Mr.
President,
1. Allow me, at the outset, to congratulate you on your election as President of the 57th session of the General Assembly. I am confident that given your vast experience and diplomatic skills you will be able to steer this session to a successful conclusion.
2.
I
would also like to pay tribute to your distinguished predecessor, H.E. Mr. Han
Seung-soo of the Republic of Korea for the outstanding manner in which he had
conducted the work of the 56th session of the General Assembly.
3.
I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome the Swiss Confederation as
the 190th Member of our Family of Nations. We are confident that its
membership, which formalizes its long involvement with the United Nations, will
contribute enormously to the work of the Organisation.
4.
We look forward to welcoming our newly independent neighbour, the Democratic
Republic of East Timor, as the 191st Member of the United Nations in
the very near future.
5.
Malaysia would also like to congratulate Africa on the establishment of the
African Union (AU) and their bold new initiatives such as the New Partnership
for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
6.
I also thank the Secretary General for his statement to the General Assembly.
Malaysia shares his concerns over the four issues identified as threats
to world peace.
Mr.
President,
7. A year has passed since the evil
and cowardly attacks against this Organisation’s host country.
As a result, the world has changed fundamentally in many ways.
The international community has been galvanized into fighting all forms
of terrorism. There is a greater recognition that terrorism is a global
problem that crosses borders and lurks in many of our countries often unbeknown
to us.
8. The Security Council had taken
prompt action resulting in the mandatory measures aimed at eliminating all forms
and manifestations of terrorism requiring member states to take legal,
administrative, financial control and other law enforcement measures.
Malaysia supports this action and reiterates our commitment to
comprehensively fighting terrorism in all of its forms at the domestic, regional
and international levels.
9.
Domestically, our Government has acted swiftly and decisively against terrorist
groups which have threatened both our national security as well as international
security. We have cooperated
extensively at the bilateral level by sharing intelligence information and
putting in measures to cripple transnational criminal networks that abet
terrorist activities. In the
Southeast Asian region, Malaysia and its ASEAN partners have embarked on a
programme of collaboration to deal with the issue at the regional level.
At the international level, in addition to our support of United Nations
actions and other international and bilateral efforts in fighting terrorism,
Malaysia also works closely with the member states of the Organisation of the
Islamic Conference and the Commonwealth.
10.
However, Malaysia believes that in our quest to combat terrorism, the norms and
principles of international law should not be set aside.
We also believe that in dealing with the menace it is important for the
international community to forge a broad consensus on what constitutes
terrorism. Without a clear and
common definition, certain perpetrators of terrorist acts will justify their
actions in the name of state security or national liberation.
11.
If the collective effort of the international community to win the fight against
terrorism is going to succeed, we must start looking at the problem in a
comprehensive manner and respond with a comprehensive strategy.
It seems that in our urgency to address the problem, we overlook and
continue to ignore why the problem exists in the first place.
12.
We forget that, however unjustified, terrorism is often rooted in political and
economic grievances that have still not been adequately addressed.
The fight against terrorism is not merely a fight against the
perpetrators and conspirators of terrorist attacks, but it is also a fight
against poverty, injustice, subjugation and illegal occupation that breeds anger
and hatred. There can be no
comprehensive victory against terrorism if the root causes of terror are not
eliminated.
13.
Malaysia also regrets the continued profiling, by certain quarters, of Islam and
Muslims with terrorism, as if one is synonymous with the other. We would like to
reiterate that no race or religion should be condemned or discriminated against
simply because some misguided people from that community are or may have been
involved in terrorist activities.
14.
Just as it is easy and convenient to hold a monolithic view of the Muslim world
and therefore assume the worst of every adherent of the Islamic faith, it is
also easy for Muslims to have a similarly monolithic and therefore incorrect
view of other civilizations. If we
continue to view each other in such terms, the confidence that has been
engendered in the international community in our fight against terrorism can be
eroded.
15.
It
is with these considerations in mind that Malaysia continues to call for the
convening of a high level international conference under the auspices of the
United Nations to examine the terrorism issue in all forms and manifestations
and formulate a joint response to this global threat.
Mr. President,
16. Malaysia is
concerned at the apparent lack of urgency in addressing the underlying factors
that cause terrorism. For example,
most of the Muslim world believes that one of the key outstanding issue that
continues to elicit resentment and fury is the situation in the Palestinian
occupied territories. While
Malaysia believes that all acts of violence against innocent civilians, whether
inflicted by suicide bombers or security forces, must be condemned, we must be
even-handed in our approach in dealing with the situation in the region.
17. It is important that we
understand the root causes of violence in the region. We must put it in its
proper context, namely the continued occupation of Arab lands by the Israeli
occupying forces, in particular the demolition of their homes, devastation of
their towns and cities and destruction of their livelihood and institutions and,
worst of all, the loss of thousands of civilian lives and the wounding of tens
of thousands more over the decades, which would definitely result in a reaction
from the Palestinian people.
18. Israel’s oppressive policies
and practices have made life for the Palestinians unbearable and have engendered
only hatred and resentment against the occupying power, illegal settlers and
those who are perceived to provide them support. Israel must take advantage of
the acceptance of the Two States Solution and recognize that political and
security issues must be looked at together and the necessity for the
establishment of an international protection force to separate the two parties.
