Only the United Nations could give "global legitimacy" to the struggle to eliminate terrorism, the UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, has said. He told a scaled-down meeting of the General Assembly in New York that the worldwide alliance to carry out that struggle should be built through the UN.
For security reasons, heads of state or government and foreign ministers are not attending this year's General Assembly and member-states are being represented at ambassador level.
Mr Annan said there was no doubt over the need for a comprehensive response to terrorism but he also stressed the urgency of the refugee crisis in Afghanistan.
Perpetrators should be brought to justice in accordance with the principles and standards of national and international law so that all could see the "unmistakable" difference between those who fought terrorism and those who carried it out.
Recalling the terror attacks of September 11th, the Ghanaian-born UN chief said: "On a day none of us is likely ever to forget, our host country and our beloved host city were struck by a blow so deliberate, yet so heartless, malicious and destructive, that we are still struggling to grasp its enormity.
"In truth, this was a blow not against one city or one country, but against every one of us. It was not only an attack on our innocent fellow citizens - well over 60 member-states were affected, including, I am sad to say, my own country - but an attack on our shared values.
"It struck at everything this organisation stands for: peace, freedom, tolerance, human rights, the very idea of a united human family. It struck at all our efforts to create a true international society, based on the rule of law."
He said the UN would not allow its shared values to be overthrown and pointed out that, within 24 hours of the atrocity, the Security Council passed Resolution 1368 which had "rightly identified it as a threat to international peace and security."
It was necessary to respond in a way that cemented the ties among nations rather than subjecting them to new strains, and the UN had a central role: "This organisation is the natural forum in which to build such a universal coalition. It alone can give global legitimacy to the long-term struggle against terrorism." He welcomed the General Assembly resolution, also passed the day after the attacks, which called for "urgent action to enhance international co-operation to prevent and eradicate acts of terrorism".
The special debate on the issue next week would be an occasion for stressing the urgency of ratifying, implementing and extending the international conventions and other legal instruments against terrorism.
The need for a vigorous and sustained response to terrorism was not in doubt: "But we also need to give greater urgency to our humanitarian task of relieving the victims of conflict and starvation - especially, at this time, those displaced from their homes in Afghanistan."
He rejected the "dismal thesis" that there was a clash of civilisations under way and noted that the General Assembly had proclaimed 2001 as the Year of Dialogue among Civilisations.
"The attack of September 11th was an attack on the rule of law - that is, on the very principle that enables nations and individuals to live together in peace, by following agreed rules and settling their disputes through agreed procedures. So let us respond by reaffirming the rule of law, on the international as well as the national level.
"No effort should be spared in bringing the perpetrators to justice, in a clear and transparent process that all can understand and accept.
" Let us uphold our own principles and standards, so that we can make the difference unmistakable, for all the world to see, between those who resort to terrorism and those who fight against it," Mr Annan said.
AFP reports from Washington:
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) warned yesterday that governments should prepare for possible attacks with biological or chemical weapons.
"We must prepare for the possibility that people are deliberately harmed with biological or chemical agents," Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland told a meeting of health ministers from the Western Hemisphere.
Dr Bruntland told the directing council of the Pan-American Health Organisation that said the WHO was ready to help countries if they should face such attacks.