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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 11 - 17 May 2000 Issue No. 481
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Books Features Interview Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters Coordinating the war on terrorism
By Jailan HalawiARAB interior and justice ministers ended their meeting in Tunis on 3 May by endorsing the procedures to implement the Arab Treaty on Combating Terrorism. The measures underline the necessity of inter-Arab coordination in confronting all types of terrorism.
Interior Minister Habib El-Adli told the gathering that the achievements made in the war against terrorism are "due to the alertness of security authorities." He also affirmed the importance of international as well as inter-Arab cooperation in this field.
El-Adli noted that President Hosni Mubarak's proposal for organising an international anti-terrorism conference, under UN auspices, was welcomed by the Afro-European summit held in Cairo last month. He also cited the Vienna Declaration, issued by the 10th United Nations Conference on Crime Prevention held in April in the Austrian capital, which stressed the importance of taking effective and immediate steps to prevent and confront terrorism in all its forms.
The Tunis gathering urged Arab states to sign bilateral anti-terrorism agreements that stipulate keeping a close watch on terrorists, rounding them up and handing them over to their home countries to face trial.
Further, the council of Arab interior and justice ministers affirmed that terrorism is an international phenomenon to which all countries are exposed.
The ministers ended their meeting with a statement that described the ratification of the executive procedures of the treaty as reflecting the "determination of Arab countries to combat terrorism and tighten the noose around its perpetrators."
The treaty -- signed in Cairo in April 1998 at the Arab League headquarters -- lays down guidelines for security coordination, the exchange of information and the extradition of terrorists.
Under the treaty, signatories are also required to cooperate in judicial procedures, inspections, investigations and the apprehension of terrorists. Cooperation will extend to joint studies and research on combating terrorist acts. The treaty spells out the methods used in extraditing terrorists, whether through diplomatic channels or the ministries of justice of the countries concerned.
The treaty also enshrines a commitment by all signatories to halt all activities of militant groups on their soil.
The Tunis statement outlined several steps for implementing the treaty on both the judicial and security levels, to go in force next January. The council's decision in this connection is final.
The statement urged countries that have not ratified the treaty to do so speedily and deposit the ratification instruments with the general secretariat of the Arab League.
