Terrorism debate in General Assembly to involve over 100 countries

The United Nations General Assembly's forthcoming debate on international terrorism will include the participation of over 100 countries, a UN spokesman announced today.

"As of this morning, 136 speakers were inscribed on the list, mainly at the level of Permanent Representative," Jan Fischer, spokesman for the President of the General Assembly, told reporters at a press briefing in New York. He added that "this number is expected to grow" as the 1 October start date approaches.

With the list of speakers still open, Mr. Fischer said it would be difficult to gauge the length of the debate, but noted that if 150 representatives spoke for around 12 minutes each, it would be necessary to convene meetings for five full days.