YouSaid · the spoken record

Selim El-Hoss

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS SELIM EL-HOSS

lines on the record: 49
first: 1990-09-24
most recent: 2000-09-24
sittings or episodes: 2
sources: un-general-debate

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Today, Lebanon looks forward to playing a distinct role in the regional and international arenas. We are anxious to reconstruct and rehabilitate our vital and civil institutions and productive sectors after the liberation of our land from the Israeli occupation. We in Lebanon are striving for a just and comprehensive peace in the Middle East that will bring back stability to our region and allow us to play a positive role in building a new world in which we aspire to live.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We must develop an international mechanism within the United Nations to address the indebtedness of developing countries. In our view, there is an inherent link between the maintenance of regional and international peace and security and the process of development and peace- building. Hotbeds of tension and protracted armed conflict in some regions of Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East impede the realization of integrated development. Our international Organization must therefore dedicate more efforts to defusing tensions and to resolving crises by reforming and invigorating the roles of its two primary organs, namely, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council. In conclusion, Lebanon is a founding Member of the United Nations and has contributed to the drafting of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Those strategies must be governed by new ethics. God has privileged Lebanon with a scenic landscape and an optimal geographic location. Regrettably, we have had our share of environmental degradation. We therefore attach increasing importance to environmental issues. Laws are currently being enacted for the preservation of the environment pursuant to the decisions of relevant international conferences. We need the support of the international community in our endeavours. Development has become the main preoccupation of the developing and least developed countries. It must be linked to an open and just global trading system within an institutional framework that guarantees unobstructed investment and capital flows, as well as the transfer of technology.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Lebanon agrees with the conclusions of the Summit. The main challenge we face today is to guarantee that the benefits of globalization are shared by all peoples of the world. The correct approach is for us to stand united so that globalization and its manifestations and results will have a human face. Adequate controls must be developed and must take into account the different cultures, traditions and real 5 needs of the peoples of the world. The costs and benefits of globalization must be fairly and equally distributed. Lebanon also believes that the protection of our common environment presents a different kind of challenge. Careful strategies must be developed for water-resource management, combating desertification, respecting and preserving ecosystems and combating environmental pollution.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The Millennium Summit was convened as part of a global effort to foster the credibility of the United Nations and its ability to seek solutions to the problems of all countries and peoples. The international Organization must be capable of keeping up with the demands and challenges of the new millennium, whenever and wherever they arise. The deliberations of the Millennium Summit made it clear that what was at stake was the individual. Attempts to arrive at a global vision may differ in the details, but should definitely agree on the substance. In our view, the Millennium Declaration embodied creative ideas and principles that must be embraced in a global blueprint and translated into reality. Such a blueprint introduces novel approaches to the purposes and working methods of the United Nations.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We believe that, in addition to other measures required of Iraq, the release of prisoners will be an important step towards improving relations with that country. Lebanon calls for lifting the sanctions imposed on Iraq in order to alleviate the suffering of the brotherly Iraqi people and to allow them to restore their security, stability and prosperity. There is a favourable trend in the relationship between Iran and the Gulf States. That trend must be an incentive to settle the dispute over three islands that has been going on between the Islamic Republic of Iran and the United Arab Emirates for over three decades. It should be settled in the context of good- neighbourliness and the common interests promoted by the League of Arab States and the Organization of the Islamic Conference.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Lebanon calls on the co- sponsors of the peace process the United States and the Russian Federation and the European Union to renew their efforts to relaunch the peace process from the point where it left off in 1996. Lebanon cannot fail to stress once again that in order to achieve a peaceful settlement, the Palestinian refugees, particularly those hosted by Lebanon, must be allowed to return to their homeland. Ignoring their problem or attempting to resettle them in Lebanon will further exacerbate the tension and the volatility of the region. This would in turn threaten the prospects of a just and lasting peace. More than 10 years have passed since the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. Nevertheless, the question of the release of the Kuwaiti detainees and prisoners of war still awaits a solution. We in Lebanon have condemned this invasion.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“The liberation of most of the Lebanese territories from Israeli occupation will not affect Lebanon's commitment to the process of peaceful settlement of the Middle East question. Lebanon upholds its position with regard to the inseparability of the Syrian and Lebanese tracks. We believe that the opportunity for a just and comprehensive peace remains, provided that Israel complies with the resolutions of international legitimacy and the Madrid terms of reference. Lebanon believes that Israel has forfeited the achievements made in its negotiations with the Arab side due to the conflicting domestic agendas of various Israeli political groups. This will hinder the settlement process in the region, and will further compromise our protracted pursuit of peace.