The Non-Aligned Movement (Nam) yesterday expressed "strong concern" at the go-it-alone attitude of the US in global affairs, and called for respect for the United Nations system.

The declaration came at the end of a day-long meeting in Durban of some 80 Nam foreign affairs ministers, who also called for selective sanctions against Israel over its controversial wall in occupied Palestinian territory.

The ministers said the UN was meant to create an international system characterised by order based on international law, and that eliminated monopoly by the powerful.

"When UN member states are driven to act outside the collective efforts of international legitimate regimes to address global problems, it creates opportunities for rogue elements to pursue their illegitimate deeds," the declaration said.

"The UN system remains a central multilateral forum for addressing the pressing global issues presently confronting all nations."

Though the declaration did not mention the US by name, Malaysian foreign minister and conference chairperson Seri Syed Hamid Albar told journalists afterwards that it was obvious who was being referred to.

"There is only one, there is the US," he said. "I think it is understood without saying."

He also said the ministers had discussed the importance of Nam continuing to adhere to its principled position despite "pressures on us".

In a separate declaration on Palestine, the ministers said they noted Israel's "negative reaction" to the recent finding of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that the wall was a breach of international law.

The declaration called on member states to take measures "collectively, regionally and individually” to prevent any products of "illegal" Israeli settlements from entering their markets.

They should also decline entry to Israeli settlers and impose sanctions against companies and entities involved in the construction of the wall.

The declaration condemned the travel restrictions that Israel has subjected Palestinian president Yasser Arafat to for the past two and a half years and what it said were repeated threats against his life.

South African foreign affairs minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma told journalists the Palestinian declaration was adopted unanimously.

She said the ICJ ruling meant countries working for a sovereign and independent Palestinian state had "something legal and international to rally around", and to use as an opportunity to further the process of seeking a resolution.

Earlier yesterday, opening the meeting, President Thabo Mbeki told the ministers that the powerful nations of the world could not be expected to come up with proposals for a more equitable world order, because it was not in their interests to do so.

"Nobody is going to answer that question except the Nam," he said.

"Those who are powerful don't want to answer that question. It's not in their interest to answer it."

Mbeki said it was obvious that it would not be possible to meet the United Nations' Millennium Goals on poverty, heath and education without a transfer of resources from "the richer to the poorer".

The point had already been made that the resources existed in human society to meet those goals.

"The question is what action needs to be taken to ensure that those resources are actually released.

"I think it's a question that we should try to answer ourselves and it's a question that only we can answer, because obviously (if it depended) on those who are richer than ourselves to answer the question of how they should transfer resources into our hands I think would be hoping for something that is going to be difficult."

The developing world's answer should not only be that this transfer was desirable, but should outline the practical steps that would allow the Millennium Goals to be translated into reality.

This related to the global exercise of power, because the people who had those resources were the people who exercised the preponderance of power in the world.

It was therefore in the interests of developing countries that there was a restructuring of the multilateral institutions that in principle were supposed to address the interests of humanity as a whole.

"The restructuring of the UN clearly has taken too long, dragged on for a very long time.

"And we can see the consequences of the manner in which it's structured in the manner in which it works, and those consequences are not necessarily positive for us as developing countries."

He said there was no choice but to look at ways of strengthening Nam and making it a "powerful instrument" that could be used to meet its own goals. – Sapa.