UN meeting touches on regional conflicts, economic woes

UNITED NATIONS - World leaders centered on protest violence in the Mideast, nuclear non-proliferation, regional conflicts, and global economic problems at the 67th general debate of the UN General Assembly (GA) opened on Tuesday.

While addressing the UN GA meeting, US President Barack Obama admitted that the US movie, which mocked the Islamic Prophet Mohammed and sparked violent protests that led to the death of US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens, was "crude and disgusting".

"I have made it clear that the United States government had nothing to do with this video...and I believe its message must be rejected by all who respect our common humanity," he said.

"It is time to leave the call of violence and the politics of division behind," Obama said, adding that the perpetrators would be brought to justice.

In his speech, Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation "demand strong political will". He urged the world community to strengthen the regime of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and other major international instruments, including the Chemical Weapons Convention.

"With regard to conventional arms, Bulgaria consistently supports the negotiation process leading to the adoption of a legally binding and robust in substance Arms Trade Treaty," he said.

Plevneliev said his country and others "believe that Iran's full cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency is of paramount importance. The government in Tehran must show greater transparency of its nuclear activities and to fully comply with all relevant (UN) Security Council resolutions".

He also called for an early resumption of the high-level talks on the future of Iran's nuclear program and a clear demonstration of political will by the Iranian government.

For his part, President Hifikepunye Pohamba of Namibia hailed regional and sub-regional organizations as "important partners" in terms of solving conflicts around the world.

"There is thus a compelling need for the United Nations to take into account the views of regional organizations in the areas of mediation and peacemaking," he said. "These institutions should be fully supported in finding lasting solutions to violent conflicts around the world.

"In Africa, the African Union Peace and Security Council has, since its inception, cooperated with the UN Security Council, towards these shared goals of conflict resolution," Pohamba said.

He also voiced his concern over "the deteriorating security situation" in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), and urged support for regional initiative to address the conflict and to provide humanitarian aids to the displaced population.

Pohamba also called on all neighboring nations to work with the DR Congo authorities so that its sovereignty and territorial integrity would not be violated.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono questioned whether the UN is "adequate to address the whole spectrum of conflicts faced by the world community".

"This is clearly evident in the Syrian crisis...the world community is painfully witnessing the worsening violence and unfolding humanitarian catastrophe on the ground. At the same time, the UN is in paralysis in responding to the situation, he said.

Yudhoyono reiterated his nation's call for the "immediate cessation of violence in Syria and called on the UN Security Council to be "united and act decisively".

He said the international community must figure out ways to bring regional conflicts to a peaceful end more effectively.

During her presentation, Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff said the developed economies' expansionist monetary policy has caused artificial appreciation of the currencies in the emerging countries, thus shrinking their "market space," and would only deepen the global recession.

Rousseff said she could not accept that "legitimate trade defense initiatives by developing countries be unfairly classified as protectionism," adding that these measures were in accordance with the rules of the World Trade Organization.

She also urged all UN members and such multilateral bodies as the Group of 20 nations, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to better coordinate their efforts, so as to effectively confront the global economic woes.

They should also reconfigure the relationship between fiscal and monetary policy to prevent the deepening of recession and currency war, while at the same time to stimulate global demand, she added.