thr 021
Press-Terrorism /GNR/
Iran unwilling to join int'l campaign against terrorism unless
spearheaded by UN: daily
Tehran, Sept 30, IRNA -- `Tehran Times' on Sunday said that Iran will
not join an international coalition against terrorism unless it is
spearheaded by the United Nations instead of by the United States.
The English-language daily further said that a consensus among
nations on the real definition of the term terrorism is a
prerequisite to any international campaign to crush terrorism.
It called on the UN to sponsor a roundtable where the views of
member states can be elicited on a definition of `terrorism' and a
concensus arrived at to wipe out the evil.
"This definition is important because certain countries have
confused legitimate resistance of some nations like Palestinians or
the Lebanese against foreign occupation with terrorism," argued the
daily in its opinion column.
It said the September 11 suicidal attacks on US targets
highlighted the necessity of a genuine struggle against terrorism by
the international community. The problem is, "Washington is unwilling
to allow this struggle to take its right track," added the paper.
In other words, "any international campaign against terrorism
should be led by the UN in order not to be affected by the biased
attitude of certain countries," it pointed out.
Moreover, "the UN, which represents all world countries, has
certain legal mechanisms at its disposal that are instrumental in
accomplishing this crucial task," it added.
Quoting former president and Expediency Council Chairman
Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, it said "Iran is ready to take part in a
UN-led anti-terrorism campaign provided that the US does not impose
its own will" and even though it has difference with Washington.
Considering that Iran has been a vicitim of heinous acts of
terrorism for the past two decades, Tehran is ready to cooperate in
any genuine anti-terror campaing that targets terrorists and their
state supporters regardless of political considerations," the daily
stressed.
Another issue that must be settled before any campaign against
terrorism can obtain international support is the "issue of
state-sponsored terrrorism," argued the article.
"A case in point is the Zionist regime, which has so far refused
to comply with the internatinal law because of the all-out support
of the US," pointed out the article.
It accused the Zionist regime of not only occupying Palestinian
and Arab territories but of also carrying out numerous acts of
terrorism agianst the Palestinian and Lebanese people over the past
decades.
"The assassination of the Islamic Jihad Secreatary General,
Fathi Shaqaqi, in Malta, the abortive attempt on the life of Hamas
leader, Khaled Mash'al in Jordan, the Kidnapping and imprisonment
without trial of Lebanese activists Sheikh Mohammad Obeid and Mustafa
Deirani and the assasination of several leaders of Palestinian Fatah
movement during the past few months" are but few instances of the
acts of terrorism sponsored by the Zionist entity, decried the daily.
It further criticized countries which are currently harboring
and giviing financial support to members of the terrorist Mujahideen
Khalq Organization (MKO), which has claimed responsibility for the
assassination of several senior Iranian officials and other acts of
terrorism in Iran ever since the victory of the Islamic Revolution.
The daily argued that any kind of support extended to this
terrorist group by any country in the world must be treated as
state-sponsored terrorism.
It concluded by saying that any international campaign against
terrorism must deal with all aspects of terrorism, foremost of which
is the need to obtain a consensus among world countries on a
definition of the terms `terrorism' and `state-sponsored terrorism' as
a framework within which to start a campaign to uproot the evil.
FH/LS
End
::irna 13:10