SUDAN

Statement by

Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail

Mr. President,

It gives me great pleasure at the out set of my statement to convey to you in the name of the delegation of my country the warmest congratulations for your election as president for this session. Considering your well-known diplomatic skills and abilities, we are confident that you will lead the work of this session to success. I would also, like to express our appreciation and admiration for the great role played by your predecessor Mr. Ben Gurirab the Foreign Minister of the sister country of Namibia during his presidency of the previous session and to your CoChairman-ship for the Millennium Assembly. I would also like to pay tribute to the Secretary General, Mr. Kofi Annan,, for the great efforts he exerted in preparing for the Millennium Summit and the Millennium Assembly. It gives me great pleasure also in the name of my delegation to welcome the State of Tovalo as a new member in our international organization.

During the last week the Millennium Summit has endorsed a historical declaration outlying our strategy to meet the challenges of the twenty first century. Today I would like to say that it is our duty to concentrate during the Millennium Assembly and through its different fora in order to translate that vision into decisions and resolutions to lead to the achievement of international peace and security, disarmament of weapons of mass destruction,, resolution of the environmental problems, combating of international terrorism and the organized international crime, prevention of conflicts, and resolution of the problems of poverty and socio-economic backwardness.. If we succeed to do so during this session we can then say that we have contributed to create conducive circumstances for the achievement of human security and liberate mankind from fear and want. From another aspect, we also think that the Millennium Assembly should give equal attention to t e reform of the institutions of the United Nations; as they represent the mechanisms through which the international community coordinates the implementation of plans for the achievement of international peace and security, comprehensive development and prosperity for mankind.

On the top of these institutions comes the Security Council, which all countries have continued to call for its reform by expanding its membership in the permanent and non-permanent categories, in order to make it more representative of the current membership of the United Nations. They also call for the reform of the working methods and the decision-making mechanism of the Security Council to become more democratic and transparent. In this regard my delegation supports the position of the Non-Aligned Movement and the African Group.

We share the Secretary General's view, as expressed in his report to the Millennium Summit, that the main challenge we face today is how to transform globalization into a dynamic and positive power that benefits all peoples of the world. The great scientific and technological achievements of the last Millennium constitute a common heritage of mankind. We hereby call on the international community to work out necessary guarantees so that these achievements should not be turned into monopoly of knowledge, cultural and intellectual hegemony, or be used as means for political and economic pressure or for widening the sc ientific and technological gab between North and South.

While we welcome protection of these scientific and technological achievements as parts of intellectual property, we call upon our development partners to avail this great wealth to all humanity and to enable developing countries make use of these innovations in overcoming the problems of food production,, health, education and environment.

The right to development is one of the basic human rights, and in order to guarantee this right, it is imperative that we establish a just and democratic world economic order that ensures fair terms of trade between poor and rich countries, raises the level of ODA to poor countries and alleviates their debt burden. This is the only viable means for enabling developing countries to share in the benefits and opportunities which globalization and information revolution offer.

In this regard, the Sudan looks forward to the U. N. Conferences on Financing for Development and the LDCs which are scheduled to take place next year. We hope that the outcome of these conferences will be closely followed-up by the U. N. and its agencies so as to ensure its effective implementation.

This year, the UNGA has convened two Special Sessions to follow up the results of the Beijing Conference on Women and Copenhagen Conference on Social Development. In spite of the remarkable achievements realized by national governments and the international community in meeting the commitments contained in both documents,, it is to be noted that the bulk of those commitments could not be implemented due to several reasons, on top of which is the failure in meeting the financial commitments which were made in Beijing and Copenhagen and the excessive debt burden and debt service commitments of the developing and least developed countries. We also call for more support for the developing countries efforts to eradicate poverty, and elimination of epidemic diseases such as malaria and HIV Aids, especially in, Africa.

Sudan looks forward to participate effectively in the International Conference on Racism to be held next year in South Africa. We believe that this important gathering would help tackle crucial issues very dear to the human conscience. My country also intends to participate in the Extra- ordinary Session of the General Assembly to review the results of the Children Summit.

Recently the President of the Republic established an advisory body, attached to his office, in charge of women and children affairs. This step came as yet another proof of the special attention by the President to women and children affairs and his keenness to further strengthen the achievements already gained in this field.

We view with great interest the report of the panel of experts presided by Mr. Elakhder Elibrahimi, on peace keeping operations; because of its importance and for the new ideas and proposals it contains in the field of containment of conflicts and peace keeping operations. Our delegation will participate in.the discussion of this report in the General Assembly and relevant committee. In this connection we would like to emphasize the necessity for deciding clear mandates for the peace keeping operations, insuring the consent of the country in which the peace keeping operation will be deployed, and also providing the necessary resource for the operation to ensure its success and to avoid the set backs that many peace keeping operations have been subjected to during the last decade.

