Outgoing UN Assembly President voices hope that anti-terrorism drive will continue

The outgoing President of the United Nations General Assembly today looked back on an "extraordinary" year and voiced hope that the momentum against terrorism generated during that period would be maintained.

Addressing the final plenary meeting of the fifty-sixth session of the General Assembly, President Han Seung-soo of the Republic of Korea recalled that his term was to have begun on 11 September, a date now etched in the memory of humankind. Following urgent consultations with Secretary-General Kofi Annan, the Assembly opened its session the very next day, adopting a resolution which strongly condemned the terrorist attacks against the United States and called for international cooperation to eradicate the scourge.

Mr. Han said the action galvanized through the Assembly's debates and resolutions should continue this year and into the future, toward the establishment of a more effective legal framework to root out terrorism.

Highlighting some of the Assembly's other achievements throughout the year, he noted particularly its coordination with the Security Council to restore peace and security in war-ravaged Afghanistan and to assist in the country's reconstruction. In the area of development, the Assembly had steadfastly moved to further important work already begun towards reaching the Millennium Goals set by world leaders at its session in 2000.

At the same time, the outgoing President cautioned that more effort was needed to achieve progress in several areas, particularly Security Council reform and reorganization of the Assembly's work.

During its just-concluded session, the Assembly considered 173 agenda items, held 112 plenary meetings, and adopted 359 resolutions and 107 decisions. Five special sessions were convened, as well as three rounds of the Assembly's resumed special emergency session on illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory.