UN GA PRESIDENT LABELS GEORGIA AS AGGRESSOR, SLAMS U.S.
PanARMENIAN.Net
17.09.2008 18:28 GMT+04:00
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ A new session of the United Nations General Assembly
has opened in New York, with a sharp attack on the United States by
the assembly’s new president.
Former Nicaraguan foreign minister Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann mentioned
the United States by name only a few times, but made it clear who
his target was.
D’Escoto says it is "undeniable" that some members of the Security
Council have "an addiction to war," and he says they are threatening
international peace and security. In a scarcely veiled reference
to President George W. Bush’s administration, d’Escoto also said no
nation has the right "to decide on its own which states are sponsors
of terrorism, and which are not."
"It is a sad but undeniable fact that serious breaches of the peace
and threats to international peace and security are being perpetrated
by some members of the Security Council that seem unable to break
what appears like an addiction to war," he said.
"By now, over 1.2 million people have died as a direct consequence
of that aggression and occupation," d’Escoto said about the U.S.-led
war in Iraq.
"They think they can operate the veto power without thinking about
the consequences," France Presse quoted the UN GA new president as
speaking to a Security Council representative.
Asked by an American reporter whether Russia violated the UN Charter
by intruding into Georgia, he said that it was Georgia that committed
an act of aggression against South Ossetia and violated UN Charter.
As reported by the UN news center, a team comprising representatives
of key United Nations agencies is heading to South Ossetia and other
areas affected by the recent conflict in Georgia, the world body
announced today, adding that a broader fact-finding mission to the
region is also being planned.
The objective of the 17 to 20 September mission "is to gain first-hand
knowledge of the humanitarian and human rights situations and needs on
the ground, including the position of those displaced by the conflict
and other vulnerable groups," according to a statement issued by
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesperson.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) estimates some 192,000
people were forced to flee their homes during the conflict that began
on 8 August and involved Georgia, South Ossetian and Russian forces.
The upcoming mission, coordinated with the Russian and Georgian
authorities, will visit Moscow, South Ossetia and Tbilisi. The results
will feed into the revision of the nearly $59 million humanitarian
flash appeal launched by the UN and its partners on 18 August to aid
victims of the conflict.