UN anti-terrorism panel agrees on three-point action plan

The United Nations Counter-terrorism Committee (CTC) has agreed on a three-point action plan to bolster member countries’ abilities to fight the menace, its chairman told the Security Council today.

In an open briefing, which also saw the participation of representatives of nearly 30 countries, Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom told the Council that the CTC had discussed the challenge set by foreign ministers in a Declaration adopted after the Council's 20 January discussion on terrorism and had agreed on a set of actions.

He noted that those actions concentrate on three areas: working with Member States to raise their capacity to defeat terrorism in their country; promoting assistance programmes to accelerate the capacity-building process; and creating a global network of international and regional organizations.

The foreign ministers’ declaration called for all countries to take urgent action to prevent and suppress all active and passive support to terrorism, and to comply fully with Council resolutions dealing with the scourge.

Ambassador Greenstock said the special meeting of the Committee on 7 March will help take forward that global effort, as the CTC will continue to encourage States to become party as soon as possible to the international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism. The Committee also will remain aware of the links between its work and Member States' obligations under international law, including international human rights and humanitarian law.

The Chairman said the CTC would write to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to invite them to brief the Committee on activities related to counter-terrorism.

The Committee will also maintain and update a list of contact points in regional and subregional organizations to facilitate information-sharing and cooperation, as well as explore with regional organizations ways in which it could assist them to develop initiatives to further practical cooperation among the members.

In related news, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan today issued a report to the Security Council summarizing the proposals made at that 20 January ministerial-level meeting.

Video

of CTC Chairman's opening statement