YouSaid · the spoken record

Basendwah

THE RECORD WRITES THIS SPEAKER AS BASENDWAH

lines on the record: 110
first: 1986-09-24
most recent: 1994-09-24
sittings or episodes: 3
sources: un-general-debate

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“Finally, we hope that the fiftieth anniversary of this Organization will be an incentive for renewing the vitality and effectiveness of the United Nations, and an intensification of its role, in order to achieve the aims of the Charter in the light of the needs and requirements of the new international changes.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“In order to show its respect and appreciation for the United Nations, the Republic of Yemen has formed a national committee to organize celebrations for the fiftieth anniversary of the founding of this international 19 Organization. We want our celebrations on this occasion to reflect the importance we attach to it. We should not miss the opportunity to refer also to the importance of working to enlarge the representative base of the Security Council, so as to take into consideration the international changes that have taken place since the establishment of the United Nations. One of the most important of these is the emergence of two major economic powers - Japan and Germany. They should join the Security Council as permanent members. There should also be just, permanent representation of regional groupings, including the Arab region.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“May we wish him all success and progress in leading his country, particularly after leading his people a phase of struggle with courage, resistance and steadfastness. It is important to mention here before concluding my statement, that the accusations against Islam and judging Islam from the point of view of certain acts of terrorism taking place here or there because there are others who are not Muslims who perpetuate acts of terrorism in various parts of the world without having any accusations levelled against their religions or their creeds. We therefore believe that we should all stand against any attempt to distort the concept and image of Islam and against any allegations against it because Islam is a religion which rejects violence and terrorism, a religion that calls for love, coexistence and peace.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Perhaps the least that could be done as a first step towards showing some determination in the face of Serb persistent disregard for peace and security in that important region, their trampling of the resolutions of international legality, would be to immediately lift the arms embargo and to begin to supply arms to the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, to enable them to defend themselves against aggression. We have become ever more convinced that right will triumph over injustice, the same as the people of South Africa have done by eliminating apartheid and racial discrimination following such a long arduous struggle. We would like to express our happiness at seeing this new African State among us. We should also like to express to the pioneer of freedom fighters, President Nelson Mandela, our appreciation and respect.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“We will do all we can to help our neighbour and its fraternal, Arab, Muslim people to emerge from its terrible trial, by participating with other fraternal countries in the Committee which it was decided to form by the last session of the Arab Foreign Ministers which was held in Cairo. We hope this Committee will receive the cooperation of the United Nations. It is also a cause of deep sorrow that the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina remains a target of terrible aggression and continuous shelling by the Serb aggressors, while the world does nothing but make statements and threaten to take measures which have yet to materialize.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“However, a just, comprehensive and lasting peace in the region remains linked to the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Golan Heights and South Lebanon, the renunciation of the logic of power by the Tel Aviv government, and its acceptance of an independent Palestinian State in Gaza and the West Bank, including Holy Al Quds. We cannot forget our beloved brotherly Sudan. We underscore the need to respect and safeguard its unity and call for commitment to help it maintain that unity both on the territorial and the human levels. The fact that our sister country Somalia remains in the grip of fragmentation, anarchy and fighting, is deeply distressing to us and makes our hearts bleed.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“With regard to the three islands disputed by the United Arab Emirates and the Islamic Republic of Iran, we would like to ask both countries to work towards resolving this dispute between them through dialogue and mutual understanding based on respect for legitimate rights in accordance with legal evidence. It is very important indeed that cooperation and coordination between the United Nations and the League of Arab States should be strengthened, in the interests of the Arab world in particular, and of the rest of the world in general. The Middle East peace process has so far achieved an agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel on the one hand, and Jordan and Israel on the other.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“It is necessary to turn a new leaf and have recourse to dialogue in order to ensure the security and safety of all sides concerned, in a spirit of love and fraternity, and on the basis of respect for the independence and sovereignty and legal rights of every party. On the basis of our membership in a wider nation, we feel impelled to appeal to the Security Council to review its resolutions against Libya, our sister country, and accept the reasonable solutions put forward by the Arab League, which include the trial of the Lockerbie suspects before an international court, in accordance with the law of Scotland.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“The Republic of Yemen is aware of its responsibilities and of the importance of the role it plays in the maintenance of security and stability in the Arabian Peninsula region, of the Gulf in particular, and the world in general. 