My delegation would like to express its deep concern with the difficulties facing the peace process in the Middle East. We call for total Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Arab territories in accordance with the UN resolutions, in order to enable the Palestinian people to restore full sovereignty on their territories, and to establish their independent State with the Holy Jerusalem as its capital, and also to enable the Syrian Arab Republic to reinstate sovereignty on all the territories of the Golan Highest. We are of the view that without implementing these resolutions, stability in this important region would remain an unachievable dream. In. this context,, we would like to commend the resilience and heroic struggle of the people of Lebanon which culminated in liberation of their territories.

The call to reform the international sanctions regime is gaining more importance within the Security Council and other UN Agencies, because sanctions have caused enormous damage on the people of the states on which they were imposed, in particular the vulnerable groups like children, women, and the elderly. These negative impacts are reflected today in their most horrible and dreadful aspects on the Iraqi people. We would like to add our voice to the ongoing efforts to lift these sanctions. Sudan would also like to reaffirm the importance of maintaining the unity and territorial integrity of Iraq, and rejects any measures outside the scope of the UN resolutions and the international legitimacy. In the same context, Sudan reaffirms the importance of respecting the sovereignty of Kuwait, and calls for a just and urgent solution to the issue of Kuwaiti and non-Kuwaiti prisoners, through cooperation and understanding between the concerned parties.

We also call for the lifting of the sanctions imposed on the Libyan Arab Jamahyiria since it has fulfilled all its obligations with regard to Lockarbie incident.

We would like to register our satisfaction with the recent positive developments in the Hom of Africa, namely in the Ceasefire Agreement reached between our two neighbors, Eritrea and Ethiopia. We hope this agreement would be crowned with a peace agreement to settle the conflict between the two parties, and we commend the efforts of H. E. President Boutifleka of Algeria in this regard. We would also like to commend the efforts of Djibouti and it's President H. E. Ismail Omer Geilleh to - achieve national reconciliation and restore stability to the Republic of Somalia. Sudan,, represented by President Omer Hassan Ahmed Albashir, has participated in the inauguration of H. E. Abdulgasim Salah Hassan as President of the Republic of Somalia. We call on the United Nations and the International Community to support the efforts to restore peace and security to Somalia under its elected leadership.

While we fully understand the concerns of the international community for the ongoing conflict in Southern Sudan, we must however, emphasize that Sudan is confronted with a war imposed by a rebel movement seeking to undermine its territorial integrity and the safety and security of its people. Likewise,, it should be recalled that it was the Government of the Sudan which initially invited the United Nations to undertake the task of coordinating international humanitarian assistance for the citizens affected by the conflict.

Today, more that 10 years have elapsed since the implementation of the Agreement, known as OLS. However, and in view of repeated violations of the terms of the Agreement by the rebel movement as well as some organizations participating in this process, revision of the Agreement has become a necessity.

In this regard, I am pleased to register our appreciation and gratitude to the Secretary-General Mr. Kofi Annan, and to his Personal Envoy, Ambassador Ton Vraalsen, as well as the personnel of the OHCA, for the understanding they have shown regarding the Government's demands for ensuring impartiality, -transparency and better specification of the obligations of all parties to the Agreement, as well as ensuring fair allocation of humanitarian assistance among citizens affected by the conflict on both sides. On the basis of this understanding the Government has reaffirmed its commitments to ensure safety and protection of all personnel of the relief agencies.

It is our duty to brief this august Assembly on the current humanitarian situation in Bahr Elghazal area in Southern Sudan where the rebel movement has continued to violate the partial cease-fire. This has created obstacles and security complications, which in turn impeded the delivery of humanitarian relief to the affected citizens in that area. I therefore,, urge this august gathering to bring pressure to bear on the rebel movement so as to stop using civilian locations such as hospitals and schools as human shields, and to fulfill its obligations by halting military operations in order to ensure unhindered relief operations and save the area from another humanitarian tragedy similar to the one that took place in Bahr Elghazal in the first quarter of 1998.

