Memoirs of Akbar Hashemi – September 2, 1992

After the morning prayer, I listened to the Persian section of Voice of America. It had no important news. I read the reports received from Iran and wrote yesterday's memoirs.

At nine in the morning we went to the Conference Palace. I had a meeting with Mr. Suharto, the President of Indonesia. We discussed bilateral relations, OPEC, and the Non-Aligned Movement. I asked him to bring pressure on Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to reduce oil production, and to strive for a more serious decision regarding the Serbs and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

We went into the session. I listened to the speeches of the heads of four countries and then I gave my speech. Although they had asked it to be fifteen minutes, it lasted thirty-five minutes.

Because the President of Indonesia had gone for meetings and was not in the session, I removed his name from my speech. After the speech, we went to the adjacent hall for meetings. Mr. Robert Mugabe, the President of Zimbabwe, came for a meeting. We agreed on the implementation of the [Non-Aligned] Movement. He said he intends to carry out land reform in his country. After their revolution, according to the constitution, the lands were to remain in the hands of the whites for ten years, which period has ended, and they are to take them and hand them over to the farmers. Mr. Sam Nujoma, the President of Namibia, came. We discussed joint investment for building a fishing port and the issue of apartheid in South Africa.

We went to the hotel for lunch and rest. We were also supposed to have a meeting with the President of Senegal. Because of the presidency of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, they expected us to go to their residence, and we expected them to come, so the meeting did not take place. I gave a short interview to Pakistan's state television on the occasion of my upcoming trip to that country.

After the evening and night prayers, Mr. Boutros Ghali, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, came. It was a warm meeting. He promised to obtain money from several wealthy countries in the region for the reconstruction of Iran. He said they do not want to pay it as compensation [for the imposed war], but rather as cheap, long-term loans. He said things about the UN's actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Somalia, and Afghanistan, and his proposed changes in the UN. Because the negotiations are recorded and registered in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the [Presidential] institution, if one day there is a need for the text of the negotiations, it is possible to refer to them. This is why I usually write such things briefly in my memoirs.

The Prime Minister of Yemen and his Foreign Minister came. Because in his remarks today at the conference, instead of the Persian Gulf, he had used the expression "Arab Gulf," he was objected to by us, and for this reason, he was somewhat embarrassed. He spoke about the problems of the Somali people due to the aimless internal war, complained about Saudi Arabia and Egypt, and thanked us for our help to Yemen. We called for the development of cooperation. After the occupation of Kuwait, they have run into problems because of their support for Iraq.

Abdul Halim Khaddam and Farouk al-Sharaa from Syria came. They said detailed things about the Lebanese elections and the issues of Iraq and their issues with Turkey over the Euphrates water issue. They expressed satisfaction with the Lebanese elections. The Christian groups have boycotted the elections, but Christian individuals have participated.

They do not agree with the creation of a safe zone in southern Iraq and condemn the group cooperating with America. They propose the revival of the "Tehran-Damascus-Riyadh" axis, which Saudi Arabia apparently halted at America's request; with the Vienna conference being the axis, which has made the Syrians unhappy. They expressed concern about the Euphrates water issue.

Mr. Hamid Algabid, the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, came. He complained about the small budget and gave a report on the organization's actions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Somalia, and Afghanistan, which I confirmed and promised to help with budget allocation at the Islamic Conference summit in Tehran. I asked him and Abdul Halim Khaddam to exert pressure for the formation of the meeting of foreign ministers of Islamic countries in Khartoum, which has been delayed through Saudi Arabia's influence. I emphasized that they should act more quickly for Bosnia and Herzegovina so that the war does not continue until winter, because in winter it is very difficult for the Muslims who will be besieged in the mountains. It was decided to strive to get signatures from the members of the Movement not to accept Serbia in place of the former Yugoslavia.

Mr. Burhanuddin Rabbani, the interim President of Afghanistan, who was supposed to come for a meeting tomorrow night, mistakenly came at the same time as Mr. Hamid Algabid, and then returned, which was bad. Requests for meetings are many; I intend to accept everyone.

Late at night we came to the residence. We had dinner with the embassy members and a group of companions, and I teased them. Effat and the rest of the family members, today with the other ladies of the guests, were guests of Suharto's wife. Effat is very satisfied with her program and praised it a lot.

Late at night, General Ali Shahbazi informed that the SAHA [Army Aviation Organization] flights, which had been cut off yesterday, have been restored.