UN chief calls for efforts to fight terrorism

UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday called for the "steady efforts" of UN member states to address the roots of terrorism in order to check the spread of terrorism in the world at large.

Ban, when addressing an open debate of the UN Security Council on terrorism, said, "Progress in all these areas will demand steady efforts by States -- individually and collectively."

United Nations (U.N.) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon gestures while speaking to the media during his visit to Al Zaatri refugee camp, in the Jordanian city of Mafraq, near the border with Syria Dec 7, 2012. [Photo/Agencies]

The council meeting was convened by Pakistan, who holds the rotating council presidency for January. Pakistan suffered several terrorist attacks last week, which killed more than 130 people. Just hours before the open council meeting on Tuesday, at least four policemen were reportedly killed when a bomb blast hit a police convoy in Pakistan.

Acknowledging these terrorism attacks, Ban repeated his " heartfelt condolences to the victims and reiterated the United Nations' strong support and solidarity for the government's efforts to combat terrorism and defend the country's institutions and freedoms."

"No counter-terrorism policy can be effective without addressing conditions that are conducive to the spread of terrorism," said Ban.

The secretary-general said that the United Nations has made " solid progress" in the fight against terrorism. The UN General Assembly adopted the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy last June that "reaffirmed our commitment to a comprehensive approach to terrorism grounded in respect for human rights and the rule of law."

Ban highlighted three pillars of this strategy that should be prioritized, including the link between development and security, the importance of dialogue and understanding and finally the efforts to stop the increasing use of information technology to spread hate.

But, Ban added that "attention to the conditions that are conducive to terrorism does not in any way diminish the importance of other counter-terrorism priorities."

"The financing of terrorism remains a key threat, and states require capacity-building in response," said the secretary-general.

Ban also said that in the face of humanitarian crises, such as in Mali and the Sahel region in West and North Africa, terrorism should not prevent distributing assistance in these situations.

"In our efforts to eliminate terrorism, I urge humanitarian, security and political actors to engage in an open and sustained policy dialogue to ensure that efforts to prevent acts of terrorism do not ever impede the timely and principled delivery of assistance -- of a strictly humanitarian nature -- to civilians," he said.

"I count on all members of this Council -- and all members of the international community -- to unite in advancing this important work," said Ban.