18 In this context, we would like to appeal to the Security Council to lift the sanctions which are still in place against Iraq after such a long time, as the justifications for such sanctions no longer exist. The suffering of the Iraqi people has reached intolerable levels. Insistence on maintaining such measures will lead to deepening enmity and hatred between the States of the region.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“As an extension of the national reconciliation process which we have begun to implement within Yemen, despite all the events which have taken place, hand in hand with that and in the same spirit, we call upon all neighboring countries to respond positively to our sincere initiative, to end the causes of dispute and resume normal relations, which will strengthen security and stability in the Arabian Peninsula region, based on good-neighborliness, mutual respect and non-interference in internal affairs. The Republic of Yemen has an important geographical and strategic position, as represented by its control over Bab al-Mandab, and the Red Sea and the Arabian Sea, which meet in its territorial waters in the Gulf of Aden.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“This is a war which takes many different forms, including the closing of markets in other countries of the region to our agricultural and industrial products. We therefore appeal to all our brethren in neighboring countries to lift all the barriers and remove all the obstacles to free trade and the movement of locally produced goods as an important step towards the normalization of relations, and the strengthening of brotherly ties and regional cooperation.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Last Saturday, 1 October 1994, the Chamber of Deputies — again in complete freedom — elected Lieutenant General Ali Abdullah Saleh President of the Republic in accordance with the amendment approved by the Parliament regarding the organization of the national presidency, which was amongst those constitutional amendments. Our choice of the democratic option based on political and party pluralism was not the result of pressure from any side, rather it was motivated by our conviction that democracy is the best contemporary method of government. It represents the path leading to development, progress, security and stability. However, the continued success of our democratic experiment remains subject to economic growth. That requires an end to the economic war that continues to be waged against our country.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Within the framework of the leadership’s attempts to ensure the success and continued progress of our democratic experiment, and in order to expand the basis of popular power sharing, the elected parliament, on 27 September 1994, unanimously passed a number of constitutional amendments which provide for the introduction of a local governmental system based on the principle of free and fair elections. They also decided to create a consultative council to be established by republican decree from experienced and highly qualified personalities from various regions of Yemen to widen and expand the basis of representation and opinion.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Here I should like to emphasize to you and to the Secretary-General that no harm has befallen any of those people and that none of them has been put on trial. Most of them have gone back to their normal lives quite naturally. That was not all: the Socialist Party itself spontaneously elected a new leadership which contained many elements of the former leadership, and went back to participating in political activity in complete freedom. Its representatives in parliament participate in parliamentary life just as they did before.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“However, our people stood behind our armed forces and security forces, whose loyalty set them squarely on the side of legality. Those forces were able to turn the fighting decisively in favour of unity and democracy, and by so doing were able to abort the suspect plot and to maintain Yemen as the unified single State it has been throughout its long history. Today, Yemen has regained its stability and ensured its security, after that ordeal, and has put an end to sedition. A general amnesty has been declared, and national reconciliation has been achieved. Those who fell prey to deceit and disinformation have returned to the nation to participate in political life, and they benefit from the spirit of tolerance which characterizes the political leadership of President Ali Abdullah Saleh.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Despite all the generous concessions that continued to be made from time to time by the leadership of the majority, under the direction of His Excellency President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who was at that time Chairman of the Presidential Council, the elements bent on separatism stepped up their challenge and their disregard of constitutional legality to the point of triggering hostilities in the hope of bringing Arab or international forces to separate the combatants and force each side to withdraw beyond the old borders dividing the two halves. Their aim was to put an end to unification, to declare another separate State on part of the territory of the homeland, and thereby to revert to the situation that existed before 22 May 1990.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Rather, their arrogance and disregard of legality were carried to the point of wanting to impose their tutelage over the people and to impose an undeclared partition through the continual use of an 17 iron-fist policy and absolute control over a number of Governorates, which they used to rule by force and oppression in the days before unification.