Algeria
H.E. Mr. Mourad Medelci, Minister for Foreign Affairs
27 September 2008
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Statement Summary
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MOURAD MEDELCI, Minister for Foreign Affairs for Algeria, said the central theme of this Assembly session highlighted the current concerns facing the international community and the current crises that had demonstrated the vulnerability of people and threatened political stability in many countries.
The consequences of climate change and the food crisis, sparked by soaring food prices, had placed millions of poor people into extreme poverty and threatened the realization of the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, he continued. It was necessary that the international financial and economic institutions alerted the international community about potential risks and made the necessary reforms to ensure that developing countries, in particular African countries, could meet their development goals.
Algeria believed in combating terrorism in all ways, he said. On the issue of reform of the United Nations, it believed it was important to make the body an instrument of liberty and democracy, and improve its work procedures. Reform of the Security Council was necessary, so as to equitably enlarge its composition and democratize its decisions and work procedures.
The re-launching of the Maghreb Union must be undertaken on a lasting and solid basis that took into account all the peoples of the region, he said. Algeria supported all efforts towards finding a just solution to the Western Sahara conflict that conformed to international law and let all people exercise their inalienable right to self-determination. It was necessary that the dynamics created by the process started in Manhasset, New York, be persevered and encouraged.
On the Middle East, he said he was pleased to note the positive developments and encouraged all people to persevere in the process of reconciliation. There could not be peace without the settling of the Palestinian question. There was need to remind people that a just accord in the Middle East needed to restore the Palestinian peoples’ historic rights and return all property occupied by Israel. He appealed to the international community to step up its assistance of humanitarian aid to ease people’s suffering.
Regarding the African continent, he said Africa was moving towards peace, and the African Union and subregional organizations were partners in the prevention and settling of African crises. While encouraged by the positive trends, more was needed for social and economic development programmes. Further, it was important to refrain from any action that would thwart peace efforts or undermine the sovereignty of the Sudan. The international community needed to mobilize a political process that gave a voice to the people of the Sudan. Algeria supported the actions of the Arab League, African Union and other organizations to ask the Security Council to suspend the action of the International Criminal Court.
[Source: GA/10757]
