UN anti-terrorism panel boosting work with regional organizations – Chairman

The United Nations Counter-Terrorism Committee is intensifying its work with regional organizations and other groups involved in combating the scourge, the panel's Chairman told the Security Council today.

Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, who heads the Committee set up by resolution 1373 (2001) - a landmark text adopted in response to the 11 September attacks against the United States - described his own efforts to expand the CTC's outreach.

"I myself have visited the UN in Vienna [which hosts the world body's anti-crime branch], the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the European Union, and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), to discuss matters covered by 1373," he said at an open meeting of the Council.

The panel's experts have begun "an intensive travel programme," attending, for example, conferences on terrorism and related matters in Abu Dhabi, Prague, Paris and Skopje, according to the Chairman. He said the CTC's message was constant: regional partners must be determined in dealing with terrorism, and must develop permanent mechanisms for combating the threat in accordance with their respective mandates.

"Many regional organizations are well-placed to facilitate the sharing of expertise and best practices within a region, where a common culture and history often makes the transfer of expertise easy," he observed.

The Chairman said that the CTC had succeeded in drawing attention to the power of resolution 1373. "A broad range of international institutions and regional and sub-regional organizations are now aware that there is a global structure for countering terrorism, into which they would be well-advised to fit their activities," he said in his briefing, which was followed by a discussion of the Committee's work involving all Council members and several other States.

The fact that the vast majority of countries were engaged with the CTC in capacity-building, and that all States recognized their responsibility to respond to resolution 1373, "is a massive change from the situation that existed when the Committee was formed," he added.

According to the Chairman, the Committee has so far reviewed 127 of the 160 reports it has received from States. He said the CTC does not intend to declare any Member State 100 per cent complaint with 1373.

"We believe that there may always be further work to do to meet the objectives of the resolution against a constantly evolving background," he noted. "We intend to move ahead more intensively with some than with others, but we will want all States to remain in close contact with the Committee, and to inform the CTC of any new developments which are relevant to the implementation of 1373."