UNITED NATIONS: Incitement to terrorism is to be banned worldwide under a UN Security Council resolution unanimously adopted on Wednesday and promoted by Britain in the wake of the London bombings. Resolution 1624 calls upon all 191 UN member states to "prohibit by law incitement to commit a terrorist act or acts" and to "deny safe haven" to anyone even suspected of incitement. Its adoption - against the backdrop of this week's World Summit at UN headquarters - was a personal coup for British Prime Minister Tony Blair, two months and two weeks after the worst terrorist attack ever on British soil.
"The terrorists have their strategy, and we should have a strategy as well," said Blair as he took his turn to speak before the Security Council, the UN's 15-nation core decision-making body. "Terrorism won't be defeated until our determination is as complete as theirs, our defence of freedom is as absolute as their fanaticism, our passion for democracy as great as their passion for tyranny." UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said terrorism "constitutes a direct attack on the values the United Nations stands for... We must thus be at the forefront of the fight against terrorism." |