Letter dated 15 October 2004 from the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
I have the honour to transmit herewith the Ministerial Declaration adopted on the occasion of the twenty-eighth meeting of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 30 September 2004.
On behalf of the Group of 77, I would highly appreciate it if you could arrange for the present letter and its annex to be circulated as an official document of the fifty-ninth session of the General Assembly under agenda items 12, 22, 36, 37, 38, 43, 45, 48, 83, 84, 85, 87, 93, 103, 107 and 108.
(Signed ) Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser
Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations
Chairman of the Group of 77
Annex to the letter dated 15 October 2004 from the Permanent Representative of Qatar to the United Nations addressed to the Secretary-General
We, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Group of 77 and China convened on the occasion of the Twenty-eighth Annual Meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York on 30 September 2004, reaffirmed the Ministerial Declaration on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Group of 77 at São Paulo, Brazil, on 11-12 June 2004, reviewed the developments in the international economic situation and the activities undertaken in the context of the development agenda of the United Nations, and adopted the following Declaration:
Situation in Palestine and the Middle East
60. We recognize the situations, special needs and suffering of peoples living under foreign occupation, especially when exacerbated by expansionism and settler colonialism, and we note that such situations have been reflected in the outcome documents of the major United Nations conferences and summits in the economic and social fields. We reaffirm in this regard the permanent sovereignty of peoples living under foreign occupation over their natural resources. We remain specifically concerned over the continuing tragic and dangerous situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, which has resulted in the further grave deterioration of the social and economic conditions of the Palestinian people. In this regard, we call for increased assistance and support to the Palestinian people until the realization of their national independence and their exercise of sovereignty in their State, Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
61. We call for the immediate and complete cessation and end to settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan. In this regard we express grave concern over Israel's ongoing construction and expansion of illegal settlements as well as its unlawful construction of its expansionist Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in and around East Jerusalem. This has involved the illegal confiscation and destruction of Palestinian land and resources, the destruction of the livelihood of tens of thousands of protected Palestinian civilians, and the illegal, de facto annexation of expansive areas of Palestinian land.
62. We also call for the immediate Israeli withdrawal from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the occupied Syrian Golan to the line of 4 June 1967 and the other Arab occupied territories. We reaffirm our support for the Middle East peace process started in Madrid in 1991, and aimed at achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the region, in accordance with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978) and the principle of land for peace. In this context, we support the peace initiative adopted by the Arab Summit in Beirut in March 2002.
63. We call for the full implementation of the Roadmap Peace Plan for the Israeli-Palestinian track by the concerned parties.
64. We support the inalienable right of Lebanon to utilize its waters in accordance with international law and in particular to ensure the social and economic needs of its population in the liberated areas and villages. We also call on Israel to end its air violations of Lebanese sovereignty and other violations that severely damage the security situation which is a critical factor in promoting the tourism industry and the economy.
