Mr. President,

I would like to begin my statement by extending our sincere congratulations to you, personally and as a representative of the Czech Republic, on your election as President of the Fifty Seventh Session of the General Assembly. I am confident that you will steer its work - at this important juncture - with your recognized ability and, wisdom that stem from your country's long experience in confronting aggression and the horrors it brings. I would also like to take the opportunity to pay tribute to your predecessor, our friend Han Seung-soo, and to his country Korea, whose positive and effective role led to the achievement of results that we aspire to consolidate.

I would not fail to express our deep appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr. Koffi Anan, who - with his experience, wisdom and perseverance - contributed during the past six years to reasserting the standing of the Organization and the effectiveness of its role, and to strengthening the principles upon which the Charter was founded, all despite the obstacles and hurdles that were placed before him either deliberately or unwittingly by those ignorant of the prominence of the United Nations providing the opportunity, to victors and vanquished alike, to keep abreast of the developments of the age and to realize the hopes and aspirations of peoples for a world that is safer and more just for all.

On behalf of Egypt, I would, also like to welcome Switzerland and East Timor, the two most recent members of the United Nations family, and we look forward to their active participation in its work.

Mr. President,

The current session convenes one year after the horrific tragedy that befell the United Sates on the 1 l t' of September of last year and for which we reiterate our condolences to it, stressing our shared sense of loss with the families of the victims, wishing for the injured a speedy recovery, hoping that this strong nation will overcome this ordeal and look to a future - in cooperation with the rest of the world - forged by all of us for the inhabitants of the planet regardless of their race or religion, without discrimination, intolerance or bias. Egypt has stood by the United States throughout this difficult ordeal, an ordeal whose target was not only a friendly country but also the values and principles to which we all adhere and which relate to respect for humankind and his right to life, to choosing to build - rather than to destroy,- as a basis for joint action. In this regard, I would like to briefly state the following points:

1) Notwithstanding the gravity of the tragic events that took place on that sad day, the world neither began nor ended on 9/11. Many peoples have known terrorism before, they have suffered from it and have resisted it - sometimes alone - in the face of hardship and even unjustified criticism. What is new is that the heinous crime of 9/11 has generated an unprecedented wave of constructive international solidarity. It has confirmed what we have been stating; all along: that terrorism is a global phenomenon that it is not associated with any particular country, continent, race or religion. It is an expression of a propensity for evil that remains dormant until the opportunity presents itself, either from within or due to prevailing circumstances, for it to awaken and wreak havoc. Thus it is important to reiterate what President Mubarak, for a number of years, has been calling for on the convening of an international conference in which nations pledge to participate in assuming their responsibilities to confront terrorism, thus legitimizing theoverwhelming wave of solidarity extended to the United States in its hour of grief and agony.

2) Combating terrorism is not meant to be the lens through which the world views every issue and every problem. Terrorism is one of the evil phenomena of the world and it should not lead us to forget the evils of poverty, disease, occupation, denial of personal, national and nationalistic rights, humiliation-of man and destruction of his livelihood by means of a bomb or by any other no less harmful means.

Terrorism has roots and causes - and not justifications - and I believe that, in most cases, a viable remedy for terrorism can only be found if we drain the tributaries of hopelessness, anger and frustration that feed the propensity for evil, otherwise their congruence becomes explosive.

3) It is both necessary and righteous that we not confuse those who are unjust with those who are unjustly treated. The international community should not confuse terrorism, which we reject, condemn and fight, with the legitimate right -that conforms to standards compatible with our values - to defend against aggression, occupation, the usurpation of rights or attempts to erase cultural identities. A right exercised by the resistance that liberated the United States more than two centuries ago, and that liberated Europe from the Nazi tyranny that initiated the holocaust but ended perishing in its fire.

I would like here to reiterate what is known by everyone: that no religion, be it Islam, Christianity, Judaism or Buddhism, preaches terrorism. These are all religions that proclaim lofty values and ideals. It is inappropriate to blame them for the sins of a few of its followers who have gone astray. Our struggle against terrorism should proceed from our collective solidarity in cherishing life, and not from hatred that is neither the solution nor the refuge.

Mr. President,

The world is at an extremely delicate juncture in its history. We are at a crossroads in international relations. The Organization's enhanced capacity to respond to the hopes and aspirations that followed the end of the cold war and its divisions coincide with a trend to neglect that same capacity, deepen new divisions and resort to unilateral decisions. That trend only leads to deadlock that handicaps us from addressing issues that may determine the fate of humanity, its ability to reconcile with nature and advanced technology and the opportunities provided by it towards a better life free from poverty, want, disease, oppression and fear, a life in which justice and solidarity prevail.

We therefore have to break this deadlock - which is of no benefit to any party or cause - by renewing our commitment to the Charter and reaffirming our determination to work together to strengthen the United Nations, enhance its effectiveness and give prominence to its aims, and champion its objectives in confronting both the old and new dangers that face our world. One of these dangers is the persistence of areas of conflict and violence in the world, including the one we suffer from in the Middle East.

Mr. President,

The Palestinian people continue to suffer under an oppressive occupation that refuses the judgment of history embodied by our Charter that the age of colonialism has come to an end. An occupation that adheres to policies reminiscent of the ages of darkness and chaos. The Arabs have extended their hand to Israel with a unanimously adopted initiative that reflects their genuine belief in a peace that guarantees - without exceptions or double standards - the rights of all. If Israel has a genuine desire for peace, it must abandon its greed and illusions, desist from its practices and aggression against the Palestinian people and their legitimate leadership and agree to -withdraw from all the. Arab territories that were occupied in 1967 in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon. Thus, the independent Palestinian State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, can be established and join all the Arab states that have demonstrated their readiness to establish normal relations with Israel and live with it in peace and security.

