Speech by Foreign Secretary Hemayetuddin at the dinner hosted for the delegation of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom at State Guest House Padma, Dhaka, March 1, 2006.

PRESS BRIEFING

ON FOREIGN SECRETARY'S PARTICIPATION IN
THE XIVth NAM SUMMIT IN HAVANA DURING 11-17 SEPTEMBER 2006

Venue: Fakhruddin Memorial Hall, Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Date: 05 September 2006, 12.00pm

Distinguished Members of the Press and the Media,

At the outset let me thank you all to attend this Press Briefing. As you are aware the 14th NAM Summit is taking place in Havana on 15-16 September 2006,I will lead the Bangladesh delegation to the Senior Officials Meetings of the XIVth Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana. The Senior Official's Meeting will take place on 11-12 September, followed by the Ministerial Meeting and the Summit during 13-16 September 2006. The Hon'ble Foreign Minister would lead the Bangladesh delegation to the Ministerial meeting and the Summit.

As you might recall, Bangladesh joined the NAM at the 4th Summit in Algiers in 1973. Since then, Bangladesh has played an active, constructive and moderate role in all NAM deliberations. Our steadfast support for the Palestinian cause, for peaceful resolution of the Iran-Iraq conflict and our opposition to foreign intervention and interference in Afghanistan and Cambodia and to apartheid in South Africa enhanced our stature in NAM. In recognition of our leadership role, we have been elected to various NAM Committees, including the NAM Ministerial Committee on Palestine.

Last time when the NAM Summit was held in Havana in 1979 Shahid President Ziaur Rahman led the Bangladesh delegation. This time around the Hon'ble Prime Minister won't be able to attend the Summit for pressing domestic engagement. The Hon'ble Foreign Minister will represent the Hon'ble Prime Minister at the Summit.

At the Senior Official's Meeting of the 14th NAM, we will discuss the final outcome document of the NAM Summit. The 89-page draft final document covers three broad topics, namely: 1. Global issues; 2. Regional and Sub-regional Political Issues; and 3. Development, Social and Human Rights Issues. Our task at the SOM would be holding a threadbare discussion on these wide range of issues and ensuring that the final document adequately reflects the concerns, hopes and aspirations of the member states. We will recommend the draft final document for kind consideration of the NAM Ministerial meeting, which would further deliberate on the document and place it before the NAM heads of State or Government for their kind approval.

The Senior Officials Meeting, I expect, would devote considerable amount of its time to discuss the recent Israeli aggression in Lebanon. We will reiterate the NAM position that sovereignty and territorial integrity of Lebanon must be respected and that Israel must withdraw its troops from Southern Lebanon, pursuant to the provisions of the Security Council resolution 1701. We will also urge the international community to ensure that there is no relapse of violence in Lebanon and that the expanded UNIFIL Mission given a clear mandate and rules of engagement to "monitor" peace along the Blue Line.

We would also discuss other pressing issues, including the Middle East peace process, NAM position on UN reforms, counter-terrorism measures, human rights and migration and development. On the issue of Security Council, Bangladesh will reiterate its position that the reform of the Council should be holistic and not merely deal with expansion of privileged membership. We would also emphasize that the focus of the reform should be on the decision-making process and efforts should be made to make it more democratic, transparent and accountable.

The Senior Officials Meeting would also register its concerns that the Security Council, in recent years, has been too quick to threaten or authorize enforcement actions in some cases while being silent and inactive in others. We would also note that the Council should resort Chapter VII provisions of the Charter, only after exhausting all other means to mitigate the threats to international and peace security. The NAM leaders would urge the Security Council to exercise due caution and diligence before authorizing sanctions or use of force against any country or a group of countries.

The SOM will also discuss selection of the next Secretary General of the United Nations and will endorse the position that the next Secretary General should be an Asian, taking into account the principle of continental rotation. We will reiterate our position that the next Secretary General should not only be an Asian, but should also be from a developing country with demonstrated commitment to the cause of development. We also feel that the next Secretary General should be from a country that is likely to have a direct stake in the reform of the Security Council.

At the Senior Officials Meeting, we would join the NAM consensus on terrorism and emphasize that terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, nationality, civilization or ethnic group. We would also maintain these attributions should not be used to justify terrorism or counter-terrorism measures that include, profiling of terrorists and intrusion on individual privacy. We will reiterate our stern condemnation of terrorism in all forms and manifestations.

At the SOM, as well at the Ministerial Meeting and the Summit, Bangladesh delegation will put forward proposals to bring economic issues to the forefront of NAM deliberations. Although NAM is essentially a political body, we strongly feel that politics and economics are inseparable and hence deserve holistic treatment. On economic issues:

· We will propose to form and activate a NAM expert group on economic issues to improve our collective capacity for assessment of economic issues. The expert group should work as an interface between NAM and G-77 and China to ensure that all developing countries speak in voice and that there is collective effort to improve both the quantity and quality of development assistance.

· We will also request the NAM member countries to attach adequate importance to the issue of migration and development.

· Bangladesh delegation will reiterate the position that it is the responsibility of host Governments to safeguard and protect the rights of migrants against all forms of illegal or violent acts, in particular acts of racial discrimination and crimes perpetrated with racist or xenophobia.

· As you know, migration is an extremely important issue for Bangladesh and we would urge the developed countries, and seek the cooperation of fellow NAM countries, to liberalize the movement of labour, under Mode IV of the GATS agreement.

After the NAM Summit in Havana, the Hon'ble Foreign Minister would proceed to New York to attend the 61st UNGA session. Apart from participating in the general debate, the Hon'ble Foreign Minister would participate in various high level meetings including the Mid-term review of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries. He would also attend the Ministerial meetings of OIC, G-77 and China, SAARC and ACD.