Moscow works out code for combating international terrorism

Moscow is actively working out a code of the fight against international terrorism, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Yury Fedotov said.

"Russia continues to think over working out a kind of code of combating international terrorism, taking into account also a human-rights aspect, Yury Fedotov said on Thursday at the news conference in RIA Novosti.

He noted that at the recent session of the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva, its participants supported Russia's initiative about the lawfulness of connecting the threat of terrorism with the problem of observing human rights, because terrorism threatens the main human right, the right to live. "We are grateful to those countries which supported this initiative," Yury Fedotov said.

Apart from that, he continued, "Moscow supports the decisions which are aimed at making the activity of the UN Security Council's anti-terrorist committee more efficient." In particular, the diplomat positively assessed the fact that the anti-terrorist committee will now have a chance to monitor the fulfillment of the states' commitments to fight against terrorism.

Moscow also hopes that in the middle of the next week the UN Security Council will unanimously adopt a resolution on preventing weapons of mass destruction falling into the terrorists' hands," Yury Fedotov said.

"Yesterday, debates were held in the UN Security Council concerning the adoption of the Russia-proposed resolution on preventing WMD falling into the terrorists' hands," the Deputy Foreign Minister said.

"I hope that the discussion in the UN Security Council will make it possible to unanimously adopt this important decision in the middle of the next week," Yury Fedotov said.

He reminded the audience that the idea of adopting such a document was formulated and expressed by the Russian President in his speech at the 58th session of the UN General Assembly.

According to the diplomat, at the present time an all-embracing convention on combating international terrorism and the Russian draft convention on the fight against acts of nuclear terrorism are being discussed within the framework of the United Nations.

"We believe the work over these documents should be completed as soon as possible," Yury Fedotov said.