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Roundup: Iran hopes for new world order as UN debate rolls on

wanglei: 0 Comment(s)Print E-mail Xinhua, September 27, 2012

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by William M. Reilly

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 26 (Xinhua) -- Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in a softer than usual address expressed the hope on Wednesday for a new world order and fresh thinking as the week-long general debate at the UN General Assembly rolled on into its second day.

"There is no doubt that the world is in need of a new order and a fresh way of thinking," he said.

He listed the world's historical woes followed by present day crises, noting that capitalist nations led themselves into a "quagmire" of fiscal problems.

Ahmadinejad, a former teacher and engineer, lectured the assembly for 34 minutes with no demonstration in opposition to his remarks, mainly because the U.S. delegation boycotted his eighth appearance before the body, leaving its desk empty as he began his oration. Last year, delegations from the EU, Israel and the United States walked out.

Unlike previous occasions he did not make threatening remarks against Israel. This time the whole tone of his speech was much softer, perhaps because he is in his last term as president of the Islamic Republic.

"Over the past couple of days, we've seen Mr. Ahmadinejad once again use his trip to the UN not to address the legitimate aspirations of the Iranian people but to instead spout paranoid theories and repulsive slurs against Israel," explained Erin Pelton, spokeswoman for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations.

Israel did not attend the session because of the Jewish Day of Atonement.

Also at the general debate of the General Assembly on Wednesday, Egypt's first elected civilian President Mohamed Morsy said that since last year Egyptians had taken a number of steps toward establishing a modern state.

"The new Egypt is determined to regain its standing among nations and assume an effective role in global issues, stemming from the will of its people, as well as the legitimacy on which its regime is founded," he said.

"This will is rooted in Egypt's ancient and modern history, its Arabic and Islamic spheres, as well as its African identity."

President Felipe Calderon of Mexico expressed his concern over transnational organized crime. He said it was upending countless lives in Latin America and posing a grave global threat.

Illegal traffickers and other criminals used their power, including violence, to corrupt local governments and extort money from farmers and businessmen, he said.

"Organized crime is one of the main causes of death and violence today," Calderon said. "It is also one of the main obstacles to democracy in the 21st century."

He pointed out his nation had suffered severely from criminal activity that had turned the Latin American and Caribbean region into the most violent region in the world, with his nation caught in the middle between drug producing states and a drug consuming one, the United States.

This year's general debate opened Tuesday, with a theme "Adjustment or Settlement of International Disputes or Situations by Peaceful Means." Enditem