Mideast situation – Group of 77 South Summit declaration – Letter from Nigeria (excerpts)

Letter dated 5 May 2000 from the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly

I have the honour to transmit herewith the Declaration and the Havana Programme of Action adopted by the South Summit of the Group of 77, held in Havana from 10 to 14 April 2000 (see annexes).

On behalf of the Group of 77, I would appreciate it if the final documents of the Group of 77 South Summit could be circulated as documents of the forthcoming Millennium Summit and the Millennium Assembly, under items 20 (a), 31, 32, 40, 41, 61 (b), 88, 94, 95, 96 (a), (c) and (d), 97 (a), (b), (d) and (e), 98, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105 and 110.

(Signed) Arthur C. I. Mbanefo, MFR

Ambassador

Permanent Representative of Nigeria

to the United Nations

Chairman of the Group of 77

Annex I to the letter dated 5 May 2000 from the Permanent Representative of Nigeria to the United Nations to the President of the General Assembly

Declaration of the Summit

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51. We affirm that bringing an end to the Israeli occupation and establishing a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East is a prerequisite for economic and social development in the region.  We reaffirm our support for the Middle East peace process on the basis of Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 425 (1978) and the principle of land for peace.  Peace demands complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Palestinian territory, including Jerusalem, and the achievement of a final settlement by the agreed-upon deadline of September 2000, as well as the establishment of the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital.  It also demands complete Israeli withdrawal from the occupied Syrian Golan and the demarcation of the 4 June 1967 line, as well as the unconditional withdrawal from South Lebanon and Western Bekaa to the internationally recognized boundaries.  We affirm that measures taken by Israel aimed at changing the legal status and the demographic composition of Jerusalem are null and void.

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