| Date | 16 September 2003 |
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The President
As representatives will recall, at the closing meeting of its fifty-seventh session, the General Assembly adopted resolution 57/338, condemning the attack on United Nations personnel and premises in Baghdad. As President of the General Assembly at its fifty-eighth session, I take this opportunity to express my condolences, and those of the Assembly, to the families of those who lost their lives as a result of this attack on the United Nations, an Organization that stands for, and has dedicated itself to, the service of mankind. The Secretary-General himself identified this tragedy as "a direct challenge to the vision of global solidarity and collective security rooted in the Charter of the United Nations" (A/58/323, para. 2).
Today, as we begin a new session of the General Assembly, it is necessary that we reaffirm our full support for the United Nations and our respect for its dedicated staff, who, whether in the field or at Headquarters, through their untiring efforts and commitment to United Nations principles and ideals give their all, sometimes paying the highest price for the cause of peace. We must recommit ourselves to the safety and security of United Nations personnel.
Before I call on representatives to observe a minute of silent prayer or meditation, in accordance with rule 62 of the rules of procedure, I propose that as we do so, we also pay tribute to the colleagues in the Secretariat of the United Nations who lost their lives or were injured in the bombing of the United Nations offices in Baghdad on 19 August 2003.
In that spirit, I invite representatives to stand and observe one minute of silent prayer or mediation.
