I applaud your courage and determination.

I'd like to give John a hand. He never gets recognition. This is John Sosoka.

I salute Ahmad Mohamed Almossa, and all RBSS. Robert ( Bobjacket) December 16, 2015

I would also like to pay high tribute to Mr. Jean Ping, your predecessor, for his distinguished leadership.

I pay tribute to his commitment to peace and stability in Togo, and especially to his very active role in conflict resolution in West Africa.

In this connection, I salute the courage of the late Mr. John Garang in leading the southern Sudanese people into reaching an accord with the Government of the Sudan.

I would like to pay special tribute to the troops and police personnel of MINUSTAH, who continue to carry out their crucial tasks in difficult circumstances.

I also salute the Secretary General, who has been guiding the Organization through a very difficult period and whose vision for the future we will adopt at the conclusion of this summit.

I work on the mayor's council in San Francisco, on the International Design Council for Mayors, and Chicago is looked at as the pinnacle, and I really would like to salute Mayor Daley and the folks there.

Further, I salute the Secretary General's determination constantly to reassert the role of the Organization in peacebuilding and the maintenance of peace in the post conflict phase.

Also, on the Assembly's behalf, I wish to pay tribute to the extraordinary efforts made by the international community to come to the assistance and succour of the populations and countries hit by the earthquake and tsunami.

Finally, I welcome the vital role of the United Nations in mitigating the effects of the natural disaster.

Mr. Nurmagambetov (Kazakhstan) (spoke in Russian) First of all, I would like to greet my fellow participants in this General Assembly meeting, which is being held in commemoration of the sixtieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War.

Finally, I cannot fail to welcome the presence of Ambassador Rupérez, Executive Director of the Counter Terrorism Executive Directorate (CTED), and to thank him and his team for their efforts and their contribution to the implementation of the CTC's mandate.

I also want to welcome Mr. Jan Eliasson, President of the sixtieth session of the General Assembly. We are convinced that this able Swedish diplomat will lead the deliberations of this historic session to complete success.

Mr. Ganiev (Uzbekistan) (spoke in Russian) It is with great satisfaction that, on behalf of the Republic of Uzbekistan, at this anniversary session of the General Assembly, I greet leaders and other representatives and wish them all success in the work of this session.

At the end of this historic meeting, I must commend the efforts of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Troika States and the IGAD Partners Forum, as well as the very important position taken by the sisterly State of Kenya.

I would like to pay tribute to His Excellency Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria, for his personal involvement, and to the Mediator of the African Union, Mr. Mbeki, for his tireless efforts as they help us to look for a peaceful solution to the crisis that has lasted too long.

I should like to commend him for his long standing and active commitment to the goals of the United Nations, and I applaud his determination to carry the process of reform of the Organization through its sixtieth anniversary and to ensure the follow up and implementation of the principles agreed on in the 2005 World Summit Outcome document.

Mr. Cović (Serbia and Montenegro) (spoke in Serbian English text provided by the delegation) First of all, I would like to greet the Council on behalf of the Council of Ministers of Serbia and Montenegro and of the Republic of Serbia and express my appreciation for being able to participate in today's meeting of the Security Council on Kosovo and Metohija.

Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani (spoke in Arabic) It gives me great pleasure, at the outset, to acknowledge the progress achieved in the implementation of the decisions embodied in the Monterrey Consensus, which was adopted at the International Conference on Financing for Development, held in Monterrey, Mexico, in March 2002. I would also like to pay tribute to all the States, developed and developing alike, which have striven to put those decisions into effect.

President Mbeki First, I would like to salute Mr. Jean Ping, the outgoing President of the General Assembly, for the work he did to guide the General Assembly as the nations of the world considered the immensely important matters that led to the elaboration of the outcome document that was adopted last night.