U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan plans to meet with negotiators on a draft comprehensive terrorism convention before the annual General Assembly debate, U.N. legal counsel Hans Corell said yesterday.  Negotiations were close to completion but agreement was still needed on several issues, including a definition of terrorism, Corell said.  "The secretary general will follow this personally now, and the hope is, of course, that there might be a solution," he said.

The draft convention would "prohibit terrorist activities in all their forms and manifestations, and in particular to cover those offenses which are outside the scope of the specialized conventions," Corell said.  Annan's planned discussion with convention negotiators will work to further the efforts of the group drafting the convention text, he said.  "The secretary general has decided to maintain the momentum before the general debate here, so he will see some ambassadors this afternoon who represent countries who had key roles in the discussion in the working group."

The issue of defining terrorism revolves around "how to make clear the distinction between criminal acts under the heading of terrorism and criminal acts that belong to another regime of law," Corell said.  "All member states will have to agree to have as precise a definition as possible so we can settle this matter, put it behind us, and that everybody now -- all member states -- should join the fight against this scourge" (U.N. Newservice, Nov. 5).

Another item scheduled to be debated in the General Assembly next week, the "dialogue among civilizations," has gained special significance after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Giandomenico Picco, Annan's personal representative for the Year of Dialogue among Civilizations, said Friday.  "The dialogue, we believe, is philosophically at the opposite end of the spectrum from terrorism," Picco said.  "Terrorists believe that diversity is equal to enmity, and those who take the position that dialogue should be pursued believe in the opposite" (U.N. Newservice, Nov. 2).  

A special treaty event relating to terrorism will take place at the U.N. headquarters in New York from Saturday through next Friday, according to a U.N. press release.  Annan urged states to reaffirm abhorrence of terrorism by becoming party to the international conventions dealing with terrorism and hoped the planned event would strengthen the international rule of law, the statement said (U.N. release, Nov. 2).

United Nations Criticizes Proposed British Anti-Terrorism Laws

Proposed new British anti-terrorism laws should not exceed exceptional measures permitted under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the U.N. Human Rights Committee said Friday.  The new British laws would allow rapid freezing of terrorists' assets, make it a crime to incite religious hatred, and bring in "robust and streamlined" asylum procedures, according to British Home Secretary David Blunkett.

"The committee thought it useful to express general concern that these new or proposed legislative acts should not be used to go too far," said Eckart Klein, a human rights committee member.  The covenant allows countries to apply emergency measures to combat threats to security, but these should not be used as a pretext to violate human rights,  Klein said.  "It is a general warning that this should not be misused" (Dawn, Nov. 4).

New Terrorism Convention Signatories

In a gesture to the United States, North Korea clarified its decision to sign international anti-terrorism conventions Saturday, according to Agence France Presse.  North Korea was opposed to "all forms of terrorism" and "any aid to it," said a statement from the North Korean Foreign Ministry.  "As part of it we have decided to sign the 'international convention for the suppression of the financing of terrorism,' an important instrument of the international anti-terrorism struggle."

North Korea also decided to join the U.N. convention against the taking of hostages, the ministry said.  "This means that (North Korea) has basically acceded to all the existing major international anti-terrorism conventions.  We will make consistent efforts to fight terrorism in the future," the statement said. 

European Union External Affairs Division Director General Percy Westerlund urged North Korea to "prove in deeds that they are actually prepared to join us in working against terrorism" (AFP, Nov. 4). 

Saudi Arabia plans to sign the U.N. convention on the suppression of finances to terrorism, local media reported today.  The decision to sign the accord came in yesterday's Cabinet meeting led by King Fahd, local newspapers said.  The Cabinet authorized Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal to sign the agreement, local papers reported, without giving a time as to when it would happen (Associated Press/Yahoo! News, Nov. 6).

Asian Efforts Against Terrorism

Southeast Asian leaders are not backing Malaysia's proposal to call for a U.N. terrorism conference because the process would take too long and not deal with such immediate problems as suspected terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden, a Singapore government spokesman said today.   Southeast Asian leaders did condemn the Sept. 11 attacks and pledged to cooperate against terrorism in a declaration yesterday, according to AP.

Malaysia opposes the U.S. bombings in Afghanistan and wanted the U.N. conference to define international terrorism.  Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad said he wanted the conference to include the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.  Singapore did not want to be get involved with a declaration on terrorism which included "contentious issues," such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Singapore spokesman Ong Keng Yong said.  "Some countries wanted to use the declaration to include other elements of terrorism" (AP/Straits Times, Nov. 6).  

Singapore Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said yesterday that the recent Association of Southeast Asian Nations statement condemning terrorism was also supported by Japan, China and South Korea.  The ASEAN statement "unequivocally condemn[s] in the strongest terms the horrifying terrorist attacks ... as an attack against humanity and an assault on all of us," according to Straits Times.  Singapore was satisfied with the ASEAN statement, which also outlined a joint action plan against terrorism, Goh said.

Each of the 10 ASEAN nations had its own position on the U.S. bombings in Afghanistan, Goh said.  "That's an issue that's a little sensitive for some countries.  But on the whole, every country condemned terrorism in whatever from, and every country recognizes that terrorism should not be associated with Islam," he said.  "It is not.  Terrorism is terrorism.  That's nothing to do with Islam" (Lee Kim Chew, Straits Times, Nov. 6).

Eastern European Leaders Meet

Eastern European leaders met today at a summit to boost security cooperation in a show of solidarity with the West's "war on terrorism," according to Reuters.  "What afflicted the American nation could afflict any nation, anyone," said Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.  Eastern European leaders plan to debate tightening control on movements of people, information and money to make it harder for terrorists to use the region to penetrate the West, Kwasniewski said.  "We would like to show our solidarity in this fight against evil" (Wojciech Moskwa, Reuters/Yahoo! News, Nov. 6).

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