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“This is particularly unfortunate in the light of the many achievements made in bringing the negotiations so close to an optimal solution, especially on the Syrian track. The prerogatives of peace are not commensurate with the Israeli No's'. These No's' run counter to the resolutions of international legitimacy that provided for the return to Syria of the entire Golan up to the line of 4 June 1967. These resolutions also recognized the need to enable the Palestinian people to recover their inalienable rights, including their right to self- determination, the establishment of their independent State on their own national soil, with Jerusalem as its capital, and their right to return to their homeland in Palestine.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“From this rostrum, I appeal to the donor countries, to international financial institutions and to the United Nations specialized agencies to provide sufficient assistance for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of South Lebanon. 4 This will be a token of solidarity on behalf of the international community. We thought that the prospects for the realization of a just and comprehensive peace in the region were real following the recent rounds of negotiations. Regrettably, the results were disappointing. The negotiations for peace floundered and the process was derailed on all tracks. This was due to the fact that the Israeli leaders gave the logic of No's' precedence over the principles of right and justice.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“This meeting was attended by representatives of 40 States and international financial institutions. The participants discussed the question of providing urgent financial assistance to help restore normalcy to the liberated territories. The preliminary deliberations were promising and we hope to see them materialize at the donors' conference to be held at the ministerial level in October. The Lebanese feel that the international community did not exert adequate efforts to compel Israel to comply with Security Council resolution 425 (1978), which called upon Israel to end its occupation a long time ago. Due to this delay, Lebanon as a whole had to suffer the dire consequences of occupation. Our resources plummeted, our economy crumbled and our people endured untold suffering.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Those acts have been perpetrated by Israel since 1978 in stark defiance of the will of the United Nations. Lebanon will therefore resort to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which is the proper organ to which to address its claims. We hope that the ICJ will be able to endorse our request for adequate reparations and we appeal to the international community to support our just and fair demands. The question of the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the Lebanese liberated territories enjoys a high priority on the Lebanese agenda. It also enjoys tangible international support. In this context, I would like to recall the preparatory meeting of the donor community, held in Beirut on 27 July in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the support of the World Bank and the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Israel must compensate Lebanon for the human, material and economic losses sustained as a result of Israeli occupation and other acts of aggression, in accordance with international and customary laws and with the principles of the United Nations Charter. In this regard, we recall Security Council resolution 262 (1968), which entitled Lebanon to appropriate redress for the enormous destruction it suffered when Israel attacked Beirut's International Airport in late 1968. In that attack, Israel destroyed 13 civilian Lebanese aircraft. The Lebanese firmly believe in their right to receive adequate and fair reparations for the substantial loss and devastation inflicted upon them after many long years of occupation and repeated acts of aggression.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“They are kept as hostages in violation of the terms of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention, of the relevant Protocols and of the Hague Convention of 1907. Lebanon believes that the release of the detainees will be a completion of the Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon and will therefore be a fulfilment of Security Council resolution 425 (1978). Sixth, the liberation of Lebanese territories from Israeli occupation shall remain compromised unless a just solution is found to the problem of Palestinian refugees residing in Lebanon. The solution lies in allowing these refugees to return to their homeland, as provided for in the resolutions of international legitimacy.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“They are the borders demarcated in accordance with the 1923 Paulet-Newcomb maps, and reaffirmed later in the 1949 Israeli-Lebanese General Armistice Agreement. Second, Lebanon confirms its reservations on three locations on the blue line of withdrawal adopted by the United Nations as the withdrawal line. This reservation is included in the report submitted by the Secretary-General to the Security Council on 16 June 2000. Third, Lebanon insists on its right to sovereignty over the Shaba'a farmlands, which are an integral part of Lebanese territories. Fourth, Lebanon insists on its sovereignty and authority over the locations set by the United Nations inside the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) line in the Mount Hermon area. Fifth, Lebanon demands the immediate release of all Lebanese detainees from Israeli prisons.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“At this juncture, I see it fit to recall Lebanon's civilized stance and the wisdom and tolerance graciously shown by its valiant people after its victory and the withdrawal of the Israeli forces. Contrary to dire predictions, no mayhem or acts of vengeance 3 ensued. This has earned us the appreciation and admiration of the international community. On this occasion, allow me to pay tribute to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan, to his assistants and to the officers and soldiers of UNIFIL for the tireless and unswerving efforts they have been making in fulfilment of their noble task and in compliance with the resolutions of international legitimacy. In this context, I would like to underline the importance of the following points. First, Lebanon insists that its internationally recognized borders remain intact.