Counter-terror task force calls for funds

UNITED NATIONS, May 22 (UPI) -- U.N. counter-terrorism task force officials said in New York that their ability to function is being undermined by a lack of guaranteed funding.

U.N. General Assembly President Srgjan Kerim, in a briefing at U.N. headquarters Wednesday, said that the current voluntary funding model that the Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force is operating with severely impedes its ability to target terrorist organizations.

Kerim said the task force, established in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, is forced to ask for funds from donors on a voluntary basis, which has slowed its intended mission.

The chairman of the counter-terrorism task force, Robert Orr, U.N. assistant secretary-general for policy coordination and strategic planning, said that the task force needs to be able to stand on its own feet and should have appropriate funding to that effect.

"We have needed to collect, process and transfer funds to set the working groups on their feet financially, to help them bring on relevant experts, and to get them what they need administratively from the U.N. system," Orr said in a statement. "And we have been doing so with a skeletal staff run out of my office."