Morocco renews resolve to cooperate in fight against terrorism
Morocco-Regional, Politics, 10/2/2001

Morocco on Monday renewed before the UN General Assembly resolve to cooperate fully to fight terrorism and promote legal implements to combat the plague and reiterated its utter condemnation of terrorism, in all its forms and whatever its origin and authors.

Addressing the UN General Assembly's weeklong debate on measures to combat international terrorism, Morocco's permanent delegate to the UN, Mohamed Bennouna, said the tragic events that bereaved the United States on September 11 have shaken world consciousness and made it necessary to adopt a new approach to eradicate the menace.

The terror attacks against the United States were meant to sow terror and panic in this country and in the world and were also meant to trigger a conflict between civilizations and religions, Bennouna said underscoring the seriousness of these acts that bear the seeds of unprecedented menace against peace and international security. "These menaces of a new type seek to oppose religious or cultural groups, bad omen for a return to barbarity," he said adding that the terrorists who attacked thousands of persons and bereaved thousands of families in the United States were actually seeking to harm the values shared by humankind, the values of tolerance, respect of the difference and of the diversity of cultures and civilizations.

The Moroccan diplomat went on that Morocco is determined to abide by the decisions and provisions of the Security Council resolution, that was adopted on September 28 and that lays out wide-ranging strategies to combat international terrorism and to fully cooperate with the international mechanism entrusted with supervising the enforcement of the resolution.

Morocco will likewise intensify "cooperation with all the other states to intensify struggle against terrorism" and will speed up its "participation to all the legal implements set up to this end," Bennouna said adding Morocco will fully back the project set forth by India regarding a global convention on the matter and will do its best so that the project be finalized during this UN session.

The Moroccan diplomat warned against the amalgam between specific criminal acts and the behavior of a religious community. Actually, he said, any attempt to hold a whole community responsible of the acts of some of its extremist members opens the way to most serious attempts against the human being, that may go from racism to institutionalized discrimination and even to crimes against humanity.

He insisted further that any indiscriminate action against innocent civilians is a terrorist crime that is condemned by international law and that the resort to force, even when legitimate, must be adapted to the goal set, and which is to defend oneself while chasing the criminals and handing them to justice, or to restore peace and security. That is why, any response must avoid excesses and protect innocent civilians.

We must see to it that the search of security does not put at stake the freedom of the ones and the others, he said calling for struggle against the unbalances that still mark our world and that lead the under-privileged to seek refuge in extremism. If security must take into account cultural specificities, it cannot be universalized unless remedies are found to heal the misery affecting growing groups as well as the most blatant humiliations and injustice throughout the world, that affect whole populations, including children, whether in Palestine or elsewhere. Restoring hope among the oppressed should be among the top priorities of the international community, Bennouna said.

As the United Nations General Assembly opened Monday its weeklong debate on measures to combat international terrorism, countries from across the globe strongly condemned the menace while pledging to take specific and resolute steps to eradicate it from the world.

Numerous participants in Monday's debate advocated adherence to existing UN anti-terrorism treaties as well as the elaboration of new legal instruments to fight the menace.

Previous Stories:
  King Mohammed renews call for Euro-Mediterranean forum meeting   (10/1/2001)
  Morocco elected president OIC parliamentary union   (9/28/2001)
  Morocco backs UN initiatives in Africa   (9/25/2001)

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