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“To do this, the United Nations had to identify a line for the purpose of confirming the Israeli withdrawal. Regrettably, in three locations, this line did not conform to the internationally recognized boundary line demarcated in 1923 between Palestine and Lebanon under the French and British Mandates. The United Nations border line also leaves the Shabaa farmlands outside UNIFIL's area of operation in Southern Lebanon. Lebanon has seriously cooperated with the United Nations to fulfil the requirements for the implementation of Security Council resolution 425 (1978). Despite Israel's repeated violations of the withdrawal line and its obstructive practices, which hindered the deployment of the international work force for weeks, the force was at long last able to deploy, accompanied by the Lebanese armed forces.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“For 30 years, the Israeli arm of aggression has stretched far to reach all Lebanese territories. Repeated Israeli strikes terrorized our civilian population, destroyed civilian and vital establishments and wreaked havoc on our economic and service sectors. The Israeli withdrawal came in the wake of 22 years of continued refusal to comply with Security Council resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978), which called upon Israel to withdraw immediately and unconditionally from Southern Lebanon and the western Bekaa to the internationally recognized borders, with strict respect for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence of Lebanon. For the first time since 1978, the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) was allowed to fulfil its mandate under resolution 425 (1978).”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“In the second half of May this year, Lebanon and the United Nations witnessed a historic event when my country recovered most of its occupied territories in the south and in western Bekaa. Thanks to the resistance and steadfastness of the Lebanese people and the support of the international community, Israel had to withdraw from these territories after a ferocious occupation that lasted more than 22 years. It left behind a trail of devastation and destruction of infrastructure, private property and the environment, as well as a collapse in local production centres. Lebanon has paid dearly for its liberation. Thousands fell as martyrs on the road to victory and thousands more were injured or disabled. Human and material losses were not confined to the areas that were immediately under occupation.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“It is therefore important to jump start the different United Nations organs and specialized agencies, which have already impressed us with daily records of achievement that stand as a true measure of our collective spirit of solidarity . This solidarity must be the cornerstone of a new humanitarian world order capable of protecting the individual and of respecting all aspects of his rights. In this context, we highly value the steps taken to restructure some of the development organs of the Organization. Such steps have introduced into their work programmes the concept of cooperation with the institutions of civil society and with international financial institutions, the private sector and the donor community.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“But what is indisputable is that the United Nations, with its mandates and its multifaceted world activities, constitutes a major human achievement and tradition. We must build upon this achievement by evincing the necessary will to lead the world towards reconciliation whilst maintaining the necessary balance between the collective interests of States, large and small. Our actions must be based on the principles of solidarity, equality and justice enshrined in the Charter. This is of particular importance at this crucial juncture in our human existence. While vast regions of the world are plagued by poverty, deprivation and disease, others are enjoying a social and economic boom rarely matched in the history of mankind.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“2 I am pleased to announce that, towards the end of next year, Lebanon will host the summit of the International Organization of La Francophonie to be held in the context of the Dialogue among Civilizations. Lebanon's experience in coexistence, its pluralistic nature and its openness to the world are, in our view, the best expression of such a dialogue. We all agree that the United Nations is an indispensable international institution, notwithstanding its inability to settle many disputes since its inception. The United Nations has at times been lax in enforcing its own resolutions, and at others it has been influenced by the international balance of power, which made it blind to the double standards at play.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“Our peoples and countries believe in the United Nations and in its ability to embrace new visions and concepts. We have high hopes that a reinvigorated Organization will promote a new world order forged, in essence, by the new forces at play. This will be a world order free from the new power play in order to consolidate the prospects for international peace and security in different parts of the globe and to meet the costs of development, which is the right of each and every individual. This can only be accomplished if we succeed in reactivating the central role of the United Nations. The primary organs of the Organization, namely, the Security Council and the Economic and Social Council, must be entrusted with containing and checking the dangers that face humanity and that threaten its social and economic peace as well as its security.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“It gives me pleasure, Sir, to congratulate you on your election as President of the General Assembly at its fifty-fifth session. I am confident that your vast experience and unswerving efforts will guarantee the achievement of the best results at this session. I would also like to thank your predecessor, Mr. Theo-Ben Gurirab, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Namibia, for having wisely and successfully conducted the deliberations of the fifty- fourth session. I would be remiss if I failed to express to the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, our thanks and appreciation for his efforts to preserve the principles and purposes of the Charter with a view to consolidating the prospects for peace and stability around the world. A new century has been ushered in.”
