General Assembly general debate – Kuwait/Lebanon statements – Press release (excerpts)

UNITED NATIONS ALLOWED TO GO INSOLVENT WHEN MUCH MORE DEMANDED OF IT

AS CENTRAL MECHANISM FOR MULTILATERAL COOPERATION, ASSEMBLY HEARS

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SALIM AL HOSS, Prime  Minister of Lebanon, said it seemed that there  must be eventual  recognition of either the  relative sovereignty  of States, the obligation to interfere in  the internal affairs of States or the marginalization of the Security Council as the body  responsible for international peace and security.  The establishment of a new world order was for some  States predicated  on  some  historic development  in  global concepts and visions.  For others, it was no more than a desire on the part of some States to impose ideas that corresponded to the balance of power.  Dialogue, however, would provide consensus on, and understanding of, the issues at  hand.  No system could prevail if it were not based on justice and equality.

He  said that no world order could condone the  occupation of the lands of others by force  or allow  acts of aggression  against people and  property.  The  terms of Council resolution 425 (1978), calling on Israel to withdraw its forces from Lebanon, had yet to be  enforced.  In the interim, Israel continued its aggression against Lebanon and its people. That  aggression included killing, wounding, property  damage, and forced eviction from homes and land.  Most of the fallen Lebanese martyrs were women, children and elderly men.  Furthermore, Israel had frequently violated the terms of the ceasefire established under the "April 1996 Arrangements".

He called for redoubled efforts by  the international community to  secure the release of all Lebanese detainees in Israeli prisons.  There were many elderly and sick  among them  who were  often denied humanitarian care, in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which  protected civilians  in times of war.  Support for the Lebanese resistance movement  was based on the principle of the legitimate right to self-defence.  Israel had  also deliberately circumvented the  mandate of the United Nations Force in Lebanon.

His country was committed to the Middle East peace process and was ready to provide the impetus  to resume the  stalled Syrian-Israeli negotiations, he said.  While there were  serious prospects for the resumption of peace negotiations, recent  declarations by senior  Israeli officials cast doubts on whether there was genuine will on Israel's part for peace.

It was  impossible for a peaceful settlement  to  be  achieved unless Palestinians were allowed to return to their homeland.  Lebanon renewed its call to the international community to  shoulder its responsibility and come up with a just and equitable  settlement.  In  the interim, his country was working steadfastly to revitalize  its  economy and  become a part of the World Trade Organization (WTO).  It also attached importance to environmental issues.  The phenomenon of globalization had both  positive and  negative elements.   The United  Nations was the proper forum to check that phenomenon.

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SULEIMAN MAJED  AL  SHAHEEN, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs  of Kuwait, … also welcomed the Sharm el-Sheikh agreement signed recently  between the  Palestinian Authority and Israel.  However, Kuwait demanded that the new  Israeli Government fulfil all pledges and  agreements  signed with the Palestinian Authority, including the restoration to  the  Palestinian people of their full  national  rights, especially the establishment of their independent State on their national territory with Jerusalem/Al Quds as its capital.

Israel  must also cease its illegitimate settlement-building and land confiscation  policy, and end its unilateral creation of realities on the ground, especially in Jerusalem/Al Quds, he said.

Israel's withdrawal from the Syrian Golan was the litmus test of its genuine commitment to the land-for-peace principle.  Also, Kuwait  demanded that Israel  end once and  for all its repeated acts of aggression against the sovereignty and independence of Lebanon.

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