Head of UN aviation agency calls on nations to eradicate terrorist threat

Reacting with shock and sadness to the terrorist attacks against the United States, the chief of the United Nations civil aviation agency has urged countries to band together in the fight against terrorism.

"I call upon all nations to join forces in eradicating this new threat to our global society," said Dr. Assad Kotaite, President of the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), in a statement released on Thursday at the agency's Montreal headquarters. "There is no place for such acts in our civilized society and I strongly condemn this misuse of civil aviation as a weapon of destruction."

Dr. Kotaite noted that using commercial airplanes for terrorism ran contrary to the spirit of peace and cooperation among nations embodied in the Convention on International Civil Aviation. "The preamble to the Convention clearly recognizes the power of civil aviation to create and preserve friendship and understanding among nations, upon which the peace of the world depends," he said.

On behalf of ICAO, Dr. Kotaite also extended "profound sympathy and condolences" to the families of the victims and to the Government and people of the United States.