Security Council unanimously adopts resolution stepping up global campaign against terrorism

Friday, October 8th 2004, 12:24 pm

By: News On 6

UNITED NATIONS (AP) _ The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to step up the global campaign against terrorism, calling on all nations to prosecute or extradite anyone supporting, financing or participating in terrorist acts.

The 15-0 vote culminated weeks of negotiations by Russia, which introduced the resolution after militants staged a series of attacks there, including the suicide hijacking of two planes and the hostage-taking of a school in Beslan. It was adopted a day after several car bombings targeted Israelis at Egyptian resorts in Sinai.

``We think these events stressed even more the urgency to take further practical steps in the fight against terrorism and we consider the U.N. is the best coordinator in this fight,'' Russia's deputy U.N. ambassador Alexander Konuzin said.

The resolution creates a Security Council working group to study measures to be taken against terrorists and terrorist groups not affiliated with al-Qaida or Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers.

The council already imposed stiff sanctions against those groups _ requiring all 191 U.N. member states to impose a travel ban and arms embargo against a list of those linked to al-Qaida or the Taliban and to freeze their financial assets.

But it has not examined what actions to take against other terrorists.

``It is important that we have agreed in principle to consider measures against terrorists other than those linked to al-Qaida,'' said Algeria's U.N. Ambassador Abdallah Baali.

Pakistan and Algeria, the only Muslim nations on the 15-member council, both expressed concern this week that language in the final draft of the resolution would make it a crime to fight in a liberation war and that a new list of terrorist subjects would be compiled.

During final negotiations that continued into Friday morning, the text was changed to make clear that the resolution targeted only criminal acts defined in international conventions dealing with terrorism. The reference to a possible terrorist list as one measure the working group would consider was dropped at the last minute.