multilateralism and the United
Nations system, have strongly welcomed the close
collaboration evident between the United States
Administration and the United Nations over these last
two months.
In Canada, the campaign against terrorism,
including the obligations we have undertaken here at
the United Nations, is our highest priority. Our country,
which shares with the United States the longest
unmilitarized border in the world and the closest, most
extensive and most profitable bilateral relationship
anywhere, has been deeply affected by this crisis.
Canadians, like Americans and citizens of many other
nations, are concerned about their security, but also
about what kind of a country and what kind of a world
they are to live in after 11 September. The interlinked
goals of protecting our citizens, providing assurance to
our partners and allies and preserving the character of
our free, democratic and diverse society have guided
the actions and decisions of Prime Minister Chrétien
and the Canadian Government throughout this crisis.
We have committed 2000 armed forces personnel,
ships, aircraft and special forces to the international
military coalition against terrorism; and at home, we
have introduced a wide range of measures, legislation
and new investments to bolster our security framework,
including at the border and at our airports.
Canada welcomes the reporting and monitoring
functions provided for in Security Council resolution
1373 (2001). We have already implemented many of its
provisions and are moving quickly on the rest. We are
well advanced in the preparation of our report and will
provide it to the Counter-Terrorism Committee well
ahead of the 90-day deadline. We urge other Member
nations to demonstrate their continued resolve and
solidarity by doing likewise. Canada is prepared to
support those States for which implementation poses a
great challenge.
As we take steps in compliance with resolution
1373 (2001), we are completing our ratification of the
Convention for the Suppression of Terrorist Bombings
and the Convention for the Suppression of the
Financing of Terrorism, which will make Canada a full
party to all 12 existing United Nations counter-
terrorism conventions. Negotiations are under way on
the thirteenth convention, the comprehensive
convention against international terrorism. That
convention will ensure that all terrorist acts are
condemned under international law. What is needed
now is the political will to complete the negotiations. If
not the General Assembly of the United Nations, then
who? And if not now, then when? The time will never
be more propitious, or the need greater.
33

Our international legal framework also requires a
strong arms control, non-proliferation and disarmament
regime. Implementation of the Ottawa Convention
banning anti-personnel mines is proceeding apace. To
keep weapons of mass destruction from becoming
employed as the instruments of evil, we are also hard at
work to reinforce key instruments such as the Nuclear
Non-Proliferation Treaty, the International Atomic
Energy Agency safeguards, the Chemical Weapons
Convention and the Biological Weapons Convention,
all requiring strong multilateral action to ensure their
full implementation.
I would also add that we are now very close to
making the International Criminal Court a reality, with
only 17 more ratifications to go. The creation of the
Court will represent an extremely significant step in the
ongoing struggle to eliminate impunity for the worst
crimes known to humankind.
These are only the most immediate and most
obvious steps to ensure our collective security, but our
agenda must be far broader than this. Nothing has more
violently shaken our sense of security than have the
events of 11 September. But our conception of what
constitutes security and the nature of the threats that
may be posed to it was already undergoing dramatic
evolution prior to the attacks.
The denial of human rights, the spread of
HIV/AIDS, persistent mass poverty, unchecked
environmental degradation and the blight of drugs and
crime all undermine stability, reduce human potential
and obstruct social and economic progress. They are
threats to human security, as are discrimination and
racism, which the Durban Conference was intended to
address. Unfortunately, it failed to achieve its potential
and instead provided a forum for propagating long-
standing hatreds and biases, and the world is poorer for
that.
The resolution and prevention of conflict must
also remain at the highest order of United Nations
business, but leadership and commitment are required
if we are to move from a culture of reaction to one of
prevention, as proposed by the Secretary-General.
Just a week ago, I ended a five-country visit to
the Middle East. I was reassured by the commitments
of my hosts to the fight against terrorism. As have
others, I urged Israel and the Palestinians to put
immediately into place measures that will bring them
back to the negotiating table. That is their only way
forward. The essential truth is that there is no
alternative to peaceful coexistence. That conflict
cannot go on forever and leaders must act now to bring
it to an end. The international community must also
increase its efforts to help bring about a just peace.
Finally, there is little that is more debilitating to
humankind than the ravages of extreme poverty. This is
most notable in Africa, which will be a principal focus
for the G-8 in 2002, when Canada will assume the G-8
chair. Speaking at this rostrum in 1963, Prime Minister
Lester B. Pearson, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, warned
the world of the dangers of a growing disparity in
economic and social development between nations. He
urged that this “must be corrected before it creates an
unbridgeable gulf between ‘have’ and ‘have-not’
nations” (A/PV.1208, para. 60). That was 38 years ago
and the challenge remains more acute than ever.
