If the legal norms had been observed in Rwanda, the situation there would never have degenerated.

Fledgling democracies will carry the people with them only if basic freedoms are respected and if the Government is seen to work for the good and the development of all the people.

But while France respected the accords, leaving Chad in 1984, Libya only reduced its forces, maintaining 5,000 men in the country.

Likewise, NGOs honored the decision making role that rightly belongs to member governments.

This year, despite a massive budget crisis, the UK government has heroically honored its aid commitments, showing that other countries could have done so if they had tried.

China has always honoured this commitment, be it during the cold war era, when we were faced with the nuclear threat or nuclear blackmail, or in the post cold war period, when we witnessed dramatic changes in the international security situation.

Are political leaders themselves sufficiently involved in this struggle, and do they have the political will that is so crucial for victory over AIDS? Have high income countries respected their pledges to support developing countries in the fight against this global threat?

The Syrian Arab Republic wishes to emphasize that the infiltration referred to in the Israeli letter was an isolated, individual incident devoid of further dimensions. Indeed, it is Syria that has respected international law and its commitments under the Disengagement Agreement signed in 1974, whereas Israel, which has occupied the Syrian Golan since 1967, has continued to practise State terrorism and committed numerous violations of the Disengagement Agreement.