U.N. Terrorism Talks Favor Cooperation Over Retaliation

UNITED NATIONS - The overriding messages from this week's General Assembly debate over terrorism are that retribution should be secondary to building a global anti-terrorism alliance that addresses the causes of violence - and that this alliance should be led by the United Nations, not the United States .

Assembly President Han Seung-Soo of South Korea said the debate, which ended late Friday, showed "that a primary task facing the international community at present is to ensure that an effective legal framework for the prevention and elimination of international terrorism is in place."

Speakers avoided the word used so often in U.S. government and media circles - "war" - and instead emphasized the need to combat terrorism using a full range of diplomatic, legal, and economic initiatives.

"The immediate task is to ensure that the perpetrators meet their just desserts. In the medium-term, the challenge is to understand the root causes of these despicable acts and to eradicate them worldwide,'' said Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo of South Africa..

This, he added, ''includes concerted efforts to resolve conflicts in all parts of the globe, including the search for lasting peace in the Middle East. It includes a joint commitment throughout the world to eradicate poverty and under-development."

For the most part, speakers preferred to stress cooperation rather than criticize the coming military campaign against Osama bin Laden and Afghanistan's Taliban rulers. Even Washington's closest allies advised cooperation.

Speaking for the European Union, Ambassador Jean de Ruyt said, "The fight against terrorism will require the broadest possible global coalition. That coalition should be formed under the aegis of the U.N., which remains the most appropriate forum for revitalizing and strengthening our coordinated efforts to eliminate international terrorism."

With 167 speakers, this was the largest number of nations ever to take part in a General Assembly debate on a single issue.

Speaking towards the end of the debate, Afghanistan's Ambassador Ravan Farhadi, who represents the United Front (renamed the Northern Alliance), placed the blame for the Taliban's rise to power and nurturing of bin Laden squarely on Pakistan.