Arab League head backs disputed UN terror pact plan

[Eugene]

Arab League head backs disputed UN terror pact plan
Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:44 PM ET

By Irwin Arieff

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The head of the 22-nation League of Arab
States on Monday endorsed a definition of terrorism opposed by many
Arab nations for inclusion in a long-stalled comprehensive U.N. treaty
against terrorism.

The proposed definition, put forward by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi
Annan, "could serve as the basis for consensus" in drafting the global
pact, Arab League Secretary-General Amr Moussa said.

"This is a definition we can agree on," he told Reuters during a visit
to U.N. headquarters.

Annan, speaking earlier in the day, said recent bombings in Egypt
and Britain should give new life to the U.N. campaign to adopt the
draft "comprehensive convention on international terrorism," which
has been stuck in a U.N. committee since 1996 in a dispute over how
to define terrorism and whether it should exclude Palestinian
suicide bombings.

More: http://today.reuters.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2005-07-25T224424Z_01_N2536433_RTRIDST_0_INTERNATIONAL-SECURITY-UN-TREATY-DC.XML