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Suddenly, without any reason or justification, in accordance with a carefully planned time-table, those elements created a political crisis, and matters reached the point where an attempt was made to ruin or at least to paralyse the institutions and apparatus of the State and to usurp the constitutional legality derived from the will of the people through the ballot box and replace it with a legality derived from decisions taken as result of dialogue between different parties. Those conspiring elements were not satisfied with that, despite the grave risks involved.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Naturally, the results of the general elections did not suit the ruling elements of the Socialist Party, despite their sharing in power and the important leading positions they held. That was perhaps due to their addiction to being the sole ruling centralized totalitarian authority, their love of ruling without partners and the fact that they lacked belief in the country’s unity, and had no deep-rooted confidence in democracy, political pluralism or in free direct elections.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“It was clear that elements of the leadership of the partner in the governing coalition, the Socialist Party, who held important positions in the constitutional institutions and, more precisely, in the Presidential Council and the Cabinet of Ministers, were behind the plan. The prevailing belief was that the matter was nothing more than an attempt to exert pressure in order to extract more concessions and a bargaining chip they used to obtain more government posts or, in the very least, to maintain positions in the Presidential Council when it was re-elected, if that was decided. Again, it could have been an attempt to secure the post of Vice-President of the Republic if the form of the Presidency of the State was going to be changed from a Presidential Council to a republican presidency.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“This was inspired by a genuine desire to strengthen the bonds of national consensus, to guarantee secure foundations and support for the successful establishment of national unity, particularly in its early stages, and to guarantee continuity and survival for a democratic experiment which was still in its cradle. They also aimed at preventing conspirators and opportunists from having any leeway to exacerbate disagreements or provoke armed conflict. Only a few weeks after the formation of the coalition Government, on 31 May of that year, while the freely and directly elected Parliament was preparing to carry out its work and discharge its duties, there began to appear certain indications that a suspect plot was being hatched.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“In an editorial published at the time of the elections, The New York Times described them as “a true revolution in the furthest part of the Southern Arabian peninsula”. Despite the fact that the results of the election gave the General People’s Congress, under the leadership of His Excellency President Ali Abdullah Saleh, Chairman of the Presidential Council at that time, the sole right to form a Government, the President and his party favoured a coalition with the other two important parties: the Islah party, the Yemeni Alliance for Reform (YAR) and the Yemeni Socialist Party.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“However, as time passed and the agreed date for the scheduled parliamentary elections drew near, some high Government officials from the leadership of the Socialist Party — the other governing partner at that time — began to create problems and crises in order to prevent the holding of elections on the agreed date. As a result, the elections were postponed from November 1992 to 27 April 1993. The elections, when they finally took place, were indeed free and fair, as was attested to by all those who took part in monitoring them. Those monitors included representatives of States, organizations and institutes concerned with democracy and the protection of human rights and freedoms, side by side with journalists and correspondents from Arab and non-Arab news agencies.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“It was therefore possible to agree to unite the two halves of the country on 30 November 1989, during President Lieutenant-General Ali Abdullah Saleh’s visit to Aden on the twenty-second anniversary of the South’s independence, and to persuade the then ruling Socialist Party leadership to accept unification. On 22 May 1990 unity was peacefully and voluntarily established in the form of a single State called the Republic of Yemen, a Republic based on democracy and pluralism. The first general parliamentary elections were scheduled to take place at the end of a period of transition of two and a half years, during which time Yemen was to be governed jointly by elements drawn from the leadership of each of the previous two “halves” of the country.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“However, developments since the beginning of 1986 — starting with the tragic civil strife between the partners in power in the South and the comrades of the Socialist Party, the sole ruling party, followed by the policy changes in the Soviet Union culminating in the fall of regimes in the countries of what used to be called the 16 socialist, or Eastern, bloc and, finally, the end of the cold war — all this created the right conditions for re-uniting Yemen. Another factor was that the regime in the South, which had been tightly linked to the Soviet Union and its socialist- country allies, found itself unable to oppose internal and external enemies without strong international backing.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“They persisted in refusing to accept that abnormal situation and in resisting it by every means. Each of the two former Yemeni States adopted a name which emphasized the fact that it belonged to one State called Yemen. Their rejection of partition led each of those States to refer to the other as its “other half”. Awareness of this strength of feeling among all our people in support of the unity of Yemen and of their rejection of partition made the successive leaders in both Sana’a and Aden spare no effort in vying with each other and pressuring each other on the question of unity. This led to two outbreaks of hostilities between the two parts, the first in 1972 and the second in 1979 and, throughout, tension and conflict between them persisted and continued to flare up from time to time.