2000-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 55 (2000)
“We hope that the understanding between the two super-Powers will be the launching pad for a new order that will be based on the consolidation of the rule of international law and the strengthening of its machinery, especially the United Nations.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“My country, Lebanon, wounded and bleeding, has remained, even under the bleakest of conditions, conscious of its responsibilities towards the international community and has never renounced the aspiration to resume its constructive, creative and natural role in the service of progress and peace in regional and international arenas. We hope that the era of international detente, the dawn of which we are witnessing today, will usher in a relaxation in international relations, engender peaceful solutions for the regional problems of the world and put a decisive end to power rivalry at the expense of the interests of the small, peace-loving nations.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Lebanon attaches great importance to the success of the project called the International Fund to Assist Lebanon, sponsored by the High Arab Committee, which alms at organising joint international action in support of the large-seal· reconstruction effort that Lebanon has to undertake, God willing, in the coming stag· of stability and peace. If things proceed as planned on those levels, Lebanon, reborn, will be the best living proof of the historic achievements heralded by the international community through its solidarity, firm determination and sound orientation.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Hence, Lebanon's insistence that the international community should continue to support it in liberating its soil from Israel's occupation through the implementation of resolution 425 (1978) which was adopted by the Security Council 12 years ago. There can be no peace or stability in Lebanon so long as Israel's aggression against it persists. This also implies the lifting of Israel's hand from the water resources in southern Lebanon. My country, Lebanon, is now seeking the necessary foreign assistance to cope with the tragic social and economic crisis which engulfs it, be it the result of the accumulated effects of 15 years of bloody events or the serious consequences of the Gulf crisis.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Therefore, it is no wonder that we associate ourselves with those who have already called for the declaration of the Middle East region as a zone free of weapons of mass extermination, namely nuclear bombs, in the interests of world peace. Lebanon stands today at the threshold of a new age, hoping that it will be one of stability, peace and reconstruction. Today, Lebanon needs the support of the international community in order for it to be able to cross this threshold. It will also need the support of the international community tomorrow and day after tomorrow in order for it to regain its health and strength and resume the process of growth and reconstruction.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Is it not time for the international Organisation to take decisive and effective measures in order to compel Israel, the aggressor State, to heed its resolutions on this question? My people, like every other people in the Arab region, is gravely concerned about Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union and elsewhere to the occupied land of Palestine and the threat that this migration poses to the right of the Palestinian people to their land and to the stability of the whole region. My people, like every other people in the Arab region, live under the terrible threat arising from the acquisition by Israel of nuclear weapons, especially in view of the aggressive and expansionist nature of its policies.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Stability and peace in the world while the Palestinian population remain displaced, exiled from homeland and deprived of the most rudimentary of human rights, namely, the right to self-determination? Until such time as Israel recognizes the right of Palestinians to self-determination, it is no wonder that they should continue their glorious intifadah against occupation, usurpation and injustice. In defiance of every method of oppression and abuse, the Palestinian people continue to reject Israel's expansionist policy of settler-colonialism at the expense of their self-evident right to existence. The records of the United Nations are replete with resolutions relevant to the question of Palestine.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“In doing so, we are merely giving voice to our belief that the international Organisation must remain the natural refuge for those nations which fall victim to aggression. If we respect the resolutions of the United Nations, it is because we believe that they are just. In international justice, there must be no double standard. We cannot mention Lebanon without speaking of Palestine, the most chronic of all the explosive issues in the Arab region, in the Middle East, even in the world. The right of Palestinians to national determination is a self-evident human right. How can the United Nations realise its lofty mission on behalf of human civilisation or endeavour to lay down the foundations of justice.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Since 1978, Lebanon has been the victim of aggression by Israel, which has continued to flout the resolutions of the Security Council. Resolution 425 (1978) has remained unimplemented for more than 12 years. Numerous other resolutions subsequently adopted by the Security Council have met a similar fate. Therefore, just as we have supported Security Council resolution 661 (1990) imposing sanctions against Iraq for its occupation of Kuwait. we have repeatedly called in the past and we call again today for the application of the provisions of Chapter VII of the United Nations Charter against Israel for its continued occupation of Lebanese territory in violation of international law and international instruments. and in defiance of the international will expressed through the resolutions of the United Nations and the Security Council.