The pledges of the Millennium Summit in
September 2000 must not be overshadowed by the
urgency of the events that have taken place one year
later. Indeed, their fulfilment can and must form an
integral component of how we create a strong,
equitable global environment that can be neither
attacked nor exploited by terrorists.
Terrorism does not speak to us; it does not speak
for anyone but criminals and murderers and it only
serves to undermine the causes they purport to
represent. It does not represent Islam; it does not
reflect the will of the Afghan people.
(spoke in French)
The fate of the Afghan people must remain
sharply in our focus. That country has been so
neglected, so abused and so driven into isolation by its
self-appointed rulers that it could not even be ranked
on the most recent United Nations human development
index. The rights of its people — notably women and
girls — have been blatantly and repeatedly violated.
(spoke in English)
An acute humanitarian crisis is building and we
must do more, working with United Nations agencies
and other relief organizations, to ensure that
civilians — including refugees and internally displaced
persons — are protected and have access to food and to
aid.
For this reason, Canada responded to the United
Nations humanitarian appeal, adding further resources
34

to the $160 million in aid that we had already provided
over the last 10 years. We were also pleased at the
prompt appointment of Lakhdar Brahimi — who has
played such an integral role in the reform of United
Nations peacekeeping — as the Secretary-General’s
Special Representative for Afghanistan. Canada has
pledged to work with Ambassador Brahimi and other
coalition States to support the Afghan people in the
search for a stable, fair and effective administration
that can begin the enormous task of leading
Afghanistan forward to a more secure and hopeful
future.
The opportunities for progress towards a more
free, prosperous and peaceful world have always been
before us. In the haze of self-interest and competing
priorities, sometimes our global community has not
seen them so clearly. The enormous horror of 11
September has offered us that clarity, just as it has
concentrated minds and catalysed relationships. It has
given us a renewed basis for cooperation between
States both in and outside the United Nations, driven
not only by the United States and its traditional allies,
including Canada, but also through opportunities for
leadership provided to Russia and China, to India and
Pakistan, to countries of the Middle East, North Africa,
Asia and elsewhere in the resolution of this crisis.
Terrorism globalizes us. It globalizes outrage and
condemnation, just as it does compassion and the cry
for justice. We must ensure that terrorism also
globalizes a sustained commitment to bringing about
its end.
Tomorrow, 11 November, Canada and other
United Nations Member nations will mark our annual
Remembrance Day. On this day, we remember and
honour the men and women who have fought and
sacrificed for our freedom. This week in New York, I
hope that we will all take time to remember what it is
that we are together working — and, yes, fighting —
for today: for freedom, for peace and for justice, and
for the dignity and realization of the potential of all
peoples everywhere.
As we make our speeches, file our papers and
press forward our resolutions in this great Hall, let us
also remember that the words “United Nations” —
coined by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942 —
not only refer to an Organization or a name on a
building, but were first and foremost a declaration of
solidarity and of a common vision for a better world.


At
the outset, I wish to congratulate Mr. Han Seung-soo,
on behalf of the Kingdom of Morocco, on his election
to preside over the General Assembly at its fifty-sixth
session and to offer him our full support as he carries
out his important task. I also take this opportunity to
thank and congratulate his predecessor, Mr. Harri
Holkeri, on the effective and decisive manner in which
he conducted the work of the General Assembly at its
fifty-fifth session.
I also pay tribute to our Secretary-General,
Mr. Kofi Annan, for all his efforts in serving the
Organization and the international community as a
whole and I congratulate him sincerely on his re-
election to his post and on receiving the Nobel Peace
Prize for 2001.
We have all been struck and shaken by the
heinous terrorist acts that took place on 11 September
in the United States. They were an attack upon
thousands of innocent lives and a clear violation of all
the religious, humanitarian and cultural values that we
hold dear. Whatever our attitude towards and
evaluation of those events may be, international
relations have taken a different turn and a fateful
outlook since that day. Those events were epic in their
resonance and the extent of their repercussions is not
yet clear. One thing is clear, however: we will have to
face new challenges and new constraints. Morocco
reaffirms its full condemnation of these actions and
calls on all countries to mobilize their efforts to
eradicate terrorism at its very roots. Terrorism
represents a threat not merely to international peace
and security, but to the human race as a whole.
