UN: Terrorism threats still high despite 10-year war after 9/11

[News_Editor]

UN: Terrorism threats still high despite 10-year war after 9/11

2011-09-29 06:15:15 GMT+7 (ICT)

UNITED NATIONS (BNO NEWS) -- The United Nations (UN) on Wednesday expressed its concern as the United States and countries around the world still face as many terrorist threats as it did in 2001 when the 9/11 attacks took place.

The UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), which has been entrusted with helping countries tackle terrorism and was set up in the days following the attacks by al-Qaeda against New York and Washington, D.C. on September 11, 2001, voiced concern at the close connection between terrorists and transnational organized crime which includes the illegal movement of nuclear, chemical, biological and other potentially deadly materials.

The committee stressed that, despite what it calls 'real and significant' achievements of the last 10 years, much remains to be done at the national, regional and international levels. The committee's statements came after a day-long meeting at the UN Headquarters in New York.

In an outcome document, the CTC said "terrorism continues to pose a serious threat to international peace and security as evidenced notably by the terrorist attacks carried out recently in various regions of the world and by terrorists' adaptation to, and misuse of new technologies, such as the Internet, for their communication, propaganda, financing, planning, recruitment and operational purposes."

In addition, the CTC noted with concern "the close connection between terrorism and transnational organized crime, including trafficking of illicit drugs, money-laundering, illegal arms trafficking, and illegal movement of nuclear, chemical, biological and other potentially deadly materials."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, meanwhile, said during Wednesday's opening session that terrorism is still a threat today as it was 10 years ago. "Tens of thousands of people have lost their lives," Ban stated. "Repeated attacks have had severe economic consequences and taken a toll on State stability and regional harmony."

Furthermore, the CTC called for urgent action to prevent and combat terrorism by preventing those who finance, plan, facilitate or commit terrorist acts from using their respective territories and bringing them to justice, urging all to ensure zero-tolerance towards terrorism.

UN Member States were also urged to prevent the movement of terrorists, including the supply of weapons, through effective border controls, to ensure that funds for charitable purposes are not diverted to terrorist purposes, to implement comprehensive strategies to address conditions that lead to the spread of terrorism including radicalization and recruitment, and to take appropriate steps to prevent and counter incitement to commit terrorist acts.

Both the outcome document and the speakers stressed the need for States to ensure that measures taken to combat terrorism comply with international law, in particular human rights, refugee and humanitarian law, underscoring that effective counter-terrorism and respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law are complementary and mutually reinforcing.

On terrorism and human rights, Executive Director of the Counter-Terrorism Committee's Executive Directorate (CTED), Mike Smith, noted that counter-terrorism programs which ignore the human rights dimension are less effective and can even be counter-productive.

On Sept. 11, 2001, nineteen al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four passenger planes before crashing two of them into the World Trade Center in New York and another into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. The fourth, United Flight 93, crashed into a field in Stonycreek Township near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Nearly 3,000 people were killed.

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