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Throughout the earlier decades of this century, wherein our people struggled against the dictatorial rule of the Imam in the North and British colonialism in the South, the unity of Yemen was the loftiest ideal of our people and its dearest national aspiration. Even after another State was established in the South once it became independent of the United Kingdom on 30 November 1967, and after the revolution of 26 September 1962 in the North, which swept away the reactionary rule of the royalist Imam and replaced it with a republic, the return to Yemen of unity in the form of a single State remained an all-embracing, popular and insistent demand. Our people never accepted that the separation should continue once its national soil had been liberated from the yoke of occupation.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“First, I should like to point out that history shows that throughout the ages our country, Yemen, has always been a single political unit, with the exception of a few periods of varying lengths during which it was subjected to division or segmentation. Sometimes this was the result of a power struggle, and sometimes the result of total or partial occupation by one or more foreign powers. However, it was never long before Yemen regained its unity at the hands of its own people, who never lost sight of the fact that they are a single Muslim, Arab, Yemeni people, and never forgot for one moment that they belonged to one nation.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“As members are aware, our country, the Republic of Yemen, was earlier this year exposed to bloody sedition as a result of a dangerous conspiracy on the part of a handful of treacherous mercenary elements who chose to isolate themselves from the rest of their fellow countrymen, to rebel against legitimate institutions, overturn constitutional legality and trample on the Constitution, law and order, with the aim of destroying the unity of the country, burying it alive and aborting our experiment in democracy based on political and party pluralism, which was successful despite the shortness of the period during which it has been in place.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“The Secretary-General deserves our gratitude and appreciation for the outstanding effort he has put into drawing up that report, and in presenting it in such a satisfactory form. However, we should like to make some remarks on the references made in the report with regard to Yemen.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“Boutros Boutros-Ghali, for his invaluable and unremitting efforts since he took up his post, to increase the importance of the United Nations, make it more effective and maximize its ability to carry out its duties properly, and thereby to increase the confidence of mankind in general, and every nation in particular, in the credibility of this Organization’s commitment to the purposes and principles of its Charter. Foremost among those is the maintenance of peace and security on the basis of justice and equality. It is our hope that he will continue to play his role with the same enthusiasm and high-mindedness. Having studied the annual report on the work of the Organization, which we have all received, we can say it is comprehensive and accurate.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“At the outset, Sir, please allow me, on behalf of my country, my delegation and speaking for myself, to join previous speakers in most warmly congratulating you and, through you, your country on your election to the presidency of the General Assembly at its forty-ninth session. Your excellent qualifications, extensive experience, wisdom and detailed knowledge of international affairs, give us confidence in that you will guide the deliberations at this session to successful conclusions. I should like to take this opportunity also to express our gratitude and appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Samuel Insanally, for the important role he played in the forty-eighth session and for his tireless activity throughout it. Similarly, fairness compels us to express our admiration and great appreciation to the Secretary-General, Mr.”
1994-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 49 (1994)
“As the international community must build a better world within the framework of the United Nations to ensure peace and development, we, the family of nations, must have the foresight and resolve to face up to the problems that arise with the universal character of the United Nations in mind.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“A great deal of work awaits the United Nations, and this is why this session of the General Assembly is of special importance. The international community must avail itself of this opportunity to develop a concept of cooperation between countries, within the framework of the United Nations, with a view to strengthening international peace and security and economic stability the world over. This should also help to strengthen the Organization, because the Organization is the ideal framework for building that world of peace and stability on the basis of international legality. In this connection, the United Nations must implement the Charter without selectivity or double standards, for the Charter is the ideal framework for coordinating international efforts.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Instead of implementing those resolutions, the industrialized countries have resisted every attempt to formulate and adopt a new strategy for the 1990s. They have also failed to implement the programme for the 1990s that had been agreed upon at the Paris Conference. This has been a real setback for the economic and social development of the least developed countries. We do say that the principal responsibility for development lies with the developing countries themselves, but national efforts alone are not enough: there must also be a degree of international support and assistance. National efforts must be backed up by appropriate international efforts. We feel that the international economic system must be fair and equitable towards the developing countries. This cannot be the so without political will, wisdom and courage.