19.
The international community, including the United Nations, cannot afford to
stand on the sidelines indefinitely. It is time for the Security Council to be
more actively involved and to directly intervene in the situation, beginning
with the dispatch of a United Nations or international peacekeeping force to the
Occupied Territories. Failure to act will only perpetuate the violence and
exacerbate the resentment felt by the Palestinians, as well as the Muslim world
in general, towards those who are perceived to be responsible for refusing to
address this issue in a fair and just manner.
Mr.
President,
20.
We are pleased that Afghanistan is now on the threshold of becoming a viable,
progressive and democratic state. However, many impediments to national unity
and cohesion remain which must be overcome with sustained international support
and, more importantly, the political will and commitment of the people of
Afghanistan themselves. Such
support should take the form of increased infusion of development funds and
other forms of assistance and, more urgently, the promotion of a more secure
environment for the whole country.
21.
We owe it to the long-suffering Afghan people to assist in the rehabilitation of
their country and to ensure that the circumstances that led to their civil
strife are removed and that they would not be abandoned once the immediate task
of removing terrorist elements in Afghanistan is over.
22.
Instead of focusing our efforts in comprehensively fighting terrorism by
attempting to find a credible settlement between the Palestinians and the
Israelis, and on nation-building efforts in Afghanistan, the international
community risks being dragged into opening up battle fronts that can result in
greater instability in the world and hamper efforts towards combating terrorism.
23.
In particular, we remain concerned that targeting Iraq outside the framework of
the United Nations and in contravention of international law will not only be
wrong, but will result in a more volatile world order.
In this regard, we welcome the decision by the United States to work with
the United Nations to address this issue rather than pursuing a unilateral
policy of military intervention.
24.
Malaysia agrees that the United Nations must not be cast aside. However,
engaging the international community through the United Nations must not merely
be an exercise in public diplomacy. The
international community cannot be made to assume that military intervention
against Iraq, in the pursuit of both disarmament and regime change, is
inevitable and that the United Nations is only being engaged as a matter of
course.
25.
The strength and relevance of this Organisation has never come from affirming
the unilateral designs of one member nation but instead rests on the collective
will of the international community that emerges from a multilateral process.
Engaging the international community means initiating this consensual
approach that can address security concerns without destabilizing the region and
within the norms of international law.
26.
In this effort, it is imperative that the international community is
presented with clear and incontrovertible evidence of the perceived threat posed
by Iraq to regional and international security.
At the same time, every diplomatic and political effort should be made to
urge Iraq to fully cooperate with the United Nations, including allowing the
return of UN weapons inspectors, and to comply with UN Security Council
resolutions, as every member state of this Organisation must do, so as to
facilitate a resolution to this issue.
27.
A preemptive attack against Iraq without any credible evidence to the
international community of the threat it poses will have serious implications on
the international campaign against terrorism. Such an attack may pronounce real cleavages and draw
imaginary battle lines between the Muslim world and the West, especially when
the continued oppression of the Palestinians remains unattended.
28.
Such an attack can swell the ranks of the discontented in the Muslim world.
It will give the pretext for depraved extremist groups bent on stoking
the flames of populist radicalism to mobilize and multiply.
Therefore, while it is important to view the Iraq issue in terms of
regional security, it is equally important to understand the broader
consequences that will follow.
Mr.
President,
29.
In our interdependent world, the need for strengthening the multilateral process
is now more urgent than ever before if we are to achieve our common goal of a
just and humane international order based on international cooperation and
solidarity.
30.
The larger membership of this Organisation has a vital stake in ensuring the
centrality of the multilateral process as embodied by the United Nations and its
specialized and affiliated agencies. Through
it, the members of the Organisation can articulate their concerns and exercise
their collective will in the protection and promotion of their interests.
It is therefore important to ensure that the Organisation and all that it
stands for are not set aside on the exigency or expediency of the moment.
In this context we are reassured by the Secretary General’s emphasis on
the imperativeness of the multilateral process.
31.
As the incoming Chairman of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM), Malaysia will work
together with other NAM members to ensure the continued centrality of this
process including the promotion of their development agenda.
32.
In this context, we must continue to exert our combined efforts to ensure that
globalisation works for the benefit of all.
In order to achieve this, we have to create a more conducive
international environment which would satisfy the legitimate development
priorities and needs of developing countries, as well as address the economic
imbalances prevailing in the world today.
33.
The United Nations has a pivotal role in strengthening the multilateral process.
It
is ironic that at a time of enormous economic, financial and technological
resources and capabilities, the world is witnessing a dangerous crisis of
confidence in the credibility of multilateralism as a result of certain negative
trends in the international system.
34.
This challenge must be squarely and urgently addressed and remedial actions
taken here at the United Nations and other relevant international forums.
It is the expectation of member states of this Organisation that the
United Nations will play a crucial and leading role in all these efforts.
Herein lies the continued relevance of the United Nations to its member
states.
Thank
you, Mr. President.