The
United Nations condemned the September 11 terrorist
attacks on America; meanwhile the Special Session
on Children was postponed indefinitely and security
around UN headquarters in New York City was increased.
Frederic
Eckhard, spokesperson for the Secretary General quoted
Secretary General Kofi A. Annan's statement of condemnation
against the terrorist attacks.
"There can be no doubt that these
attacks are deliberate acts of terrorism, carefully planned and coordinated--and
as such I condemn them utterly, " the
Secretary General was quoted as saying. "Terrorism
must be fought resolutely wherever it
appears."
Annan
was also quoted as saying, "In
such moments, cool and reasoned judgement
is more essential than ever. We do not
know yet who is behind these acts, or
what objective they hope to achieve.
What we do know is that no just cause
can be advanced by terror."
"At times like this, " Annan
told the audience at the Interfaith Service
of Commitment to the United Nations, "it
is all too tempting to jump to conclusions
about the kind of people who must be
behind such appalling acts, and to identify
them with some faith or community different
from our own. Instead, we should remember
that, whoever they are, they must be
human beings. We like to think of such
acts as inhuman, but the truth is that
human nature can sink to the depths of
horror, as well as rise to the highest
level of nobility. It is up to each of
us to cultivate the best in his or her
nature, and to struggle against the worst."
A draft
resolution submitted by the President
of the General Assembly "strongly
condemns" the heinous acts of terrorism, expresses its condolences and solidarity, urgently calls for international cooperation
for justice and urgently calls for international
cooperation to prevent further acts of
terrorism from occuring. The Assembly
passed the draft resolution without even
voting, said Jan Fischer, the new spokesman
for the President of General Assembly.
"It was also decided to move the
high-level dialogue on strengthening
international economic cooperation and
development from 20 to 21 of September, " Fischer
said.
The General
Assembly also agreed to postpone the
Special Session on Children
that was to be held from September 19
to 21. "We are all touched by the
events that struck New York and the US
on Tuesday. We strongly support the General
Assembly in its decision to postpone
the summit on children. The City of New
York needs to focus its energies on more
urgent matters right now, " Carol
Bellamy, Executive Director of Unicef, was earlier quoted as saying.
The City of New York has roped-off East
42nd Street and 2nd Avenue, barricading
the sides of UN Headquarters with police
cars as well as Sanitation Department-issued
dump trucks filled with sand. The FDR
Drive, where all traffic is suspended, is also barricaded by dump trucks. Police
officers patrol the entire length of
the UN from East 42nd to East 45th Street
and up to a block away on 2nd Avenue.
No one without UN identification is even
allowed to cross the street at 1st Avenue.
The UN
is similarly taking precautionary measures
overseas. In Afghanistan, where
Osama bin Laden--the man major US news
networks, including NBC News believes
is the mastermind of the attacks on America--is
supposed to be hiding, 80 UN staff have
been relocated in a process that began
on September 12 and will be completed
on the 14. According to the UN, the staff
was relocated due to "circumstances
prevailing internationally."
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