By NNN-KUNA
United Nations : Qatar objected on Monday to the Security Council debating the link between “Natural Resources and Conflict” because it does not fall within its competence, suggesting that the issue is linked to development.
“We do not agree on extending the authority of the Security Council so that it would be able to extend its influence over the State resources by linking the natural resources to issues of international peace and security,” Qatari deputy envoy Jama N. Al-Bader told the council as it debated the issue under the presidency of Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gught.
“Endowing the Security Council with any influence on those resources is in contravention with the international law, and makes the sovereignty of states over their natural resources limited and governed by the global strategy,” he added.
He said the issue is a “mere contemporary version of an old story dating back to the second half of the last century when the main incentive for embarking on beyond-the-borders adventures was the race to control and exploit the natural resources of the developing countries.”
He argued that the root causes of most conflict situations in today’s world are not due to natural resources, but rather to various international and domestic political reasons.
Rather, he suggested, “it would have been more useful to us to address the relationship between natural resources and development.”
He called on developed countries to play an “extremely constructive” role by integrating the developing countries in Africa, for instance, which is a major producer of commodities, into the world trade, facilitating access for their exports to the world markets, providing them with preferential treatment and supporting South-South cooperation.
“A country’s natural resources must not necessarily become a curse for it. It is crucial that we avoid repeating the history of the painful colonial era. Rather than approaching natural resources as a source of conflict, we should strongly include that issue in the development agenda of the United Nations,” he said.
Egyptian deputy envoy Khaled El-Bakly told the council “natural resources have to remain the basis for economic development and the realization of the aspirations of future generations, not to be exploited for the benefit of states, individuals and corporations to make greater fortunes.”
Therefore, he added, “the council will have to depart from the narrow framework in dealing with this issue, and extends its hand for cooperation with the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council to undertake collective efforts that would realize our common goals.”
Some forty countries participated in the debate.