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Editor's note:see last issue for extracts from the General Debate in September. The extracts below are taken from UN Press Releases, which utilise the speakers' words as much as possible.
Bahamas
Speech by Janet G. Bostwick, Foreign Minister
"She reiterated the urgent call of the Bahamas to address the
growing problem of small arms trafficking. Those countries involved
in the production and sale of arms were urged to impose strict
control measures and to provide assistance to vulnerable States so
as to reduce the threat of the traffic in arms."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9326, 7 October
Belarus
Speech by Ivan Antonovich, Foreign Minister
"Belarus was disappointed by the tepid response to its call for the
creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the centre of Europe, as
only such zones would eventually lead to the elimination of the
nuclear threat."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9320, 2 October
Botswana
Speech by Mompati S. Merafhe, Foreign Minister
"He called on all nations to support the Convention banning
anti-personnel landmines - a prohibition which should be extended
to all weapons of mass destruction."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9325, 6 October
Chad
Speech by Mahamat Saleh Annadif, Foreign Minister
"Another crucial issue for his country was the problem of
landmines, which infested a great part of Chad's territory. He
appealed to the international community to help his country with
demining. His Government looked forward to adoption of a convention
against the use and stockpiling of anti-personnel landmines. ...
There had been definite advances in international disarmament
efforts... However, he denounced the scandalous trade in
conventional weapons and welcomed the moratorium efforts initiated
by West Africa on the import and export of small arms."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9321, 2 October
Cuba
Speech by Roberto Robaina Gonzalez, Foreign Minister
"It was absurd hypocrisy for military expenditures to be the number
one world business, with close to $900 billion in circulation,
followed by drug smuggling, with upwards of $500 billion, he
continued. As much money was invested in a modern bomber as would
be required to relieve the foreign debt of the 20 most indebted
countries."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9318, 1 October
Guinea
Speech by Lamine Kamara, Foreign Minister
"The proliferation of small weapons was a serious problem
confronting African nations, he continued. He, thus, supported
establishing a department for disarmament and arms control, with
adequate funding and the ability to monitor cross-border
movements."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9323, 3 October
Hungary
Speech by Laszlo Kovacs, Foreign Minister
"[Hungary] supported a total ban on anti-personnel landmines and
intended to become one of the first signatories of the new
Convention. It was an important milestone in the development of
international humanitarian law and the endeavour to end the immense
human suffering caused by the proliferation and indiscriminate use
of those weapons. The remarkable achievements of the Oslo
Conference did not diminish the role that other fora, including the
Conference on Disarmament, could play in promoting the objectives
of the new Convention."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9318, 1 October
Iraq
Speech by Mohammed Said al-Sahaf, Foreign Minister
"Iraq had been suffering for more than seven years under a blockade
that was the most extensive and cruel boycott system ever imposed
by the Security Council in its history, he continued. His country
had stated to the Assembly, more than once, the steps it had taken
to implement Council resolutions on the Gulf crisis in order to
have the blockade lifted. His country no longer had banned weapons,
equipment, machinery or materials. The system of continuous
observation, established in his country by the Special Commission
and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), was working
effectively. His Government looked forward to the Commission's
semi-annual report. He hoped it would be submitted to the Security
Council in a few days, and that it would equitably reflect the
progress achieved and open the door to the beginning of the lifting
of the blockade. ... The oil-for-food-and-medicine formula was a
temporary and modest formula that met only a small fraction of
Iraq's needs... The formula continued to experience major obstacles
and difficulties, which the United States and the United Kingdom,
in particular, tried to impose, with a view to hindering its proper
and effective implementation. ..."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9321, 2 October
Jordan
Speech by Fayez Tarawneh, Foreign Minister
"The Iraqi people had suffered enough under the blockade imposed
upon them for seven years, he said. It was time for the
international community to act to alleviate the suffering. In
issuing a serious call for the lifting of the blockade imposed on
the people of Iraq, his Government reaffirmed the necessity of
preserving Iraq's sovereignty and territorial integrity."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9323, 3 October
Marshall Islands
Speech by Phillip Muller, Foreign Minister
"Nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands had helped the
international community to understand the effects of nuclear
weapons on people and the environment and was a contributing factor
to the prevention of nuclear war during the cold war era, he said.
Pacific island communities which had been adversely affected by the
weapons testing of external Powers were not expendable populations.
The 67 nuclear weapons tests conducted in his country and
neighbouring Pacific islands contaminated every inch of their
environment and exposed each one of their citizens. His Government
was seeking resources to address the direct medical and
environmental consequences of radiation exposure. His country was
also struggling to deal with the indirect problems of displacement
and the lack of adequate medical care for the affected
population.
While it was encouraging that the IAEA was in the process of
conducting a survey in the northern areas of the Marshall Islands,
the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic
Radiation could have a much greater role, he said. There was no
reason why they could not undertake studies that could in the
future assist populations who were suffering from the effects of
atomic radiation. He requested that the Scientific Committee
expanded its scope of work to look into areas affected by nuclear
tests like the Marshall Islands."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9320, 2 October
Mozambique
Speech by Leonardo Santos Simao, Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Cooperation
"[The Minister] urged all governments to respect the wishes of
their peoples by signing the international treaty for the total ban
of anti-personnel landmines by the end of the year. ... Lamenting
the hazards that landmines continued to pose for rural development
in Mozambique, he said his country had prohibited the production,
commercialization, utilization and unauthorized transportation of
anti-personnel landmines within its borders. His Government
continued to give priority to providing assistance to victims of
landmines before, during and after mine clearance, to ensure an
early and safe return and resettlement of displaced persons, as
well as to quicken the resumption of economic activities in
mine-plagued rural areas."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9321, 2 October
Oman
Speech by Yousef Bin Alawi Bin Abdullah, Foreign Minister
"[Oman] had deposited the instruments of ratification for the
Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons...at the
beginning of 1997, and had commenced negotiations with the
International Atomic Energy Agency...towards finalizing a
safeguards agreement in accordance with its obligations as
envisaged in the Treaty."
Solomon Islands
Speech by Patteson Oti, Minister for Foreign Affairs and
Trade
"Expressing his Government's continued support for the creation of
a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the southern hemisphere and
elsewhere, he called for the creation of a forum of
non-nuclear-weapon States that would be committed to the
elimination of all nuclear weapons and would seek agreement on the
implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear
Weapons..."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9323, 3 October
Uzbekistan
Speech by Abdulaziz Kamilov, Foreign Minister
"During the Assembly's forty-eighth session, his Government had
called for a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Central Asia, and had
consistently progressed towards that initiative. The international
conference on such a zone in September affirmed the positive
response to that goal. ... The establishment of such a zone in
Central Asia...required the assistance of the Assembly, its
President and Secretary-General in passing a special resolution in
that regard. It also required a United Nations group of experts to
study the forms and elements of the regional agreement on that
issue."
Source: United Nations Press Release GA/9326, 7 October
© 1998 The Acronym Institute.