We believe that the United Nations is the most
appropriate institution for investigating the deepest
causes of terrorism, not least because of the resolutions
of the Security Council and the General Assembly
establishing a unified and comprehensive set of
guidelines on this wide-ranging subject. That is why
we call on all competent bodies to do everything
possible to fulfil their responsibilities for combating or
preventing terrorism. Morocco is a multi-ethnic State
founded on tolerance, equality and respect for
international law. It will contribute fully to the fight
against the scourge of terrorism and its dangers.
It is absolutely clear that the question of the
Middle East is one of the most serious regional
conflicts that the world has experienced in the past 50
years. Recently, we have seen a dangerous escalation in
the conflict that has taken hundreds of lives, including
those of many women and children, and undermined
the infrastructure and services of the occupied
territories of Palestine. Morocco has therefore
condemned the attacks and called for a lifting of the
siege of Palestinian towns and villages, where homes,
schools and fields have been bulldozed. The forced
colonization of Palestinian areas occupied since 1967
must come to an end. We must break the vicious cycle
of violence and reprisals, and return to the negotiating
table on the basis of the conclusions of the Mitchell
report and signed agreements between Israel and the
Palestinians.
Morocco feels that peace between the Arabs and
Israelis will have to entail an Israeli withdrawal from
all the land occupied since 1967 in Palestine and the
Syrian Golan Heights and that part of the territory of
Lebanon that remains under Israeli occupation. This
must take place on the basis of full compliance with
international law, in particular Security Council
resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and the
decisions of the Madrid Conference, which called for
an exchange of land for peace. In this context, we
heard with satisfaction the statement made by President
Bush concerning the establishment of a Palestinian
State and the expression of the will of the United States
Administration to resume its active role in reviving the
peace process in order to achieve a just, lasting,
20

comprehensive and genuine peace for all the peoples
and States of the region.
Morocco takes this opportunity to reiterate its
concern over the suffering of the brotherly people of
Iraq and the deterioration of the humanitarian situation
in that country. These are direct results of the economic
sanctions that have been imposed on that nation for the
past 10 years and more. Morocco hopes that the talks
under way between the United Nations and the
Government of Iraq will help towards the lifting of the
sanctions and put an end to the despair, pain and
suffering of the Iraqi people.
Morocco welcomes all the efforts to be made by
the United Nations and the Iraqi Government in the
dialogue, which will be held in confidence and
frankness, to find a just solution to the problem of
detainees and people missing since the Gulf War.
Morocco supports both the independence and
sovereignty of Kuwait and the sovereignty and
territorial integrity of Iraq itself.
The settlement of armed conflicts is also of
crucial importance to Africa, which, unfortunately, is
still being plagued by bloody but entirely contrived
confrontations. What is happening in Africa requires
our Organization to adopt a new and pragmatic
approach enabling us to maintain and strengthen peace
in Africa on the basis of respect for ceasefires and the
encouragement of dialogue between the parties, and
confidence-building. We need to provide for preventive
action, as stated by the Secretary-General at the
opening of this session of the General Assembly. We
need early warning mechanisms for areas of tension. If
we have such mechanisms, then we will be able to deal
with the deep causes of conflict, like injustice, poverty,
epidemics and refugees.
Morocco, which is eager to support peace and
security in Africa, welcomes all efforts undertaken in
this area by the United Nations and international and
regional organizations. Morocco, as always, has
responded this year to the United Nations request for
troops from the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces to
participate in the international peacekeeping operations
in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
The Kingdom of Morocco is determined to
expedite the process of constructing the Arab Mahgreb
Union as a strong and balanced regional organization
that will lead to permanent stability in the region and
strengthen economic, social and cultural institutions. It
would also enter into fruitful partnership with other
regional organizations, including the European Union.
Morocco remains convinced that such a Union is
inevitable and most useful.
The efforts to establish a Mahgreb organization,
however, depend upon finding an enduring, just and
final solution to the problem of the Sahara. The conflict
there is a stumbling block preventing the fulfilment of
the hopes of the peoples of the Mahgreb for good
relations, complementarity, stability, prosperity and
peace. It is these hopes that have guided us since
independence, especially since the historic conference
in Tangiers in 1958. Although some claim otherwise,
the settlement plan did not come to a halt because of
the huge number of challenges following the
identification process, but because of the huge
difficulties mentioned by the Secretary-General himself
in his last three reports to the Security Council.
