I now give the floor to the representative of Japan, Ambassador Mine.

I now give the floor to the representative of the Russian Federation, Ambassador Skotnikov.

This was done under the able stewardship of Ambassador Anton Thalmann of Switzerland.

On behalf of the Conference and on my own behalf, I should like to wish Ambassador Heinsberg and his family much success and happiness in the future.

We wish Ambassador Heinsberg every success in his new endeavours on behalf of his great country, Germany.

I also wish to take this opportunity to tell Ambassador Valdés how much we appreciate his work on the ground.

We also congratulate Ambassador Wang Guangya for the successful Chinese presidency in April.

We are also grateful to Ambassador Adechi and the entire delegation of Benin for their work presiding over the Council in February.

Ms. JANJUA (Pakistan) On behalf of the Pakistan delegation, we would also like to wish the best to Ambassador Heinsberg in his future endeavours.

After the initial visit, the Ambassador or other Swedish diplomats were permitted to visit the complainant on a number of occasions.

We are convinced that, under the outstanding leadership of Ambassador César Mayoral, the Argentine team will discharge its responsibilities to the fullest.

I also wish to use my access to the microphone to wish Ambassador Volker Heinsberg all the best in his new and important mission.

In August 2003, he expressed to the Ambassador, as he had done before, his satisfaction with the medical care received.

The President I now give the floor to Ambassador Mihnea Ioan Motoc, Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1540 (2004).

Like other colleagues we would also extend our best wishes to Ambassador Volker Heinsberg for his future career and for his future life.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to Ambassador Denisov and the Russian delegation for their able stewardship of the Council last month.

The President (spoke in Spanish) We are grateful to Ambassador Oshima for urging the international community not to abandon the fight against terrorism and to support the Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC).

Let me express our gratitude to Ambassador Ashraf Qazi in his important role as Special Representative of the Secretary General for Iraq.

I would also like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to the Executive Director of the Committee's Executive Directorate (CTED), Ambassador Javier Rupérez, for his commendable efforts.

Ms. MTSHALI (South Africa) South Africa would like to add its voice to the good wishes that have been given to Ambassador Heinsberg for his future career.

Mr. Oshima (Japan) Let me first thank Ambassador De Soto for his first briefing since his appointment as Special Coordinator.

I would like to voice a very special word of appreciation with regard to the excellent performance of Ambassador Adechi and his team during Benin's presidency in the month of February.

May I also express my appreciation for the presence among us of Ambassador Rupérez, Executive Director of the CTC's Executive Directorate (CTED), as well as for his contribution to the work of the United Nations.

I now give the floor to Ambassador César Mayoral, Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1267 (1999) concerning Al Qaida and the Taliban and associated individuals and entities.

Allegations made by him to the contrary have not been substantiated, and on numerous occasions, he confirmed to the Swedish Ambassador that he had not been tortured or ill treated.

The 2004 Meeting of States Parties approved the nomination by the Western Group of Ambassador John Freeman of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland as Chairman of the Meeting of Experts and Meeting of States Parties in 2005.

I would also like to express my sincere thanks to Ambassador Alisher Vohidov of Uzbekistan for his constructive efforts as Acting Chairman of the Commission in conducting consultations with the regional groups over the past several months.

Mr. PARK (Republic of Korea) First of all I would like to join in wishing all the best and every success to Ambassador Heinsberg in his further undertakings, and in welcoming Mr. Abe.

Let me just extend my sincere thanks to Ambassador Christopher Hackett of Barbados and Ambassador Laxanachantorn Laohaphan of Thailand for their skilled and committed co chairing of the informal consultations which produced this draft resolution.

Finally, let me express my appreciation to Ambassador Denisov for his unfailing strong leadership and to the experts and secretariat members of the CTC, as well as to Ambassador Rupérez and the Directorate staff, for their commendable efforts.

I am sure that I speak for all members of the Council in expressing deep appreciation to Ambassador Vassilakis for the great diplomatic skill with which he conducted the Council's business last month.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to Ambassador Mr. Juan Antonio Yáñez Barnuevo, Chairman of the Sixth Committee, for his hard work and for the commendable leadership he provided to the Committee throughout this session.

I also take this opportunity to welcome the other ministers who are present here at this debate and to express my utmost appreciation to Ambassador César Mayoral of Argentina for the skill with which he discharged his duties as President of the Council for January.

At its closing meeting on 9 December 2005, the Meeting of States Parties noted the nomination by the Group of Non Aligned and Other States of Ambassador Masood Khan of Pakistan to be President of the Sixth Review Conference and Chairman of the Preparatory Committee.

I should like also to express my gratitude to Ambassador César Mayoral, Ambassador Ellen Løj and Ambassador Mihnea Motoc for their substantive briefings and in general for their tireless efforts at the head of their respective committees.

Mr. DE BENEDICTIS (Italy) Mr. President, at the outset I would like to welcome Under Secretary General Mr. Abe with us, and also to address a word of appreciation to Ambassador Heinsberg for his continuous and effective action at the CD.

Mr. da ROCHA PARANHOS (Brazil) My delegation would also like to welcome Under Secretary General Abe and, like others, we would like very much to wish all the best to the German Ambassador, Volker Heinsberg, a good friend who is leaving us.

I cannot conclude this statement without conveying to Ambassador Heinsberg the best wishes of my delegation and my own for professional success in his new duties, which we are sure he will undertake with his usual talent and dedication.

Mr. WAN AZNAINIZAM YUSRI (Malaysia) At the outset, I would like, on behalf of the delegation of Malaysia to the CD, to join previous speakers in welcoming Under Secretary General Abe and in wishing Ambassador Heinsberg all the best in his future endeavours.

8.1 By letter of 3 May 2004, counsel argued that he had initially only been supplied with a verbatim version of the diplomatic report supplied after the first ambassadorial meeting in 23 January 2002 with the complainant.

I wish to take this opportunity to express Japan's high appreciation to Ambassador Christian Wenaweser of Liechtenstein for the great efforts and initiatives he has taken as Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee and the Working Group to bring the negotiations on the Protocol to fruition.

Counsel argues that the conduct described is, contrary to the Ambassador's characterization, torture as understood by the Committee, bearing in mind that the complainant may have been reluctant to disclose the totality of circumstances to the Ambassador and that more serious elements emerged through the testimony of his mother.

Likewise, according to the Pakistani ambassador in Washington, military strikes by the United States aimed at al Qaeda and Taliban havens inside Pakistan s tribal areas would destabilize Pakistan and possibly could bring General Pervez Musharraf down.

First of all, I wish on behalf of the European Union to express my appreciation to Ambassador Denisov, Chairman of the Counter Terrorism Committee (CTC), for his comprehensive briefing on the activities carried out by the Committee during the past three months and on the programme of work for the next 90 days, which the EU fully supports.

Mr. MARCH (Spain) (translated from Spanish) I would like first of all, at this first meeting of the Conference on Disarmament in 2005, to extend my best wishes to Ambassador Sanders and assure him of the full cooperation of the Government of Spain to ensure that the work entrusted to us proceeds satisfactorily and achieves its important objectives.