Russia calls for global action

UNITED NATIONS, NOV. 17. Russia has sought a united global action to fight terrorism and urged the United Nations to adopt an international law that would hold each nation responsible for the failure to fight terrorists on its own soil.

``We can go on talking for decades about what the notion of terrorism should imply while terrorists commit their crime,'' the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr. Igor S. Ivanov, told the U.N. General Assembly on Friday.

Cautioning against getting bogged down on its definition or other ``scholastic disputes'', he called for an early adoption of a comprehensive convention on international terrorism, sponsored by India, and the international convention for suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism, proposed by Moscow.

Mr. Ivanov proposed that U.N. should study possibility of inclusion in international law of a principle of responsibility of the countries for their failure to take effective steps to combat terrorists in their territories. Time has come for the creation of a global system to counteract new threats and challenges, first and foremost among which is international terrorism, he said. He suggested setting up under the aegis of U.N. a centre for coordination of assistance to States in resolving crises caused by terrorist acts.

Besides fighting terrorism militarily, the Russian Foreign Minister also stressed the need to ensure sustainable development as poverty, illiteracy and unemployment provide the breeding ground for terrorism. ``Therefore, the task of ensuring sustainable development of all regions of the world and focusing on social aspects of the globalisation process are as urgent today as they never have been before,'' he said.

- PTI

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Section  : International
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