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“If the invasion had resulted only in plunging the Arab nations into great divisions, if it had only brought enormous international military forces and infinite danger to the region, that alone would have been reason enough to condemn Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. Hence our support for all resolutions adopted in the framework of the League of Arab States, at the level of the summit and at that of Foreign Ministers, and for all the resolutions of the Security Council. However, when we recall all relevant Security Council resolutions, especially resolution 661 (1990) which provides for the imposition of international sanctions against Iraq to deter its aggression, we cannot but recall once more the Lebanese situation.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Otherwise the law of the jungle would prevail in international relations to the detriment of weaker and smaller nations such as my own. It is worth mentioning that the crisis resulting from Iraq's invasion of Kuwait has had catastrophic economic end social effects on the internal conditions in Lebanon. This prompted us to undertake exceptional efforts with a view to ensuring the inclusion of Lebanon on the list of States adversely affected and in need of urgent foreign aid. The crisis has created regions and global tensions, as is evident from the mobilisation of major international military forces in the Arab region. This sets the region atop a volcano on the verge of a massive eruption.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Here again the United Nations took sound, laudable positions which confirmed the international community's support for the legitimate Lebanese authorities through assistance in implementing the Taif agreement, condemnation of the mutiny against legitimacy and calling on all parties to adhere to the Taif agreement. When Iraq invaded the State of Kuwait we took a clear explicit and principled stand. We strongly denounced the action, since it constituted a flagrant violation of international law, norms and instruments, especially the Charters of the United Nations and of the League of Arab States. Moreover, as a matter of principia, we cannot concede the right of the strong to swallow up the weak or of the large to ruin the snail.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“A national unity Government was formed and the contents of the Document of National Accord provided its programme of action and has been translated into a constitutional law that has been ratified recently by the Lebanese Parliament. However, the former commander of the Lebanese army persisted in his mutinous stand against legitimacy, thus leaving the country prey to division and in fighting the country's administration remained factionali2ed to a certain extent. Public facilities and many State resources continued to be usurped, while half the army, together with the bulk o. its equipment and supplies, remained confiscated. Lebanon was left with bleak prospects and exposed to imported crises.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The Committee was entrusted with the task of addressing the situation in Lebanon and finding an effective solution to the problem that would deal with all its various dimensions. The Committee's efforts came to fruition in a meeting held in the Saudi Arabian city of Taif under the auspices of the Committee and with the direct support of Syria; the meeting resulted in an agreement known as the Document of National Accord. That was the starting point for the revival of our constitutional institutions. That process started with the election of the Speaker and the bureau of Parliament. This signalled the resumption of Parliament's activities after an interruption that had lasted nearly a year and was followed by the election of a new President of the Republic after that office had remained vacant for almost 14 months.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“As for the Lebanese Government, its only option has been to complain to the Security Council. The Security Council adopted several resolutions which condemned the Israeli aggressor. However, such condemnation has been to no avail. On several occasions, the Council even failed to adopt resolutions of condemnation because of the right of veto. In any case, Lebanon has not been able to obtain a single Security Council resolution imposing sanctions against the aggressor State. In the last phase of the crisis, the Arab group laudably undertook to tackle the Lebanese question. The Arab summit conference, meeting in Casablanca, Morocco, decided to set up the Tripartite High Committee, composed of the King of Saudi Arabia, the King of Morocco and the President of Algeria.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Those measures also indicate Israel's determination to isolate the border area from the Lebanese heartland and thus thwart action in the area by official Lebanese organs. The Lebanese living under the yoke of occupation suffer the most hideous kinds of oppression and persecution. These practices, which run counter to the most rudimentary principles of human rights, have been the subject of repeated condemnations by the Commission on Human Rights in Geneva. The popular response to the Israeli occupation has been the emergence and growth of a valiant determined resistance movement through which the Lebanese people continue to assert their natural and legitimate right to freedom and sovereignty over their land and show their determination to regain that right regardless of the sacrifices involved.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Some of those prisons are inaccessible even to international humanitarian organisations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross. Israel also confiscated Lebanese water resources in the South, including the tributaries of the Wazzani and Hasbani rivers. Lebanon has repeatedly voiced its concern over Israel's ambitions to grab yet more of Lebanon's water resources. The forces of occupation have created and continue to create a new fait accompli situation in the occupied areas. This is reflected in Israel's economic and social annexation of the border strip through a series of calculated measures that prove Israel has no intention of pulling out its forces of occupation in any foreseeable future.