thr 006                                                               


Press-UN-Anti-Terrorism   /GNR/                                       


   Security Council resolution on terrorism insufficient: daily      


Tehran, Sept 30, IRNA -- An English-language daily on Sunday praised  


the UN Security Council's recently approved anti-terrorism resolution 


as "positive," but stressed that it is insufficient since it stops    


short of giving a clear-cut definition of terrorism.                  


    `Iran News' in its editorial boldly proclaims the U.S. sponsored  


resolution as a "prelude to retaliatory measures for the terrorist    


attacks on September 11 in New York and Washington."                  


    The resolution was approved overwhelmingly by the 15 council      


members in barely 24 hours of consultations, an exceptionally brief   


period of deliberation by council members.                            


    As with other Council resolutions, it actually relies on Chapter  


7 of the UN Charter for enforcement. The chapter makes it mandatory   


on all Council members to enforce resolutions passed by the body.     


    With the passing of the resolution, member states can now be      


forced to cut off funding and logistical support for terrorist groups.


    In addition, all financial aid to terrorist organizations are to  


be deemed illegal and member states mandated to freeze the accounts   


of such organizations.                                                


    Furthermore, the resolution also calls for "close monitoring of   


all suspect persons and groups who may be implicated in terrorist     


organizations," noted the daily.                                      


    However, the U.S., faced with stiff criticism from Islamic        


countries and even the EU for its self-appointed leading of an        


anti-terror coaltion, was expected to heed the international          


community's will to solve the current crisis through the UN, it said. 


    It further noted that the US had moved the Security Council to    


pass a similar resolution during Saddam's invasion of Kuwait in 1991  


and that this time around reaching its goals in the international     


body would be easier since Russia, China and France would no longer   


oppose as they did in the resolution against Saddam's invasion of     


Kuwait.                                                               


    However praiseworthy the latest UN resolution may be, it remains  


basically weak for two reasons, noted the daily.                      


    For one thing, "So long as we are unable to distinguish between   


terrorism and the right to defend one's land--which is a recognized   


right--we cannot agree on what constitutes terrorism."                


    Secondly, "the resolution does not differentiate between          


terrorism by groups and terrorism by governments," argued the daily.  


    It pointed out that some governments even hide behind the mantle  


of "sovereignty and give themselves the right to do anything          


they wish," citing examples such as the regimes in Baghdad, Tel Aviv  


and Kabul.                                                            


    Hence, while the UN resolution may be a "positive step" in efforts


to eradicate terrorism, it remains to be seen whether it can truly be 


effective, concluded the editorial.                                   


FH/LS                                                                 


End                                                                   


::irna    11:11