U.N. sponsors terrorism victims forum

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Victims of global terrorist attacks spoke of their ordeals during a United Nations-sponsored forum organizers said was to highlight terrorism's human toll.

Testimony came from wounded survivors and relatives of those killed during terrorist attacks, including the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, The New York Times reported Wednesday. The most famous to testify Tuesday was Ingrid Betancourt, the Colombian-French politician rescued in July after six years as the hostage of Colombian rebels.

Robert C. Orr, the U.N. assistant secretary-general who organized the conference, said the testimony should spur member nations to both fight terrorism and help victims.

Naomi Kerongo, a Kenyan who survived the 1998 U.S. Embassy bombing in Nairobi, described the breakdown that led to her hospitalization and subsequently the loss of her job and home.

"This forum brought hope to most of us that at last somebody in this world is putting the emphasis on the bomb survivors and not on the terrorists," Kerongo said.