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“In the meantime, Lebanon has been the victim of repeated acts of aggression by land, sea and air which have claimed the lives of many innocent civilians and wreaked havoc on our infrastructure, property, installations and public utilities. In 1982, Israel launched total war against Lebanon by breaking through the UNIFIL lines. It occupied large areas of Lebanese soil including, at that time, the capital, Beirut. In waging that war, Israel used the very latest state-of-the-art instruments of annihilation, indiscriminate killing and devastation unscrupulously and with extreme brutality and impunity. The Israeli operations included the detention and kidnapping of many Lebanese citizens, a large number of whom still languish in Israeli jails and in prisons built inside the occupied Lebanese territory.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The second attempt was made in 1979 when the Lebanese Government sent a battalion to the coastal area to operate under the UNIFIL umbrella and participate in the implementation of a plan that aimed at liberating certain parts of the occupied area and placing them under UNIFIL control. Again, heavy shelling by Israeli forces and their puppets prevented the Lebanese battalion from reaching its assigned position. Since then, Security Council resolution 425 (1978) has remained unimplemented, and its future seems to be limited to regular meetings of the Security Council to renew the mandate of UNIFIL for another period of time.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Meanwhile, two earnest attempts were made to send units of the Lebanese army, with the approval of the United Nations Secretariat and that of the UNIFIL Command in south Lebanon, in order to make headway in implementing United Nations resolutions in accordance with a specific plan aimed at enabling the Lebanese Government to restore its authority over certain parts of the occupied territory. The first attempt was made in 1978, when the Lebanese Government sent army units to the south through the eastern sector. These were stopped short of the occupied area under a barrage of bombardment by the Israeli forces and their proxies.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“The Security Council adopted resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978) in the wake of that large-scale aggression wherein the Security Council called for the immediate and unconditional withdrawal of the Israeli forces from Lebanese territory and set up the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UHIFIL), which was entrusted with the task of ensuring the complete withdrawal of the invading forces from Lebanese territory. UMIFIL, within the capabilities available to it, played a vital and constructive role which earned it the respect and gratitude of the Lebanese people. That force, however, was not enabled to fulfil the basic mandate entrusted to it, namely, that of ensuring the withdrawal of forces of aggression from Lebanese territory.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“Meanwhile, the Lebanese crisis has grown in intensity and reached its peak in the stifling economic plight that Lebanon now suffers, not to mention the social and human tragedies and tribulations suffered by its people and the dangers that beset this small country and threaten its integrity and very existence. In 1978, Israel invaded south Lebanon in the so-called Litani Operation and occupied large tracts of Lebanese soil, most of which are still under its control.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“We also consider the United Nations, the alma mater of all international organisations, as the natural and appropriate forum for all peoples of the world in their pursuit of peace and security, stability and orderliness in international relations. Hence, we do not want Lebanon to witness in any way the failure of the United Nations either in resolving certain problems that beset small nations or implementing resolutions adopted by it or any of its organs. For 15 years, Lebanon has been in the throes of as intractable crisis, the repercussions, manifestations and dimensions of which have brought it on numerous occasions to the attention of the Security Council, which adopted a series of resolutions yet to be implemented.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“I should also like to pay tribute to the outstanding role played by our international organisation under his leadership in tackling various regional and international issues. Thanks to the United Nations, smaller nations are given hope that under international law and norms of conduct their rights are protected. I welcome Namibia, the new member of the United Nations, whose independence was the culmination of a ceaseless struggle by its people, in conjunction with an effective role played by our international organisation in developing the machinery that realised that independence. As to Liechtenstein, we welcome it to the fold, wishing its delegation every success. Lebanon is in the forefront of nations which uphold and believe in the Charter and the principles on which it is based.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)
“At the outset it gives me great pleasure to congratulate you, Sir, on your election to the presidency of the forty-fifth session of the General Assembly. I am confident that you are going to preside efficiently and successfully over the work of this session. I need not remind of the close ties that bind our two countries on every level. On this occasion I should also like to commend the outgoing President of the General Assembly, Ambassador Garba, to whose friendly country, Nigeria, we are bound by ties of friendship and co-operation. Also, I should like to extend our warm greetings to the Secretary-General, Mr. Javier Peres de Cuellar, and express our appreciation for his devotion to the cause of peace and his sincere concern over the suffering of my country, Lebanon.”
1990-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 45 (1990)