Just leave us alone and allow us to take our decisions on our own.

Our draft resolution would give every State a voice.

Let me briefly recapitulate the virtues of our draft resolution.

Thirdly, our draft resolution provides for flexible allocation of Council seats.

The Permanent Representative of Canada outlined the major merits of our draft resolution.

In that regard, a review clause should be included in our decision this year.

And, if that leads to different actions... well, that would have been based on whatever decision we both thought best.

We ask in return, however, that other States respect our decision not to do so.

We have circulated an advance text of our draft resolution to capitals, and tomorrow, 13 October, at 2 p.m., the delegation of the Russian Federation will hold an unofficial meeting for all interested delegations to consider our draft resolution.

Our draft is being presented to the General Assembly in time for decisions to be taken before September.

Our draft resolution is a fair and equitable text that meets the aspirations and concerns of the majority of Member States.

None of the seats created by our draft resolution would be set aside for a chosen few.

We believe that the draft resolution before the Committee on preventing the risk of radiological terrorism complements our draft resolution.

I should now like to comment on some of the counter arguments against our draft resolution in the past weeks and months.

Our draft resolution empowers the African Group to identify two of its members who will represent the region for as long a period as the Group decides.

It goes without saying that, as Africans, we cannot logically support any draft resolution other than our own.

Our decision to focus on ecosystem approaches and oceans at next year's meeting will, we believe, continue in that helpful mode.

It is of course our wish that our draft resolution have the broadest possible support and that it serve as a catalyst for the reform process as a whole.

And we are convinced that our carefully formulated draft resolution takes into account the interests of all Member States and all regional groups.

No other draft or reform proposal comes close to the kind of large, broad based and diverse support that our draft resolution enjoys.

Our decision to set up a Human Rights Council is excellent, but all the modalities need to be resolved as a matter of urgency.

In the days ahead, we expect to gather other ideas from delegations, further enhancing our draft resolution, in order to arrive at a consensus text.

Over the years, our resolution has indeed acquired the character of a hardy perennial , in the wise words of Dag Hammarskjöld, thus establishing important norms.

The partners of the New Agenda Coalition have endeavoured to consult widely on our draft resolution, both in Geneva and in New York.

Over the years, our resolution has been gaining increased support, which is a reflection of the growing international interest in finding collective ways to keep space peaceful.

Numerous sponsors and supporters of our draft resolution have already explained why this draft best serves the interests of all Members, of all regions and of the United Nations as a whole.

In that connection, I would like to draw attention to our new draft resolution which is being submitted for the first time for adoption by the First Committee this year, concerning preventing the risk of radiological terrorism.

Our third draft resolution, submitted under agenda item 97 (h), and contained in document A C.1 60 L.14, is entitled Promotion of multilateralism in the area of disarmament and non proliferation .

Our draft resolution this year is again short, and it focuses on what we believe to be the essential elements required for maintaining further progress and momentum in the nuclear disarmament and nuclear non proliferation areas.

Mr. Mabhongo (South Africa) We thank you, Mr. President, for convening this meeting to afford the African Union the opportunity to introduce to the General Assembly our draft resolution on Security Council reform (A 59 L.67).

To that end, Japan hopes that all countries, including the nuclear weapon States, regardless of any differences in position, will unite and support our draft resolution, with a view to achieving the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

However, we wish to express our reservation about the second preambular paragraph of the draft resolution which is the reason why we decided not to sponsor it although the draft resolution is fully in line with our commitment and our domestic policy.

Mr. Spatafora (Italy) The statement made by Ambassador Rock, the Permanent Representative of Canada, on behalf of the group of States known as Uniting for Consensus provides a forceful and meaningful illustration of the principles and values on which our draft resolution is based.

And when that doesn't work, when it turns out that people who disagree with us have all the same facts we do and are actually pretty smart, then we move on to a third assumption they know the truth, and they are deliberately distorting it for their own malevolent purposes.

We would like to draw attention to the fact that, in the interest of achieving a consensus, we have tried as hard as possible to simplify our draft resolution, limiting ourselves to an invitation to Member States to inform the Secretary General of their views on the advisability of further developing such measures.

There is an important lesson in this for the EU at a time when it is seeking to become a global actor we must reach an internal consensus while always bearing in mind what the external ramifications of our decision might be.