UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan voiced disappointment on Thursday over the failure of the General Assembly's committee on legal affairs to reach agreement on a draft comprehensive convention against all forms of terrorism.

On Tuesday, the committee adopted a draft resolution calling for the Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism to reconvene in February to resume its elaboration of a draft comprehensive convention on international terrorism.

In a statement issued by his spokesman, Annan said he intended to consult with the chairman of the legal committee and representatives of member states to see if there are ways for him to assist their efforts to agree on and conclude the convention during the General Assembly's 60th session.

At the September UN summit, world leaders had called for the completion of negotiations on the convention before the assembly's 60th session ends next September. But Annan has repeatedly reminded world governments of the urgent need of a comprehensive anti-terror treaty and urged the conclusion of the negotiations by the year-end.

Finalizing the treaty has been elusive. A major sticking point has been the issue of exempting armed resistance groups involved in struggles against colonial domination and foreign occupation, on which General Assembly President Jan Eliasson said several key countries had taken hard positions.

The assembly still has to adopt the legal panel's draft and Eliasson said he was not giving up on the possibility of reaching an agreement this year. But, he added, "it is looking increasingly unlikely."

He said he would continue to consult with the legal committee's chair but it was more likely that the search for an agreement would be deferred until February, as laid out in the draft.

In his statement Annan urged all member states that had not yet done so to become parties to the existing 13 conventions on different types of terrorism.

He voiced the hope that the assembly would expedite adoption and implementation of a strategy to promote comprehensive, coordinated and consistent responses to terrorism, developed from the elements he identified at an international meeting last March in Madrid.

Source: Xinhua