Finally  and again contrary to the claims of
some  the Security Council, in resolution 1359
(2001), requested the four parties concerned in the
Sahara conflict to begin negotiations on the basis of the
framework agreement tabled by the Secretary-General
in the Security Council and known as the Baker plan.
In fact, the initiative of the Secretary-General,
enshrined in the draft framework agreement, is aimed
at a negotiated settlement of the conflict. As the
Secretary-General himself put it, this is a last chance to
reach a speedy and final settlement in the Sahara
conflict. Morocco accepted the draft framework
agreement as a basis for negotiation, and is ready to
continue cooperating with the Security Council, the
Secretary-General and his personal representative,
Mr. James Baker, in order to achieve a just, peaceful
and final settlement of the Sahara issue.
In keeping with international law and the Charter,
Morocco invites all other parties to provide the same
positive response to the appeal contained in Security
Council resolution 1359 (2001) to start negotiations in
order to achieve a political solution of this totally
contrived conflict.
The fact that Spain continues to occupy two
Moroccan cities, Ceuta and Melilla, and the islands off
the coast of Morocco that are near them, is a pure
anachronism and totally out of line with the values and
principles upheld by the international community.
Morocco, which would like to see a European-
Mediterranean community and dialogue between the
21

two shores of the Mediterranean, considers that a good
relationship based on cooperation and good
neighbourliness with Spain is one of our basic strategic
goals. However, if we are to achieve that goal, Spain
will have to show an understanding of and good faith
towards Morocco's rightful claims on Ceuta and
Melilla and the islands off the coast of Morocco, so
that Moroccan sovereignty over this territory can be
exercised, with full guarantees for the economic, social
and cultural rights of the Spanish residents of these two
cities. There have been similar precedents, in places
like Hong Kong and Macao. Thus, we can refer to such
previous settlements that will be in the interests of both
Morocco and Spain.
Changes in the world economy make it essential
for Mediterranean countries to give their economic
relationships a strong impetus based on new concepts
and approaches. That is why Morocco has tabled very
ambitious projects with some of the other countries in
the eastern and southern Mediterranean regions.
There is the initiative of His Majesty King
Mohammed VI, known as the Agadir declaration of
8 May 2001, which provides for the enlargement of the
free-trade zone that now exists on the basis of
agreements between Morocco, Egypt, Jordan and
Tunisia. The ideas for this free-trade area to be
enlarged with the involvement of other Arab
Mediterranean States form a solid basis for the States
on the south and east coasts of the Mediterranean to
integrate in a framework of partnership and
cooperation, as under the Barcelona Declaration,
involving countries on the north shore of the
Mediterranean and the European Union in general.
International peace and security do not depend
only on responses to political challenges. They also
depend on social and economic problems. We
specifically cite problems of the environment and lack
of natural resources, where there are so many
challenges facing our planet, not least of which is
access to water and drinking water at a reasonable
price. My country had the honour of contributing to
this cause at the seventh Conference of the Parties to
the Climate Change Convention, which took place in
Marrakech between 29 October and 9 November 2001.
This Conference resulted in positive steps on the way
towards an international conference on sustainable
development to be held in Johannesburg next year.
With regard to the social issues that are of
concern to international organizations, the Kingdom of
Morocco considers that the United Nations should
increase its efforts to benefit children, because they are
the future of the human race. The Kingdom of
Morocco, upon the recommendation and leadership of
its sovereign, His Majesty Mohammed VI and their
Royal Highnesses Prince Moulay Rachid and Princess
Lalla Meriem, has spared no effort at the regional and
international levels to ensure the success of the Global
Movement for Children. Morocco has in this regard
organized three important conferences on children this
year aimed at mobilizing all possible resources
regional, Arab and African  in order to make sure
that children enjoy their rights to health, education and
justice. Based on such convictions, Morocco is
determined to effectively contribute to the success of
the special session on children to be held next year.
For the second time in 10 years, our Organization
has received the Nobel Peace Prize, which is both an
honour and a burden. An honour for its success in
preventing wars and in settling disputes peacefully; and
a burden because it leads to rethinking the role of the
Organization so it can become an effective tool in
responding to the new challenges and so it can fulfil its
goals of building a world in which peace and security
prevail and in which all peoples of the world can
harvest the fruits of technological and scientific
advances. Let us therefore rise to the level of such
challenges and engage in a true partnership and solid
visionary outlook so we can achieve these noble
objectives.