In his speech before the Millennium Summit, H.E. President Omer Hassan Ahmed Al-Bashir has reaffirmed the commitment of the Government of the Sudan to a just political resolution of the conflict in South Sudan based on the following:

Firstly: Immediate and comprehensive cease-fire in order to facilitate delivery of humanitarian assistance to the needy, and as a necessary prerequisite for confidence building and the success of peace efforts,

Secondly: To engage in direct negotiations on the basis of the current peace initiatives; namely the IGAD Process which provides a negotiating forum between the Government and the rebel movement, and the Joint Egyptian-Libyan Initiative which aims at achieving a comprehensive resolution to Sudan's problems with the participation of the Government, the rebel movement, and the opposition in and outside the Sudan.

Thirdly: To reach a comprehensive peaceful settlement that lays the foundation for a fair distribution of power and wealth, and establishes rights and duties based on citizenship, and guarantees adherence to the international standards of human rights.

The Government of the Sudan continues its efforts in the area of national reconciliation through direct and indirect contacts with the opposition groups. Agreement has been reached to hold a National Conference in which all political and social forces in the country will take part and where all issues pertaining to national unity, freedom, democracy and the system of government will be discussed. The conference is expected to agree on a National Charter,, which will provide the basis for the system of government in the future. The government is arranging now for a preparatory meeting for the conference. This meeting will be held in Khartoum and will be followed by another preparatory meeting in Cairo, which will set the Agenda, date and venue of the National Conference. We would like to commend the efforts of the governments of Egypt and the Libyan Jamahyria in this regard.

At the same time, the Government is taking further steps to establish legal and administrative frameworks for a democratic, plural system. Preparations are underway to hold Parliamentary and Presidential elections before the end of this year, and the government has invited international and regional organizations to take part in monitoring the elections.

In the economic field,, the government has continued implementing programmes for the adjustment and liberalization of the economy and encouragement of local and foreign investment. In this context,, I am pleased to convey to you that the IMF Executive Board in its meeting in Washington last August has decided to resume full cooperation with the Sudan. We have also succeeded in normalizing Sudan's relations with other international and regional finance institutions, and we hope that all this will impact positively on the flow of foreign aid and FDI to the Sudan, besides enabling our country to benefit from debt relief initiatives. We have also started preparations to draw a development strategy for the coming decade, which will concentrate mainly on poverty alleviation and providing basic health and education and rural development. All revenues from present and future investments in oil will be earmarked to finance these social and economic development programs.

Two years have elapsed since the American Military aggression on the AI-Shifa Pharmaceutical factory in the Sudan which resulted in the total destruction of this important medical establishment that used to produce more than half of Sudan's needs of basic and life saving medicines. The debris of AI-Shifa Factory stand as yet another example of what could result when the might of a super power is used in an irresponsible manner. It is ironic that the same super power presents itself as a pioneer in protecting and safeguarding international peace and security and the principles of international law. This august gathering may recall that immediately after this aggression,, Sudan has asked the Security Council to send a fact finding mission to verify the US allegations concerning the nature of the factory and its financing. Yet, despite the fact that the whole world,, and indeed several media organs inside the US,, have expressed their doubts on the American allegations about the AI- Shifa Factory, the US Administration, continuously refuses to admit its mistake or to concede to logic. This attitude resulted in depriving the sons of Sudan, especially children and the needy, from the only source, which provided with medicines at a price less than half of the international rate. We will continue to urge the world's conscience and the international community, represented by the Security Council and this august Assembly, to send a fact finding mission to verify the US allegations and we trust that our just cause is supported by all peace loving nations.

Peaceful settlement of disputes is a principal objective of the United Nations. Sudan adheres to this objective and endeavours to realize it and implement it fully in its foreign relations. Based on this,, Sudan is committed to respect the norms of international law pertaining to settlement of disputes and preservation of world security and peace. Sudan, today, is one of the sixty-two states that have accepted the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice. Furthermore, Sudan has signed, during the Millennium Summit,, the Rome Statute for the International Criminal Court 1998, and deposited its instrument of ratification of the International Convention for Suppression of Terrorist Bombings 1997. Thus Sudan is now one of a few countries in the world which have ratified and endorsed all international conventions on international terrorism.

Since it joined membership of the United Nations immediately after its independence in 1956, Sudan has continued to shoulder its responsibilities in supporting and enhancing international cooperation and realizing the objectives of United Nations Charter, in collaboration with other member states. We now look forward to play a more active role as a non-permanent member in the Security Council for the period 2001-2002, for the first time in twenty-eight years. The candidature of Sudan has won the endorsement and support of Africa at the level of African' Group in New York and the Ministerial Council of OAU in the OAU Summit in Togo last July. Sudan is looking forward with confidence and optimism to obtain the support and endorsement of all United Nations members for its candidature in the elections which will take place in the General Assembly during the coming weeks.