Security Council calls on UN Member States to submit counter-terrorism reports

After hearing a report from its Counter-terrorism Committee (CTC) that the fight against the scourge had now gone global with the United Nations at its centre, the Security Council today called on UN Member States to urgently submit outstanding reports on their part in the battle.

In a statement read out at a formal meeting by its President, Ambassador Adolfo Aguilar Zinser of Mexico, the Council noted that three countries - Sao Tome and Principe, Swaziland and Vanuatu - had not even submitted a preliminary report, while 51 others were late in submitting a follow-up report, and it called on them urgently to do so as required by Security Council resolution 1373. The resolution, adopted in the wake of the 11 September 2001 attacks against the United States, calls on Member States to prevent the financing of terrorism, refrain from providing support to those involved in terrorist acts, and deny them safe haven.

Earlier Friday, the Committee’s outgoing Chairman, Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock of the United Kingdom, told an open Council meeting that the UN was at the centre of counter-terrorism efforts because no country could prevent the phenomenon in isolation. States must be proactive in their response to terrorism, seek assistance from the Committee and offer assistance to neighbours and partners, he stressed.

At all costs, terrorists must be prevented from gaining access to materials used in chemical, biological, nuclear and other deadly weapons, Ambassador Greenstock added. To that end, the Committee would meet shortly with representatives of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the World Customs Organization and the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol).

"It took a horrific terrorist act less than five miles from this Council chamber [at the World Trade Centre] to shake the international community into adopting 1373's legally binding and global standards," he declared. But memories could fade, and so could the call of responsibility, he added.

The vigour of a central, catalytic body could make a huge difference to the maintenance of global law and order, and the Committee had become that, Ambassador Greenstock said. Perhaps one day, it might become something more: a full-time, professional and global body of experts, working with the Council, but following up all avenues which resolution 1373 had opened, he added.

At the outset of the meeting, Ambassador Aguilar Zinser expressed the Council’s “deep gratitude” to Ambassador Greenstock for his work chairing the CTC. “His leadership and great diplomatic skills, together with his firm conviction on the need that the United Nations plays a central role in the fight against terrorism were components of his successful chairmanship,” Ambassador Aguilar Zinser said. “Ambassador Greenstock has built a solid basis for the future work of the CTC. He had also the vision to initiate and promote dialogue with other international, regional and subregional organizations.”

Ambassador Inocencio Arias of Spain will succeed Ambassador Greenstock as chair of the Committee.