President Guelleh's Address to General Assembly of United Nations

On Friday, September 23rd, 2011, The President of the Republic, His Excellency Ismail Omar Guelleh participated in the 66th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, taking place from September 21st to 27th in New York at the UN Headquarters.

-----------------

The President of the Republic continues to take part in the annual conference of the United Nations where he delivered an important speech on Friday, September 23rd, 2011. Djibouti Head of State, His Excellency, Ismail Omar Guelleh delivered an important speech on Friday at the rostrum of the United Nations.

During this procedure, the President of the Republic discussed the border dispute between Djibouti and Eritrea, a country that suddenly formed a plan to aggressive take parts of the territory of Djibouti.

In this regard, the President of the Republic held his peers to witness; Heads of State and Governments participating in the Annual Conference of the United Nations to express his sincere appreciation towards the Emir of Qatar , His Highness Hamad Bin Khalifa Al-Thani for his tireless efforts for a final settlement of the Djibouti-Eritrean dispute.

The Head of State of Djibouti has subsequently expressed his concern that of at his countrymen, the fate of Djiboutian prisoners of war captured on June 10th, 2008, as part of their mission legitimate to defend the integrity of national territory. “Eritrea refuses to answer about the fate of the 19 Djiboutian prisoners of war or even acknowledge their existence”, said President of the Republic.

If Eritrea refuses to hand over Djiboutian prisoners of war our country in accordance with international law concerning prisoners of war, will soon submitted to the International Red Cross.

At the UN forum, the President of the Republic confirmed his commitment to resolve the border dispute with Eritrea and the recovery of prisoners of war through dialogue, expressing the hope that the Qatari mediation leads quick and final settlement of the dispute.

“We remain willing to cooperate fully with the sincere efforts made by His Royal Highness the Emir of Qatar and we remain confident of a peaceful outcome of this mediation”, said the President of the Republic.

The Head of State, His Excellency, Ismail Omar Guelleh also addressed drought prevailing in our sub-region, saying that our country has responded quickly to the first symptoms of the disaster to avoid harmful consequences.

“The current crisis in my country is not sudden, we had already sounded the alarm in 2010 when the first warning signs had appeared”, said the President of the Republic, thanks to the assistance of friendly countries.

In this speech, the President of the Republic spoke on the situation of Somalia. The obstacle is insecurity in the distribution of food for populations affected by famine as a result of the drought, a greater involvement of the international community for the reconstruction of Somalia and the need for greater determination by the authorities of that country to restore peace and order in their country have been mentioned in his speech.

The President of the Republic, His Excellency, Ismail Omar Guelleh dedicated the last phase of his speech to the Palestinian issue.

In this regard, the Head of State who pledged the admission of Palestine within the United Nations and described the current status of colonized people as an injustice and a denial of rights that should not be dignified by the international community.

Several topics were discussed at the General Assembly of the United Nations; the need for greater solidarity among people that face transnational issues such as global warming, are on the agenda of this session. More efficient collaboration between states to create conditions for greater stability and security in our world is also included in the agenda for discussion.

Promoting democracy, human rights and freedoms of men as an effective means of conflict prevention and guarantees of stability are also to be discussed. The President of the Palestinian Authority, Mahamoud Abass will officially submit the Palestinian request to become a full member of the United Nations system.

On the sidelines of the annual conference of the United Nations, a high-level meeting on Somalia is scheduled on Friday the 23rd of September 2011. Neighboring countries of Somalia, those known to continue their mobilization for the restoration of lasting peace in the country and those regularly occurring in the financing needed to rebuild Somalia will participate in this summit.

Difficulties in properly extending international assistance to victims of drought and famine despite the withdrawal of Shebab militia in the capital will be discussed during the meeting.

The work of this meeting will also focus on the need for greater collaboration between officials of the Provisional Institutions of Somalia, to abandon the partisan struggles in favor of the general interest of Somalia, which reside in the reconstruction of Somalia and the return of the country in the comity of nations.

Normally set to expire in August 2010, the mandates of the various powers of the transitional authority (executive and legislative) of Somalia have been extended for one year as a result of the ongoing management of a large number of issues.

The international community had, particularly through the Contact Group for Somalia, given its approval to the extension of the mandate of the Transitional Authority of Somalia. In return, the Somali authorities were invited to take advantage of this time to initiate a genuine process of reconciliation among all Somalis.

The UN meeting on Somalia will have, among other priorities, to urge the various authorities in Somalia to continue towards achieving a political process additive, involving all political, religious and clans of Somalia.

Advocacy for greater involvement of the international community for the reconstruction of Somalia will be another highlight of the meeting. Greater commitment by the international community in support of Somalia, it will hear the concession significant funds for the country to rehabilitate public buildings and restore its economic infrastructure