UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 16 (UPI) -- A three-member U.N. council called for broader international political cooperation to tackle the threat posed by al-Qaida and other terrorist groups.
Three counter-terrorism committees briefed the 15-member U.N. Security Council on efforts to combat transnational terrorist groups like al-Qaida and regional groups like the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
"Ten years after the adoption of Security Council Resolution 1267, the threat posed by al-Qaida and the Taliban persists, both worldwide and especially in South Asia," said Ambassador Thomas Mayr-Harting of Austria, chairman of a committee on sanctions related to both groups.
Resolution 1267 was enacted in 1999 to sanction members of al-Qaida and the Taliban.
The United Nations, the committees said, must remain up to date on their counter-terrorism regimes if they are to tackle the threats posed by international non-state groups.
Croatian envoy Ranko Vilovic, who chairs a committee monitoring various counter-terrorism resolutions enacted in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, said his group is working diligently on what he described as a lingering threat to the international community.
"Terrorism remains one of the major threats to international peace and security, and the committee is a crucial instrument of the international community in its efforts to address this scourge," he said.
