U.N. Security Council passes counter-terrorism resolution

NEW YORK, Sept. 24 (UPI) -- At Wednesday's U.N. Security Council summit to discuss "International peace and security caused by terrorist acts, foreign terrorist fighters," U.S. President Barack Obama, serving as Council President, called for a vote on an international counter-terrorism resolution.

The draft resolution, which Obama referred to as S.2014/688, was submitted by 101 member states and unanimously adopted by the 15-member Council.

Legally binding, the new resolution establishes the following obligations for member states:

-- Prevent and suppress the recruiting, organizing, transporting, or equipping of foreign terrorist fighters, as well as the financing of their travel or activities;

-- Prevent the movement of terrorists or terrorist groups through their territory, and ensure that their domestic laws allow for the prosecution of those who attempt to do so;

-- Help build the capacity of states on the front lines of this fight;

-- Strengthen cooperation between nations, including sharing information on the travel and activities of foreign terrorist fighters;

-- Respect human rights, fundamental freedoms and the rule of law.

"This resolution," Obama told the Council, "recognizes that there is no military solution to the problem of misguided individuals seeking to join terrorist organizations, and therefore calls on nations to work together to counter the violent extremism that can radicalize, recruit and mobilize individuals to engage in terrorism."

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon thanked Obama for chairing the Council at a time of "grave implications for international peace and security."

"The world is witnessing a dramatic evolution in the nature of the terrorist threat," the secretary-general remarked.

"The last year, terrorist attacks have killed, maimed, and displaced many thousands of civilians. The vast majority of them Muslims from Afghanistan to Somalia to Nigeria, from Iraq to Libya to Mali. These attacks have been carried out by violent extremists who thrive in conditions of insecurity and injustice, fragility and failed leadership. These groups ruthlessly hijack religion to control territory and vital economic resources. They brutalize women and girls. They target and slaughter minorities. They are the enemies of faith."

The U.N. head proposed that IS should instead be referred to as the "un-Islamic non-State."