UNGA adopts landmark strategy to counter terrorism

UNITED NATIONS—The U.N. General Assembly has adopted a global strategy to counter terrorism after a year of often fractious negotiations among member states that ultimately led to thefirst-ever accord on a common approach to fighting the scourge.
The counter-terrorism "plan of action", approved by the 192-nation assembly without a formal vote on Friday night, laid out eight pages of broad goals and measures to prevent terrorist acts, address the conditions that may foster terrorism and help nations build up their capabilities while respecting human rights.
It also calls for measures to enhance the role of the vUN system to deal with terrorism, and to make sure that the world body's efforts are better coordinated.
Welcoming the strategy after its adoption, Pakistan's delegate Imtiaz Hussain said, "the most important aspect of (the strategy) is that it is dynamic and it would be implemented by the General Assembly," which would "examine progress made in its implementation and consider updating it."
THe General Assembly President Jan Eliasson said "we should consider this as a great achievement for the General Assembly, which has established itself in the area of fighting terrorism." Acknowledging that the past 12 months of negotiationshave sometimes been "troublesome," Mr. Eliasson said the definition of terrorism remained a source of contention for many nations.
But he said it was a sign of the mutual commitment to defeating terrorism that States were able to overcome their differences and find enough areas of common ground to devise a strategy.
The strategy makes clear that it is vital to consistently, unequivocally and strongly condemn terrorism in all forms and manifestations, committed by whomever and for whatever purposes. Terrorism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, ationality, civilization or ethnic group.
Identifying some conditions - such as prolonged unresolved conflict, human rights violations, socio-economic marginalization and lack of good governance - as conducive to the spread of terrorism, the strategy's plan of action stresses the importance of achieving the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), resolving conflicts and promoting dialogue and tolerance between civilizations.
The resolution calls for the strategy to be reviewed by the General Assembly in two years' time to chart the progress made by Member States.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement that it "sends a clear message that terrorism is unacceptable, no matter who commits it, no matter what the reason."
Mr. Annan said he hoped Member States would now moveswiftly to implement all aspects of the strategy so that they can "honour the victims of terrorism everywhere."
The Secretary-General congratulated Eliasson and his two co-chairs, Singaporean Ambassador Vanu Gopala Menon and Spanish Ambassador Juan Antonio Yáńez-Barnuevo, "for leading the membership to this historic achievement."
In May, Annan unveiled a series of recommendations for the counter-terrorism strategy, which world leaders pledged to work towards at last year's World Summit in New York.
Some delegations, including Syria, Cuba and Venezuela, objected that the text's failed to include a clear legal definition of terrorism and to specifically condemn state terrorism.
For nine years, diplomats have been sweating over a draft convention that would encompass previous textson the fight against terrorism, including bombings, financial and nuclear and biological threats.
Friday's resolution makes clear that "any measures that we undertake to prevent and combat terrorism must comply with our obligations under international law, including the Charter of the United Nations andrelevant international conventions and protocols, in particular human rights law, refugee law and nternational humanitarian law."
But Syria's UN ambassador Bashar al-Jaafari said that although he backed the text in the interest of the general consensus, he deplored the fact that it did not specifically mention state terrorism, citing as an example Israeli attacks against Lebanon and the Palestinians.
He also said the text failed to make a distinction between terrorism and the legitimate right of people under occupation to fight for their freedom and also failed to address the root causes of terrorism.
He called the resolution "unbalanced with many faults and shortcomings."
"A legal definition of terrorism is a precondition to implementing this strategy," al-Jaafari said.
Cuba also warned that combating terrorism should not be a "pretext to interfere in the internal affairs of other states."—Agencies