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territory of Kuwait a few days ago and that we have declared that that state of affairs must be ended with the withdrawal of Iraqi forces from Kuwaiti territory and the full restoration of Kuwait's sovereignty.
As far as we are concerned, these are two States and two Governments with which we continue to maintain relations of friendship that cause us to feel particular concern at the situation that has arisen between them. That is why my delegation cast its vote in favour of 660. Nevertheless, my delegation wishes to explain the reasons why it is unable to support the draft resolution now before the Council.
First of all, it seems to us that, far from contributing to progress in the settlement of the conflict, the text and the imposition of the proposed sanctions at this time would instead tend to complicate the situation even more at a time when Iraq has begun withdrawing its troops, as the representative of that country has reaffirmed here. Similarly, the draft resolution would facilitate the interventionist actions taking place in the region and being openly promoted and proclaimed by the United States Government. The draft would also impede the current actions and efforts of the Arab States to arrive at a solution.
Furthermore, the draft resolution suffers from other defects that my delegation feels obliged to mention. To begin with, we are asked to approve specific sanctions that have already been imposed unilaterally by the principal developed Powers of the world. We are also presented with a situation in which a number of States – particularly the main promoter of the draft, the United States of America – seem to have suddenly discovered the value of those fundamental principles that I mentioned a few minutes ago.
Reference is frequently made in our debates to the changes taking place in the international arena. I wonder whether anyone really believes that what we have here is also the expression of a change, of something new in international life.