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Furthermore, the increase in indebtedness and the burdens of debt servicing have resulted in capital outflows in the case of the developing countries. This is a situation that threatens the very existence of those countries and not only the prospects of economic and social development. We must refer in this respect to failure by the industrialized countries to honour their commitments in line with the agreements, strategies and international resolutions relating to the inflows of development assistance to the developing countries, especially those included in the international strategy for the eighties which called for the allocation by the industrialized countries of 0.7 per cent of their Gross National Product to development assistance.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“It is also important to lighten the poor countries’ debt burdens, to increase financial flows towards them and to provide them with technical assistance in order to enable them to continue their programmes of adjustment and to achieve economic and social development. As underscored by the meeting of the Ministerial committee for the economic development of the countries of the Non-Aligned Movement held last May in Bali, Indonesia, the economic situation in the developing countries has worsened. World economic growth is suffering from a grave imbalance and the gap between the developing and the developed countries has widened. The economic recession has led to the growth of protectionism and declining development assistance.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“We hope that the dialogue that has now begun in South Africa will make it possible to establish a democratic, non- racial regime. The Secretary-General, in his annual report on the activities of the United Nations, declared that political progress and economic development are inseparable. Yemen believes that, to revitalize economic growth in the developing countries and enable those countries to continue their political and economic adjustment programmes, the donor countries and the industrialized countries must provide economic and technical support, and the United Nations must continue to play its role in promoting cooperation between the developing and the industrialized countries in order to achieve the objective of economic integration on an equitable basis.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“The decision to deploy a peace-keeping force in South Africa, a decision that has been welcomed by Inkatha, is a major step in leaving behind the cycle of violence, murder and massacre in the country, and may well make it possible to establish a democratic and non-racial regime. Here we should like to emphasize the importance of having all the Forty-eighth session - 7 October l993 15 parties understand the need for peace, especially in view of the forthcoming democratic, non-racial elections scheduled for next year. We hope that the elections will be successful, and that they will mark a positive turning-point. Just a few days ago, we had the honour of hearing Mr. Nelson Mandela address the Special Committee against Apartheid, and we could feel his confidence in the future.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“The use of force and economic blockades that ensue result in untold suffering for innocent civilians, especially the most vulnerable, namely, women, children and the elderly, who are always the principal victims of such wars and blockades. The situation in South Africa continues to be cause for concern for most Member States of this Organization. The latest news does not justify too much optimism. Over the past two months, there have been several massacres and killings. That is why the most recent events should prompt us - and the United Nations - to monitor this situation closely so that the goals contained in the 14 December 1989 United Nations Declaration on Apartheid and its Destructive Consequences in Southern Africa may be implemented.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“We support the request by the Non-Aligned Movement for the venue of the negotiations to be moved from Geneva to United Nations Headquarters here in New York as those negotiations are now at a critical juncture, and moving them to New York would strengthen the parties’ confidence, especially that of the Bosnia and Herzegovina side, which is the party that has to make the biggest sacrifice. The World Conference on Human Rights held in Vienna in June 1993 has studied the question of human rights, reviewed the fundamental precepts relating to those rights and underscored the need to implement them and to provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of war and natural disasters. Unfortunately, many of the tragic situations which afflict people arise from certain crises and political conflicts that degenerate into armed confrontations.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“In the most restrained terms, we can only say that the world’s stance vis-à-vis what is happening in Bosnia and Herzegovina will be a stigma, a brand of Cain on the brow of the age and of the human race, for all eternity. Consequently, this blatant defiance calls for practical measures by the international community to deter aggression, to intensify moral support and humanitarian assistance and to strengthen the steadfastness of the people of Bosnia and Herzegovina with a view to ending this tragedy. We in Yemen join the other countries of the world in calling for an end to this aggression that Belgrade supports, and for a halt to the genocidal atrocities perpetrated by the Serb aggressors in Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“The United Nations, since it was created, has never faced a more serious challenge than the one that confronts it now in that peaceful European Muslim country. It is very difficult indeed to understand the stance of the international community with regard to that situation. In practice, all the slogans have turned out to be no more than hot air. Developments in Bosnia and Herzegovina squarely put a heavy burden of guilt on the shoulders of the international community and especially the major Powers, with regard to the collective massacring of Muslims at the hands of the Serb and Croat fascists. As long as we, as an international community, continue to fail to face up to such a situation, and to safeguard the right to life of the unarmed people of Bosnia and Herzegovina, how could we pretend to champion human rights on this planet?”