Bush, World Leaders Unite Against Terrorism
(United Nations opens 56th General Assembly debate)(1300) By Judy Aita Washington File United Nations Correspondent United Nations -- Joining with other world leaders, President George Bush on November 10 called on all nations to increase their efforts in opposing all terrorists. "More is required and more is expected," he said. In his first appearance at the United Nations, Bush addressed the 56th General Assembly's opening debate, which had been delayed for two months after the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. The president thanked governments for their support after the attack but stressed that the war against terrorism was just beginning, would be long, and would require great courage. "Yet the cost of inaction is far greater," Bush said. "The only alternative to victory is a nightmare world, where every city is a potential killing field." "After tragedy, there is a time for sympathy and condolence," Bush said. My country has been very grateful for both. The memorials and vigils around the world will not be forgotten. But the time for sympathy has now passed and the time for action has arrived," he said. "Every nation has a stake in this cause," he said. "As we meet, the terrorists are planning more murder, perhaps in my country, perhaps in yours." The president warned that the international community cannot ignore the fact the terrorists are searching for weapons of mass destruction and "can be expected to use chemical, biological and nuclear weapons the moment they are capable of doing so." The president asked for "a comprehensive commitment" in the fight against terrorism and said that the international community must "unite in opposing all terrorists, not just some of them." Every nation must crack down on terrorist financing, pass laws to allow confiscation to terrorist assets, share intelligence and coordinate law enforcement efforts, deny sanctuary and transit to terrorists, and make every effort to deny weapons to terrorists, Bush said. "For every regime that sponsors terror, there is a price to be paid," the president said. "The allies of terror are equally guilty of murder and equally accountable to justice." The United States "grieves for all the suffering the Taliban have brought upon Afghanistan including the terrible burden of war," Bush said. He promised that the "Taliban's days of harboring terrorists and dealing in heroin and brutalizing women are drawing to a close" and that "America will join the world in helping the people of Afghanistan rebuild their country and work with the UN to support a post-Taliban government that represents all of the Afghan people." Discussing the World Trade Center attack, Bush said that people of many faiths and many nations were killed. "Muslims were killed with equal indifference and equal satisfaction by the terrorist leaders." On November 11, Bush; Secretary General Kofi Annan; and South Korean Foreign Minister Han Seung-soo, the president of the General Assembly, will visit the World Trade Center site where hundreds of workers continue to search for bodies and clear the rubble from what was once a massive office complex. In a ceremony there marking the two-month anniversary of the tragedy, the names of every nation and region that lost citizens in the terrorist attack will be read. Secretary General Annan, who along with the United Nations, is the winner of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize, said that "no words can express our revulsion and sorrow at the senseless loss of life on 11 September. We share in the pain and grief of our host country and host city. Like them, we are determined to overcome the forces that inflicted this ordeal upon us." "Seldom have the danger of division within the human family, and the need to resist that danger been more clearly understood," Annan said. "We face two possible futures: a mutually destructive clash between so-called 'civilizations' based on the exaggeration of religious and cultural differences; or a global community, respecting diversity and rooted in universal values." But the secretary general reminded nations that the UN agenda to work for peace, development and human rights throughout the world is no less pressing. "If anything, it has taken on new urgency," he said. To ignore those issues would give the terrorists "a kind of victory." General Assembly President Han said that "the heinous terrorist attacks of 11 September were an unspeakable tragedy not just for the United States, but for the entire international community" and the opening of the general debate "carries with it both a special meeting and a renewed sense of responsibility." General Pervez Musharraf, president of Pakistan, also addressed the assembly on November 11, saying he came from Pakistan with a message of determination and resolve as well as a message of peace for all peoples." Musharraf said the international community must not blame Islam and Muslims for the trials the world is facing. "Just as all religions teach peace and love for fellow beings, so does Islam place upon its adherents the obligation to do good, to be generous, merciful, kind and just to fellow beings," the Pakistani leader said. "The Muslim greeting Assalam-o-Allaikum meaning 'peace be upon you' symbolizes the very essence of Islamic faith." Urging governments to look for the root causes of the hatred responsible for the extreme acts of terrorism, Musharraf said governments must deprive the terrorist of his motivation. "The extremist survives in an environment where millions suffer injustice and indignity. Deprive him of his support by giving the world peace, security, justice and dignity for all peoples regardless of faith, religion, or creed," the president said. South African President Thabo Mbeki said that "there can be no doubt but that the peoples of the world have to unite in action to defeat terrorism." "There can be no hesitation among any of us in the resolve to work together to ensure that those responsible for the heinous actions of September 11 are brought to justice" not only because the citizens of so many nations lost their lives, but also because "terrorism has demonstrated that it has no respect for borders," the South African leader said. He pointed to the terrorist attacks on the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania where hundreds were killed and thousands injured. Mbeki said that South Africa "fully agrees" with the United States position that military action be taken to ensure that the terrorists are apprehended and punished, that military action will not degenerate into a collective punishment against any people, and the military actions be of shortest duration possible. Indian Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee said that his country supports the current US campaign against the terrorist networks in Afghanistan. "We hope that it reaches an early and successful conclusion," Vajpayee said. "That country's current travails can only end with the establishment of a broad-based, representative and neutral government, which would stop the export of terrorism and extremism." "The international community should work towards this even while the military campaign continues so that we avoid a political vacuum at the end of the campaign," the prime minister said. "We in India know from our own bitter experience that terrorists develop global networks driven by religious extremism. Their operations are supported by drug trafficking, money laundering, and arms smuggling. Some states follow a policy of sponsoring and sheltering them. Then can only be countered through closely coordinated efforts of international community." Argentine President Fernando de la Rua said that the events of September 11 "have shown that terrorism can hit any state and that no country can fight against it on its own. It is an international threat that must be confronted by the only existing institution with global reach, the United Nations, and within the political and legal framework established by the organization. (Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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