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Draft resolution on anti-terrorism approved by UN Assembly's legal committee

Draft resolution on anti-terrorism approved by UN Assembly's legal committee

Deeply disturbed at the persistence of terrorist acts worldwide and condemning the heinous attacks of 11 September in the host country, the General Assembly’s Legal Committee today approved a draft resolution strongly condemning all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed.

Deeply disturbed at the persistence of terrorist acts worldwide and condemning the heinous attacks of 11 September in the host country, the General Assembly's Legal Committee today approved a draft resolution strongly condemning all acts, methods and practices of terrorism as criminal and unjustifiable, wherever and by whomsoever committed.

Approved without a vote, the text, which will go the Assembly for adoption, calls such acts "unjustifiable, whatever the considerations of a political, philosophical, ideological, racial, ethnic, religious or other nature that may be invoked to justify them." It recommends that the Assembly urge all States to become parties to the relevant conventions and protocols, including the conventions for the suppression of terrorist bombings and the financing of terrorism.

The adopted text also has a provision for the Assembly's Ad Hoc Committee on terrorism to meet at the end of January to continue its work on a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism, allocating sufficient time to consider issues relating to a draft convention for the suppression of nuclear terrorism. If necessary, work on those draft instruments would continue in a working group of the Legal Committee during the Assembly regular session next year.

Earlier this week, the Legal Committee discussed the latest report of its Working Group on Measures to Eliminate Terrorism. The Group’s Chairman, Rohan Perera of Sri Lanka, said they were close to reaching agreement on the draft of a comprehensive convention, which would fill in the gaps left by sectoral anti-terrorism treaties. However, the remaining issues were politically sensitive and would require political will and compromise to overcome them, he said.