S/PV.5930
5930th meeting
Wednesday, 9 July 2008, 3 p.m.
New York
The situation in Afghanistan
Mr. Mubarak (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (spoke in Arabic): Allow me at the outset to warmly welcome Mr. Rangin Dâdfar Spantâ, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, and Mr. Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan. I welcome their participation in this debate on Afghanistan, a friendly country whose situation we hope will improve because the brotherly people of Afghanistan deserve prosperity after having suffered from war for so many years. I would also like to emphasize to the Ministers the cordial and friendly relations that exist between our friendly countries, as well as our readiness to cooperate in the fight against terrorism.
We thank the Secretary-General for the report (S/2008/434) before us. We also wish to thank Mr. Kai Eide, Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Afghanistan, and Mr. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, for their comprehensive and detailed briefings, which we very much appreciate.
My delegation welcomes the Afghanistan National Development Strategy and the financial pledges made at the Paris Conference, held on 12 June 2008. I stress that the implementation of the Strategy requires the promotion of trust between Afghan citizens, the Government of Afghanistan and the international community. I should also like to underscore the importance of respecting and protecting the human rights of the Afghan people. It is also necessary for Afghan forces and the International Security Assistance Force to take every step necessary to protect Afghan civilians as they carry out their operations. Those accused of crimes must be provided fair trials in accordance with international law, international human rights law and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
One of my country’s greatest concerns is the ongoing deterioration of the security situation in Afghanistan, which is referred to in paragraph 5 of the report of the Secretary-General. The report points to the increase in insurgent activity since the previous reporting period, with such attacks having reached their highest level in May. We are even more concerned about the major increase is civilian casualties, which illustrates the need; now more than ever, for national reconciliation in Afghanistan in order to ensure a secure and stable country in which people enjoy prosperity and security. That is especially true given that experience shows that there is a linkage between security and reconstruction in Afghanistan: the better the security, the more rebuilding projects are implemented. The converse is also true. In that connection, we would like to underscore the need to adopt and implement the Afghanistan National Development Strategy. In that task, there is a joint role to be played by the international community, the Afghan people and the Government of Afghanistan.
We agree with the point made in the report of the Secretary-General that the elections to be held in 2009 and 2010 must be free and fair. In that regard, we would like to underscore the role assumed by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) to support the election process and to make it as credible as possible. We would also like to emphasize the fact that the success of the elections depends not only on the procedural aspects of their conduct, but also on the participation of all Afghan people. That leads me to emphasize once again the importance of achieving national reconciliation in Afghanistan in order to make the elections a success. That requires the reform of the country’s civilian, military and administrative institutions so that they can provide security in Afghanistan’s provinces and services to Afghan citizens. It will also require the control of the warlords over those institutions to be broken. We should also pay greater attention to the priorities set out by the Secretary-General in paragraph 10 of his report.
My delegation fully understands the importance of the role of Afghanistan’s neighbours in restoring stability to the country. We commend the efforts made by those countries, especially in combating narcotics smuggling.
We emphasize the importance of providing UNAMA with the resources and expertise necessary for it to carry out its expanded mandate under resolution 1806 (2008). We hope that donor countries will honour their pledges in that regard. We also endorse the recommendation of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General that the necessary resources be provided in order for UNAMA to fulfil its responsibilities under the mandate entrusted to it to bring prosperity to the brotherly people of Afghanistan.
