17 December 2004
World Must Maintain Collective Fight against Terror, U.S. Says
Ambassador Holliday calls for complete compliance with U.N. resolutions
The U.S. Alternate Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Stuart W. Holliday, says the recent terrorist attacks against U.S. government facilities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, are a reminder that the collective fight against al-Qaida and Taliban terrorists must be unrelenting.
In a statement issued in the Security Council December 17, Holliday said, "in response to threats against international peace and security, there can be no satisfactory outcome by member states other than complete compliance in implementing the measures authorized by the Council."
Following is the text of Holliday's statement:
(begin text)
USUN PRESS RELEASE # 288
December 17, 2004
Statement by Ambassador Stuart W. Holliday, United States Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs to the United Nations, on the Work of the 1267 Al-Qaeda/Taliban Committee, in the Security Council, December 17, 2004
Thank you, Mr. President; and thank you, Chairman Munoz, for your insightful briefing, as well as your critical contribution to the work of the 1267 Al-Qaeda/Taliban Committee these past two years.
The recent terrorist attacks against U.S. government facilities in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia are a sharp reminder that our collective effort against the threat to international peace and security posed by Al-Qaeda and the Taliban must be unrelenting. I have no doubt that there is not a single one of us around this table, and probably in this room, who has not received information from their respective security services about an Al-Qaeda threat against their interests, perhaps even on their own soil. The global terrorist threat remains an ongoing challenge for all states. We are all in this fight together. This is a battle that none of us can afford to lose.
Mr. President,
Identifying, tracing, and freezing Al-Qaeda assets is not going to get easier. Existing measures contained in resolution 1526 (2004) must be strengthened, tightened, and further refined. Resolution 1526, in paragraph 1, targets those "associated with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban." Member state efforts need to be redoubled to identify those associations and, quite simply, to bring more nominations for listing before the committee.
My government has another concern that has been raised before in this forum. When this solemn body invokes Chapter VII of the Charter in response to threats against international peace and security, there can be no satisfactory outcome by member states other than complete compliance in implementing the measures authorized by the Council. The monitoring team's analytic efforts continue to show that not all states are fulfilling their obligations under Resolution 1521 (2004). Nor are they adhering to mandated reporting requirements. In addition, the team has noted that the quality of reports is wide-ranging, and in the most extreme cases, unhelpful.
In cases where states are capable but appear to be unwilling to press the fight and cause discomfort to Al-Qaeda, further committee investigation, and quite possibly, Council action, is warranted. I am referring to cases where states are both non-compliant or, insufficiently compliant under Resolution 1455 (2003), and are also listed by the OECD's financial action task force as being non-cooperative. While these are not the only candidates for further careful committee review, they represent an obvious focus for additional attention. To get that far in deliberation; however, we are going to need even more work from the monitoring team and very clear outcomes from their analysis. Additional, intensified committee efforts need to move in this direction. The U.S. delegation is committed to achieving concrete results.
Mr. President,
We are about to bid farewell to an extremely competent, committed, and dynamic 1267 Committee Chairman. We highly commend Ambassador Munoz for his dynamic leadership and tireless efforts to support the work of this committee. Equally deserving of our praise and commendation in advancing the work of the committee has been the entire Chilean delegation, in particular Carla Serrazi. Her professionalism, persistence and dedication were key factors in moving a number of committee projects to completion.
Mr. President,
The synergy of coordinated efforts among Chairman Munoz and his delegation; the professional and comprehensive work of the monitoring team, particularly as reflected in their recently circulated report; and, the tireless contribution of the Secretariat now provide us with a support mechanism to ensure oversight and close monitoring of the Council's decisions. We look forward to working collectively, imaginatively and effectively, with the new committee chairman, whom the Council will designate in January -- as we proceed toward summer and a new resolution to strengthen and refine the current measures, and perhaps add new ones, directed against as virulent a threat to peace and security as we have known in our lifetimes.
Thank you Mr. President, and, again, thank you Ambassador Munoz for your invaluable contribution to the work of this committee.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=December&x=20041217182310cpataruk0.1484949&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
