Speech by Minister Ahmed Attaf during the general debate of the UN General Assembly (GA)

NEW YORK (UN) - The Minister of Foreign Affairs and National Community Abroad, Mr. Ahmed Attaf, called on Monday from New York, the international community to quickly put an end to the hell that the Zionist entity is inflicting on the Palestinian and Lebanese people.

In a speech delivered during the general debate of the UN General Assembly (GA), Mr. Attaf maintained that the genocidal war waged in Gaza, its spread to the West Bank and Lebanon and the escalation throughout the region "would not have been possible if the international community had taken a firm position at that time imposing on the Israeli occupation the same sanctions and coercive measures imposed on others, as provided for in the Charter of our organization in its Chapter VII."

In this context, the international community is called upon to quickly "put an end to the hell that the Palestinian and Lebanese peoples are suffering" and to "restrain the Israeli occupier in its desire to plunge the Middle East into a spiral of crises, conflicts and endless wars", he insisted, adding that the international community "must realize that it is at a pivotal moment in the history of the Palestinian cause".

The world is at a very delicate and extremely dangerous turning point, which reveals the impotence of the collective security system, the disregard for international legality, the exacerbation of the phenomenon of polarization and the absence of the role of the Security Council, warned Mr. Attaf, stressing that the period that the Palestinian cause is going through "does not allow any turning back and does not tolerate any hesitation in supporting the Palestinian national project, nor any procrastination or postponement in supporting the establishment of the independent and sovereign Palestinian State as a just, lasting and definitive solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

And to recall, in this regard, that the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, had called, from the podium of the United Nations General Assembly, on the UN organizations to accelerate the full admission of the State of Palestine, and this, in a less tense and less tragic situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and in the Palestinian neighborhood.

Today, the minister continued, while the Palestinian cause is going through the darkest period of its history, this demand "is urgently and acutely necessary", affirming that "the full membership of the State of Palestine in our organization remains a crucial step to preserve the two-state solution, thwart the maneuvers of the Israeli occupation aimed at derailing it, but also to preserve the constants of the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict and the foundations of security and stability in the region".

               =Algeria's total solidarity with all the States and peoples of the Sahel-Saharan region=      

Regarding the developments in the situation in its regional neighborhood, the Minister affirmed that "Algeria remains firmly convinced of the need for international support and global mobilization in the face of the complex challenges facing the countries and peoples of the region and the issues weighing on our entire African space". "This applies to the Sahel-Saharan region, where the situation is fragile due to the exacerbation of political unrest, the rise of terrorist risks, the explosion of poverty and the absence of prospects for sustainable development, not to mention the worsening of the climate change phenomenon".

In this regard, Mr. Attaf reaffirmed Algeria's total solidarity with all the States and peoples of the Sahel-Saharan region, as well as its firm conviction that its security, stability and prosperity are an integral part of the security, stability and prosperity of its neighborhood and its African space.

In this context, the minister returned to the remarks made by the representative of a State of this area, who attacked Algeria "in infamous terms which are in no way appropriate to this august assembly and to which it is not appropriate to respond with futile and low-level linguistic impulsiveness".

"My country will only respond with courteous language that reflects its faithful and sincere loyalty to its deep-rooted ties with the countries and peoples of the region, ties that no passing conjunctural factor or those that stir it up could impact or shake," Mr. Attaf assured.

"Driven by a strong will, Algeria has always had its hand extended when the situation required dealing with all our brothers, with a view to building a Sahelian edifice enjoying peace, tranquility and prosperity," he recalled.

Calling for "a definitive decolonization, turning the last page of colonization in Western Sahara", Mr. Attaf reaffirmed his support for the Secretary-General of the United Nations and his Personal Envoy for "their efforts aimed at enabling the two parties to the conflict, the Kingdom of Morocco and the Polisario Front, to resume the process of direct negotiations with a view to reaching a peaceful solution that guarantees the imprescriptible and inalienable right of the Sahrawi people to self-determination".

Algeria remains convinced that "the phenomenon of colonization is doomed to disappear and that the legal and legitimate rights of the Sahrawi people will be established, sooner or later."

Regarding neighboring Libya, the minister said that "Algeria stresses the urgent need to quickly address the problem of foreign interference, which consumes the capacities of this brother country and fuels conflicts between its children."

"The Libyan brothers can come together around a common ground that allows them to achieve the objectives of national reconciliation and promote the organization of free, fair and transparent elections," he said.

On the continental level, the minister stressed that Algeria is continuing its efforts to make a significant contribution to joint African action, indicating that "Africa aspires to the activation of African solutions to extinguish the embers of conflicts and resolve the crises and disputes from which the countries and peoples of the continent suffer."

"It is also a question for Africa of winning the bet of economic development, of participating in the current revolutions in artificial intelligence, digitalization and renewable energies (...), of promoting its strategic priorities aimed at reforming international financial, monetary and banking institutions to be better represented within them (...) and of repairing the historical injustice of which it is a victim at the Security Council in order to allow it to occupy the place that is rightfully its own within this central UN body, following its recent membership as a permanent member of the G20," the minister said.

Attaf also stressed that "with the same level of commitment that drives it on the continental level, Algeria continues its efforts to establish a balanced and beneficial partnership in its Mediterranean region, particularly with the European Union."

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