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Yemen, while stressing the importance of respecting Lebanon’s independence, territorial integrity and sovereignty and safeguarding its right to live within recognized international borders, condemns Israel’s continued occupation of southern Lebanon, and demands unconditional Israeli withdrawal from southern Lebanon in implementation of Security Council resolution 425 (1978). The international community should take a firm stand in order to compel Israel to refrain from these acts of aggression and to compensate the people of Lebanon for the enormous losses they have sustained. It is inadmissible, illegal and immoral for peoples, on the eve of the twenty-first century, to suffer from injustice and to be exposed to physical liquidation for ethnic or religious reasons. The most horrendous example of this is the case of Bosnia and Herzegovina.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“The end of the cold war and the emergence of the beginnings of a new international order that is beginning to take shape to rid the world of wars and conflicts require that lasting, total peace should prevail in the Middle Eastern region on a fair and stable basis so that its peoples may tackle the task of development and improve their standards of living. This requires that all the States and peoples of the world should take a firm stand in opposing any attempt to create obstacles in the path of peace, or to impose peace by force. Our world will not enjoy peace until peace embraces every part of the globe. Like many other countries, Yemen has followed with deep concern the attacks against southern Lebanon and the Bekaa Valley by Israel in the month of July, in full sight of the international community.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“We also hope that such agreements will be followed by others that would lead to Israel’s total withdrawal from all the Palestinian territories, including Al-Quds and all the other Arab territories that are still under occupation. It is also our hope that the Israeli authorities will finally desist from the arbitrary measures and acts of criminality against all our brethren in Palestine, in 14 General Assembly - Forty-eighth session Lebanon and in the other occupied territories. If the battle for peace has been joined, it shall not be won unless Israel shows a great deal of courage, abandons its arrogance and realizes that this is the most difficult battle of all.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“It is time the States of the world at large, and in particular the United States, shouldered the responsibility of curbing Israeli arrogance, especially after the crimes, killings, acts of intimidation and terrorization, the bombings, destruction and atrocities it has perpetrated for decades in Palestine and other Arab countries. Those are acts that will shame mankind for a long time to come and that will torture the human conscience. We do hope that the Gaza-Jericho agreement between the PLO and Israel and the agenda between Jordan and Israel will be accompanied by Israeli-Syrian agreements and Israeli-Lebanese agreements in the near future. This should lead to the return of the Golan to Syria and to Israel’s withdrawal from southern Lebanon.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“It must also accept the establishment of the independent State of Palestine, which would include Gaza and the West Bank, with Jerusalem as its capital, while the Republic of Yemen appreciates the important role played by the two co-sponsors of the Arab-Israeli negotiations and, in particular, the role of the United States of America, it hopes that this role will be such as to prompt Israel to abandon the policy of force and arrogance which it has pursued out of its feelings of military superiority, and because of the international support and protection it has always enjoyed as well as the special treatment extended to it by the Western Powers.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“This will depend on Israel’s earnestness with regard to withdrawal from all the Palestinian and Arab territories it has continued to occupy since June 1967. If we tell ourselves that Israel, at long last, has come to the realization that it is unrealistic to hold on to the policy of depending on naked force due to the military superiority it enjoys, as a means of guaranteeing its continued existence, imposing its hegemony over the Arab people in Palestine and the neighbouring Arab States and imposing a peace that would be tantamount to capitulation - I say that if we tell ourselves anything of the sort, we shall be indulging in wishful thinking until such time as Israel demonstrates the truthfulness of its declared intentions and passes the test by adopting sound positions in current and future negotiations with the Syrians, Jordanians and Lebanese and by withdrawing from all the territories it now occupies.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)
“Our country’s prompt support for the agreement between the Palestine Liberation Organization and Israel in Washington on 13 September stemmed from our commitment to the Rabat Arab Summit Conference resolution which recognized the Palestine Liberation Organization as the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people as well as our respect for the right of every people to choose its own course and exercise its own will in full freedom. Having said all this, we view the agreement as an important first step towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region, as was stated by the Council of Ministers of the Arab Nations in Cairo last month. None the less, this step by itself and in itself will not bring about peace unless it is followed by more significant steps at the levels of other Arab-Israeli negotiating tracks.”
1993-09-24 · UN General Assembly · General Debate, Session 48 (1993)