UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called terrorism "a leading threat to international peace and security," and said that the world body is "uniquely well placed" to lead the global efforts to combat this menace.
The secretary-general made the statement while addressing an open debate at the UN Security Council on the threat of terrorist acts to the international peace and security. The Council meeting was chaired by Croatian President Stjepan Mesic, whose country holds the Council presidency for the month of December.
"Terrorism is a leading threat to international peace and security," Ban said. "Combating it must be one of the international community's main priorities."
"Those armed with planes and guns today could well arrive with more potent force tomorrow," he said. "And so those who believe that terror is a legitimate means by which they can achieve their goals must be shown that they will fail."
"Terrorism is a global scourge," he said. "The carnage it inflicts is appalling and morally reprehensible. It seeks to foment distrust between states and peoples. It tries to tear societies apart, undermine institutions, and weaken the bonds that tie communities together."
The 15-member Council began the open debate about two weeks after a brazen assault by terrorists with machine guns and grenades on hotels, the main train station, a hospital and other sites in Mumbai, Indian's financial capital. The attacks left 172 dead, including nine gunmen, and more than 300 wounded.
"The awful attacks in Mumbai two weeks ago are only the most recent example of mad, misguided individuals running amok," the UN chief said.
The best response to a corrosive, malevolent ideology is a strong assertion of collective resistance, he said. "We need to defend the human rights that terrorism so brutally violates. We need to defend the values enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the 60th anniversary of which we commemorate tomorrow."
"The United Nations has a responsibility to lead the international community's efforts to confront this menace, which no cause or grievance can justify," he said. "As a universal organization, with independent and impartial standing, the United Nations is uniquely well placed to play this role."
The Security Council and the General Assembly have strongly condemned terrorism time and again, he said. "They have sought to promote the universal norm that terrorism is never acceptable, adopted important legal instruments and law enforcement measures, and addressed the economic and social dimensions of terrorism. The assembly's adoption of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in 2006 was a landmark that demonstrated the unanimous and unequivocal commitment of the international community."
The Council meeting also took place just two days shy of the first anniversary of the bombing of the United Nations offices in Algeria.
"That horrendous attack took the lives of 17 of our colleagues and injured some 40 more," Ban said. "It was all-too-reminiscent of the attack on the UN compound in Baghdad more than five years ago. And just a few weeks ago, a suicide bomber attacked the United Nations compound in Hargeisa, Somalia, killing two staffers."
"It is more apparent than ever that the United Nations, too, has become a deliberate target," he said. "Yet these tragedies have deterred neither our will nor our ability to serve the international community. The United Nations will continue its vital work wherever and whenever needed."
Source:Xinhua
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