GA general debate – Verbatim record (excerpts)

Official Records

General Assembly
Sixty-second session

14th plenary meeting
Tuesday, 2 October 2007, 10 a.m. 
New York

    The meeting was called to order at 10.10 a.m.

Agenda item 8 (continued) 

General debate

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  The Acting President (spoke in Spanish ): I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Basile Ikouebe, Minister for Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and la Francophonie of the Republic of the Congo.

 Mr. Ikouebe (Congo) (spoke in French ): …

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  My country also remains vigilant to the threats that weigh on other parts of the world and crises that shake several regions around the globe. In this spirit, we have always supported a peaceful settlement to the Middle East conflict that takes into account the Quartet’s Road Map and the Arab Peace Initiative. We have also called for an international conference on the Middle East, with the participation of all countries in the region that can make a useful contribution. We therefore welcome with interest and hope the announcement of the November conference on the Middle East.

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  The Acting President (spoke in Spanish): I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Abdulla Shahid, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Maldives. 

 Mr. Shahid (Maldives): …

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  The Maldives reiterates its support for the right of the Palestinian people to an independent homeland. We therefore call on the international community, led by the Quartet, to revive the peace process as a matter of urgency.

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  The Acting President (spoke in Spanish ): I now call on His Excellency Mr. Djibril Yipènè Bassolet, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Burkina Faso.

 Mr. Bassolet (Burkina Faso) (spoke in French ): …

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  Because it is at the heart of any lasting peace in the region and throughout the world, the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must remain an absolute priority for our Organization. In this respect, it has been established that the only solution is the creation of a Palestinian State that is viable with secure and internationally recognized borders alongside a State of Israel that is also certain of its security. And this is now where all efforts should be focused.

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  The Acting President (spoke in Spanish ): I now call on His Excellency The Honourable Samuel Insanally, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Guyana and former President of the General Assembly.

  Mr. Insanally (Guyana): …

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  Similarly, in the area of peace and security there is continuing blatant disregard of the rule of law by many States that, in pursuit of their own selfish national interests, do not hesitate to fan the flames of conflict in various parts of the world. As a consequence, millions in Darfur, in Palestine, in the Middle East and elsewhere are forced to endure unspeakable pain and suffering — pain and suffering which, in today’s world of instant communication, we not only hear about but also actually see and feel in real time. Our common humanity obliges us to call once again for a return to the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, and in particular the peaceful settlement of disputes, wherever and whenever they occur.

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  The President : I now give the floor to His Excellency Mr. Riaz Mohammad Khan, Foreign Secretary of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.

 Mr. Khan (Pakistan): …

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  Conflict and violence in the Middle East are fundamentally linked to the Palestinian issue that has agitated two generations of Palestinians and Muslims around the world. Essentially, Palestine is an issue of freedom. Security cannot be ensured by denying the Palestinians their freedom. Salvation lies in what the Arab nations proposed in Beirut five years ago. Pakistan supports that position. The world has a historical responsibility to end the tragedy of the Palestinian people by enabling them to establish their own State in Palestine, consistent with Security Council resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973) and the Arab peace plan. Israel must also withdraw from the other occupied Arab territories and fully respect the territorial and sovereign integrity of Lebanon. Efforts that deflect from those basic imperatives will only prolong agony and turmoil in the region.

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  The meeting rose at 1.50 p.m.

This record contains the text of speeches delivered in English and of the interpretation of speeches delivered in the other languages. Corrections should be submitted to the original languages only. They should be incorporated in a copy of the record and sent under the signature of a member of the delegation concerned to the Chief of the Verbatim Reporting Service, room C-154A. Corrections will be issued after the end of the session in a consolidated corrigendum.