Justice, right, mutual respect and the restoration of rights to their owners were the building blocks on which peace between Egypt and Israel was established, securing safe borders and normal relations during the past 25 years. The other model, however, that Israel has espoused with our brethren in Palestine has achieved neither peace nor security; rather, it has resulted in victims on both sides falling each day paying the price for an attempt to obstruct the natural progress of events. The international community has to assume its responsibility in this regard without prejudice except for righteousness, and without veering except towards justice and without ambition except for a peace that allows the peoples of the region to forge a better) future. It must reaffirm the necessity of abiding by the Charter and resolutions of the United Nations and the agreements that were signed and reject any pretexts to abandon them. The discussion on security and stability in the Middle East also relates to the situation in Iraq, which must be dealt with in the context of the United Nations' Charter and resolutions to which all parties must respect and adhere and away from a course of military action. Egypt thus affirms its rejection of inflicting military strikes against Iraq whose unity and territorial integrity must be respected and who must for its part respect the legitimate international will. Work must be done towards bringing an end to the extreme suffering of the people of Iraq and terminate the embargo that has inflicted profound harm upon it and the livelihood of its citizens and future generations.

Mr. President,

Any discussion about the United Nations, its achievements and its future will be incomplete without recalling the tangible contributions of the Organization towards focusing attention on the major issues of our times and elaborating an international consensus on some of them. This contribution was realized through a series of conferences that were convened during the last decade of the twentieth century and the beginning years of this century on the environment, human rights, population, social development, women, financing for development and sustainable development. This was also achieved through the recommendations of the Millennium Summit of the General Assembly which represented an attempt at shaping a conceptual framework for the Organization's work based on peace and security for nations and individuals, development in its comprehensive term in the economic and social fields, equality among states and respect for the cultural diversity of nations and societies.

In this regard, I would like to reaffirm the importance of the faithful implementation, both in letter and, in spirit, of the outcomes emanating from these conferences; it is also important not to evade these mutual obligations or attempt to circumvent them. Eventually, The judgment of history will not be based on the intentions and objectives contained in political declarations and final documents, but rather on the extent of our success in the implementation of their content.

Mr. President,

Any just consideration of the international economic situation will conclude that it is impossible to continue the present disparities in the distribution of wealth among the peoples of the Earth, the lack of democracy in international economic decision making, the persistence of arbitrary trade practices and monetary policies against the interests of developing countries which lead to successive financial crises and, at times, result in the economic collapse of many developing countries and destroy, in the space of a few days, the gains of development accrued over decades of arduous national efforts.

Mr. President,

Our African continent and its issues occupy a special place in the efforts of the international community aimed at achieving economic and social development and maintaining international peace and security in accordance with the collective responsibility we all assume under the Charter. These efforts proceed from a firm conviction that the United Nations, and the Security Council in particular, has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the continent; they also proceed from our conviction that we, as African states, are indispensable partners that bear a special responsibility to resolve the conflicts that fragment our continent, and formulate the programs that would extricate our peoples from the anguish of poverty to join the course of progress and prosperity.

Our continent has demonstrated its seriousness by launching the New Initiative for African Development (NEPAD) that was endorsed by African Heads of State at the Lusaka Summit in 2001 and the African Union that was inaugurated at their recent Summit in Durban last July. If African states - by embracing these two initiatives - have adopted an approach for building their future on the basis of the highest of ideals that represent the most noble of human thinking, then the international community for its part should support that approach in order to provide a better life for their peoples, open markets for their products, inject foreign investment into their economies and assist them to solve their problems.

Mr. President,

The persistence of volatile conflicts and the dangers of the possession by states, organizations or individuals of weapons of mass destruction, make it incumbent upon us to afford more diligence to disarmament issues. At the regional level, Egypt has repeatedly called for serious engagement to rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction, with nuclear weapons at their forefront, and to place all nuclear facilities in the region, without exception, under international supervision.

Peace and security cannot be established in the Middle East while a grave disparity persists between the rights and obligations of the states of the region that upsets its balance of power. The stability of the region will only be achieved when Israel accedes to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) being as it is the only state in the region that has not done so to date. This stability will also be attained by proceeding towards the implementation of President Mubarak's initiative to rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems.

Mr. President,

In addition to all of the preceding, our world confronts other ills, which represent both a challenge and an opportunity for us to assert our ability to work together for the good of all. Efforts to combat endemic diseases have fallen short. Several countries around the world suffer from the spread of HIV/AIDS which threatens their stability and whose capacity and resources disable them from containing the pandemic, thus necessitating, in such a situation, assistance for those countries in dealing with the crisis. Our world also confronts numerous environmental challenges such as biological diversity, climate change, drought and desertification, all of which require the redoubling of international efforts to address them in order to safeguard the right of future generations to a secure life. The scarcity of water threatens the eruption of conflicts in different regions of the world, and the international community is therefore called upon to maximize the benefit from, and the proper management of, available water resources while respecting and protecting the acquired rights of states and the international agreements that govern the rights to utilize those resources.

Mr. President,

The sheer size, complexity and scope of all these problems may lead some to submit to pessimism and frustration, but we are confident that the forces of good in the world - armed with the noble principles of our Charter for which we come here every year to reiterate our commitment - shall remain resolute to fashion a better tomorrow. We are confident that humankind shall overcome the propensity for evil so that together we can forge ahead towards frontiers made possible by unprecedented technological progress at the outset of the twenty first century, and which God commanded us to dedicate to our collective well being so that the world can live in peace, security, prosperity and harmony. This will allow the young to flourish, potential to emerge, hope to overcome fear and pain, light to prevail over darkness, and humankind to triumph over all that hinders his joyousness, freedom and advancement.

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