S/PV.6254
6254th meeting
Wednesday, 23 December 2009, 10.40 a.m.
New York
Peace and security in Africa
Mr. Dabbashi (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (spoke in Arabic): The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has always sought to promote peace, security and stability in the Horn of Africa. As President of the African Union, our brother, the Leader of the Revolution of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, President Al-Qadhafi, has made many contacts with our African brothers to seek a solution to the problems of the States of the region.
However, this complex, tangled web of problems will require greater efforts, more time and concerted international cooperation in order to persuade all parties to accept the good offices available to them and to bravely face these problems, find solutions to them and establish mechanisms to deal with them.
Libya has encouraged the States of the region to make use of international legal bodies to resolve their border disputes, which are the main cause of conflict and tension. Libya has resolutely stood by the Transitional Federal Government under the presidency of Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed and has welcomed the Djibouti Agreement as a mechanism that will enable national reconciliation and the creation of a national unity government.
Such a government would make it possible to bring together all components of Somali society and guarantee peace and security in the country. Libya believes that the Djibouti Agreement will promote the establishment of lasting peace in Somalia. We hope that all Somali parties will join the Agreement, lay down their weapons and follow the path of dialogue to resolve their differences.
Libya calls for the resolution of all problems between Somalia and Eritrea.
We believe that the resolution just adopted takes an unrealistic and excessively hasty approach. Sanctions are not the ideal way of resolving the current problems. Their humanitarian impact will further exacerbate the situation in the Horn of Africa, and it is our view that this creates an obstacle to the peaceful solutions to which we aspire, to be attained in the framework of the good offices of the African Union and of the Secretary-General, supported by other international partners.
As members know, the African Union will convene a summit in January. There we shall consider the problems of the Horn of Africa, including Eritrea’s role in the region. We look forward to the Secretary-General or his representative participating in the summit, and we would thus have preferred the postponement of today’s consideration of this item until the African Union summit outcome was available.
Libya was the victim of sanctions for many years and has therefore committed itself to not being party to the imposition of sanctions against any African country whatsoever. That is why we voted against the resolution adopted today.