Let me first condemn the monstrous attack on the
people and the Government of our host country. In
condemning it in the strongest possible terms, we
declare ourselves in full solidarity with the people and
the Government of the United States, the families of
each and every one of the victims, whatever his or her
nationality, and the residents of this great city of New
York. We also associate ourselves unreservedly with
the resolutions adopted last month by the Assembly
and the Security Council. We will carry on in our
commitment to the elimination of terrorism in all its
forms and manifestations.
Before taking up our Government programme and
the fulfilment of the Peace Agreements, and our
position on certain of the items on the agenda for this
session, I wish to warmly congratulate you, Sir, on
your election to the presidency of the General
Assembly. I have no doubt that your well-proven
capabilities and your recognized wisdom will enable
you to bring our deliberations to a fully successful
outcome.
I wish further to join the representatives who
have taken the floor before me in commending the
Secretary-General of our Organization, Mr. Kofi Annan
for his wise leadership. We hail his well-deserved re-
election and rejoice at the recognition that both he and
the Organization have received, through the award of
the Nobel Peace Prize.
I come, like many of those gathered here, from a
small country that mirrors the grave problems facing
today’s world. Today we still do not enjoy the major
benefits of the great scientific and technological
advances, and we still suffer from great social
inequalities. Ours is a small country that is doing its
best to attain peace and democracy — a country that
believes in the rewards of economic freedom, but also
in social justice. It is a country that has opened itself
up to the world, although the world has perhaps not
opened itself up reciprocally in the same way. It is a
country that works and produces by making great
efforts but that, in the present circumstances, is
receiving less and less for those efforts.
In this context, our contribution to world peace
and democracy is diminished to the same extent that
inequality, social injustice and poverty imperil our
peace and our democracy.
2

Today the struggle against terrorism is the
struggle against inequality in international economic
relations; it is the struggle against ignorance, injustice,
discrimination, intolerance, exclusion and poverty.
There will be no peace if we do not eradicate these
scourges. A peace that goes hand in hand with
inequality, poverty and injustice is a bad peace. And let
us not forget that a bad peace is worse than war.
We are making strenuous efforts to advance in
implementing our own Peace Agreements, which
coincide with our Government programme. The time
that has elapsed since I addressed the Millennium
Summit has witnessed intensive activities. I can point
to significant progress, but I must also admit to some
setbacks, which are due primarily to an unfavourable
international environment, which has affected the
economy in an extremely adverse way. I draw attention
to this situation, because full compliance with the
commitments contained in the Peace Agreements
would be far easier in a context of economic growth
than in the framework of serious fiscal restrictions and
increasing demands on the Government.
On a different matter, I would like to comment
briefly on the United Nations presence in Guatemala. I
wish to reiterate how much we appreciate the United
Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala
(MINUGUA). We trust that its mandate will be
extended until the end of 2003 so that we can in a
progressive and orderly way transfer its functions both
to national institutions and, wherever possible, to the
United Nations programmes and agencies.
As far as our international relations are
concerned, I would like to mention the significant
progress made in the process of finding a peaceful
resolution to the historical dispute between ourselves
and Belize. In keeping with the principles of peaceful
settlement of disputes between States, we have
confirmed with deeds our commitment to dialogue as
the way of settling disputes. The commission of
facilitators appointed last year, within the framework
of the regional organization to which both States
belong, the Organization of American States, will soon
submit its report. Its fundamental aim is to work out
and prepare courses of action to make progress in
resolving the dispute.
We reiterate our firm support for Central
American integration and our commitment to the rest
of Latin America and the Caribbean. Our Government
has supported major initiatives in the area of regional
and subregional integration, and is working hard to
overcome problems left over from age-old border
disputes in Central America.
As to our position on other international conflicts,
we voice the hope that the differences or divisions that
persist between fraternal peoples in the Middle East,
Asia and Africa will yield to resolution peacefully
through dialogue. I also wish to take this opportunity to
reiterate before this Assembly our concern over the
situation of the 23 million citizens of the Republic of
China on Taiwan, whose aspiration to be represented in
international organizations has not yet been fully
satisfied. The Central American countries in general,
and Guatemala in particular, believe they could indeed
make a positive contribution to peace and democracy in
the world.
