SG: Good evening, ladies and gentlemen of the media. Asalamu alaykum. [Peace be upon you.]

It is a pleasure to be with you again.

The high-level meeting of the General Assembly is coming to an end.

I would like to express my deep gratitude to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, His Majesty King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, whose remarkable efforts have brought this interfaith initiative to the General Assembly.

I am also grateful to the President of the General Assembly, who strongly supported the convening of this meeting.

And I appreciate the enthusiastic participation of the heads of state and senior government officials of more than 75 Member States who came together to support mutual tolerance, respect and understanding.

In the Declaration, the membership affirmed its rejection of the use of religion to justify the killing of innocent people and acts of terrorism, violence and coercion. The General Assembly has sent a strong message to the world.

King Abdullah's initiative has come at a time when the need for dialogue among religions, cultures and civilizations has never been greater. It has brought together people who might not otherwise have a chance to interact. Along with other initiatives, it will contribute to building a more harmonious world.

The challenge now is to go beyond the powerful, positive words we have heard these past two days. I pledge my full support to this effort. It may take time to see results, but I am convinced that this meeting was an important step forward.

Thank you very much for listening to my opening statement. Now I would like to read the Declaration, which [concludes the] two-day high-level meeting on interfaith dialogue.

“At the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud of Saudi Arabia, the General Assembly convened a plenary high level meeting during its sixty-third session on 12 and 13 November 2008 under item 45 culture of peace.

“The meeting reaffirmed the purposes and principles enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The meeting further recalled that all States have pledged themselves under the Charter to promote respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all, including freedoms of belief and expression, without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion.

“Concerned about serious instances of intolerance, discrimination, expressions of hatred, and harassment of minority religious communities of all faiths, participating states underlined the importance of promoting dialogue, understanding, and tolerance among human beings, as well as respect for all their diverse religions, cultures and beliefs.

“Participating states affirmed their rejection of the use of religion to justify the killing of innocent people and actions of terrorism, violence and coercion, which directly contradict the commitment of all religions to peace, justice and equality.

“Taking note of the initiative of the King of Saudi Arabia and the World Conference on Dialogue held in Madrid between 16 and 18 July 2008 under his patronage and graciously hosted by the King and Government of Spain, the General Assembly reiterated its call for promoting a culture of tolerance and mutual understanding through dialogue, and supporting the initiatives of religious leaders, civil society, and states seeking to entrench the culture of peace, understanding, tolerance, and respect for human rights among the proponents of various faiths, cultures, and civilizations.

“Participating states expressed their commitment to strengthening and supporting existing mechanisms within the United Nations for promoting tolerance and human rights, preserving the institution of the family, protecting the environment, spreading education, eradicating poverty, and fighting drug abuse, crime and terrorism, noting the positive role of religions, beliefs and moral humanitarian principles in tackling these challenges.”

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Minister for Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia will have some remarks and he and I would be happy to take your questions.

[The Foreign Minister made a statement]

Q: Thank you, Mr. Secretary-General, on behalf of the United Nations Correspondents Association, I would like to thank you for this Conference, and I also would like to thank your honoured guest, the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia. Thank you, Sir.

Question in Arabic to the Foreign Minister.

Question in English to the Secretary-General - on how the United Nations has benefited from convening such a high-level debate in the General Assembly.

SG: On the second part of your question, the United Nations Member States have benefited greatly from the leaders - religious leaders –and their vision, their wisdom and their experiences and their political commitment –how to promote further appreciation and understandings of different cultures and different religions and faiths. We have brought a diverse group of countries who believe in different religions and different faiths. As I told you in my earlier remarks, this initiative has brought many people who otherwise would not be able to sit together. This is a very unique development, a very harmonious atmosphere. We need to build upon what we have discussed during the last two days. There are many similar initiatives proposed by the various Member States. All these should work together and complement together, so that we will be able to live in a place of more understanding, better understanding, and tolerance and harmony and reconciliation. This is the main purpose, and this is what we have learned from this meeting. This is not the end. This is just the beginning. The process to which we have brought this Agenda to the General Assembly has not been easy. Sometimes, you need to have a very courageous decision. In that regard, the King of Saudi Arabia has taken a very visionary and courageous initiative.

[Three questions to the Foreign Minister]

Q: Now that you have witnessed something that happened here at the United Nations, really historic, how do you personally plan to build on the developments, including the opening, the potential opening by the Israeli government to the effect of possibly, and I say possibly, embracing the Arab peace initiative. What are your personal contributions to making this go forward from here on?

SG: Thank you very much. This is a very important question. As I said in my earlier opening statement, we cannot just be satisfied with the declaration of intent for commonality, however important they may be. What we need is dialogue that delivers. It is our sincere hope that this dialogue, this endorsement by the Member States on interfaith dialogue will lead indeed to an interfaith dialogue itself, which is not necessarily something which should always be within the General Assembly Hall. We can demonstrate our commitment in various aspects of our life. Looking at what we have been doing and we have seen in what is happening in the Middle East area, when the King of Saudi Arabia was Crown Prince, he proposed, he initiated a very important Arab peace initiative. This was reaffirmed by the Arab League and this was fully supported by the Quartet again during our Sharm El Sheikh meeting last Sunday. This is very important. We agreed that the Arab peace initiative is a cornerstone of the [search for peace in the region]. We have seen continuing dialogue between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, which has been, according to them 'substantial and promising.' We have seen some indirect dialogue between Israel and Syria. We have seen some dialogue between Lebanon and Israel. And we have to encourage this process of dialogue. The Annapolis peace process, even though we have not been able to see a concrete agreement by the end of this year, they committed that they would continue their discussions and negotiations. The negotiation has always been very fragile, but with a very good atmosphere created during this interfaith dialogue, this time in the General Assembly. We must nurture, and we must encourage and support this ongoing dialogue. This is very important, an important beginning of a process which may take a long time, but we should never be disappointed. Thank you.