• Tuesday, September 20, 2011
• Inter Press Service

Diplomats and international experts have called for multilateral cooperation among member states in order to effectively combat international terrorism.

At a round table discussion at the Secretary General’s Symposium on International Counter-Terrorism Cooperation, a panel of diplomats and heads of counter-terrorism agencies expressed their views on the United Nations’ and the world’s struggle to combat international terrorism.

Dr. R. M. Marty Natalegawa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Indonesia, started off the discussion by outlining the necessity of finding an agreed upon definition of the term 'terrorism.'

He also warned that people should not be misled by the apparent 'paradox of plenty' emphasizing that a great deal of work remains to be done. '…don’t be fooled into thinking that we are better off now than we were because of national, regional, and global mechanisms to combat terrorism,' he said.

Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, Saudi Arabia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations added that the key to countering terrorism was global cooperation prevention and understanding how and why terrorists resort to their tactics. He stated, 'We must discover causes of terrorism, the environment in which ideologies are developed. We need to create economic opportunity for them, for their families, and their communities in order to avoid breeding of new generation of terrorists.'

Earlier in the day, in the General Assembly, the discussion also focused on counter-terrorism. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon re- emphasized the need for international cooperation.

'What I see here today is the start of a new era in counter- terrorism cooperation. States recognize that they cannot do it alone,' he said. 'Let us, together, explore how to deepen our engagement.'

The General Assembly has also institutionalized the Counter- Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF), giving it 'the capacity to support Member States’ efforts to implement the Strategy.' The CTITF is currently comprised of 31 UN funds, agencies, departments and other international organizations.

© Inter Press Service (2011) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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