I would now like to comment briefly on our
views regarding the principal issues with which this
Assembly will have to deal at the current session. First,
I reiterate our full support for the United Nations as the
supreme expression of multilateralism. We are
convinced that the United Nations will have a crucial
role to play in the twenty-first century. It is our view
that the Millennium Declaration that our heads of State
and Government issued a year ago offers the right
agenda for our priorities and for the steps to be taken to
attain the goals set.
Second, we agree that it is necessary to adapt the
Organization to the exigencies of globalization and to
this post-cold-war era. It is up to us, the Member
Governments, to further this process of adaptation in
various areas, such as intergovernmental forums, the
efficiency and efficacy of the Secretariat, the setting of
priorities in shaping the programme of activities and
the financial strengthening of the Organization.
Third, of the pending reforms, the one that has
received the most attention is that concerning the
Security Council. One cannot but be frustrated at the
limited progress made in this area at previous sessions
of the General Assembly. Now more than ever before
we must redouble our efforts to endow that body with
greater efficacy, broader representativity and more
transparency in its working procedures. To achieve
these objectives, we advocate, inter alia, an increase in
the number of Council members, as well as a very
sparse use of the veto power. We also believe that now
3

more than ever before it is necessary that the Security
Council’s work be monitored by the General Assembly.
Fourth, deeply shocked by the events that
occurred in this country on 11 September, we reiterate
our full and complete opposition to terrorism, and we
will support any collective action by the international
community to combat this scourge. As a matter of fact,
we are already working to comply with the spirit and
the letter of the undertakings embodied in Security
Council resolution 1373 (2001), within the parameters
of a democratic society that aspires to guarantee the
human rights of its members.
Fifth, we advocate the strengthening of the
General Assembly, and we congratulate the President
of its fifty-fifth session on his initiative to revitalize its
working methods and procedures. We trust that this
action will continue under the current presidency and
that it will extend to the wider task of reforming the
Assembly, in pursuance of the aims of the Millennium
Declaration.
Sixth, we are convinced of the need to strengthen
our collective capacity to prevent and resolve conflicts,
both between States and at the national level. We
believe that the report of the Panel on United Nations
Peace Operations provides an adequate basis for
achieving this purpose.
Seventh, as regards general disarmament, we
insist on the need for progress towards the total
elimination of nuclear, chemical and bacteriological
weapons, the illicit trade in small arms and light
weapons, and the use of anti-personnel mines and other
explosive devices. In this connection, we support all
concrete actions by the United Nations to accomplish
these aims, including those that look to the
establishment of nuclear-weapon-free zones in all
regions of the world. As regards the control of illicit
trade in small arms and light weapons, we are of the
view that the results of the Conference held last July to
deal with this problem, while positive if allowance is
made for this being the first step taken at the global
level to deal with the matter, are nevertheless
inadequate.
Eighth, we offer our full support for and active
participation in the principal meetings scheduled for
the years ahead, among which I wish to highlight the
International Conference on Financing for
Development, to be held in Monterrey, Mexico, next
March, as well as the World Summit on Sustainable
Development, to be held in Johannesburg.
Ninth, in a world characterized by ever greater
interdependence, multilateral diplomacy plays a crucial
role in the fight against environmental degradation.
Guatemala, as a party to the main international treaties
relating to the environment, reiterates its commitment
to the maintenance of ecological balance.
Finally, we consider that the United Nations
should continue devoting itself to what we call the
great unfinished business of the twentieth century —
namely, the elimination of world poverty. Together
with the multilateral financial agencies, our
Organization should play a crucial role in ensuring that
the benefits of globalization are widely shared among
all countries, not only among a few of them; this
requires action at the level of each country and at the
international level.
Given the globalization process the world is
going through, we must recognize, as stated by the
great Mexican thinker Carlos Fuentes, that unregulated
globalization leads to more profound economic and
social imbalance. We cannot turn economic policy into
a mere balancing of accounts in which human beings
and populations are not taken into consideration. How
can we make demands on some countries when those
demands are not made of others in similar conditions?
Civilization is being put to the test. The question
is how to eliminate the universal threat posed by
terrorism and at the same time maintain and renew the
ethical, political, legal and social bases for ensuring
coexistence in a globalized world. The only solution is
to focus on fighting for more freedom, more
democracy, more tolerance and more justice. In this
respect, I would like to share with the Assembly the
words of a distinguished Guatemalan poet, Otto René
Castillo:
“We have suffered in so many places the blows of
the executioner and written his name so many
times on so little skin, that we cannot die, for
liberty has no death”.
May God bless and protect us.