Spain: UN secretary general Kofi Annan warned yesterday that the world must grasp the final opportunity to prevent a nuclear terrorist attack.
In a blunt speech he warned: "An attack of this kind, if it should occur, would paralyse the world economy and throw tens of millions of people into utter poverty."
Mr Annan was speaking at the final session of a conference on terrorism and security that closed in Madrid yesterday, just a day before Spain remembers the worst terrorist attack in Europe.
This day last year, 191 people died and more than 1,600 were injured when Islamic terrorists detonated a series of bombs in four commuter trains as they were arriving at Atocha station in the early-morning rush hour.
The mood in Madrid this week was summed up by the city's mayor, Alberto Ruiz-Gallardon, when he told delegates: "You are in a city which has been wounded, but not a city which has surrendered. We need you to find ways to make us feel safe in our city."
The conference was organised by the Club de Madrid, an independent organisation whose members include 58 current and former heads of state and prime ministers from 22 countries. Participants included Mary Robinson, a vice-president of the club; Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai; Algeria's president Abdelaziz Bouteflika; and many others.
Former US president Bill Clinton, who was due to read a paper, was forced to cancel at the last minute when he was admitted to hospital for a second heart operation in less than 12 months. More than 200 experts have spent the past three days discussing ways to fight terrorism and prevent an atrocity like last year's from ever happening again.
Louise Richardson, dean of the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, tried to look at the psychological profile of the terrorists and their aims.
Prof Richardson was joined on her working group by John Horgan, professor of psychology at UCC. The Madrid Agenda, which was approved yesterday, discusses ways of fighting terrorism through worldwide co-operation. It says international co-operation, democracy, education and economic aid to developing countries are the best weapons to combat terrorism.
Former Brazilian president and current Club de Madrid chairman, Enrique de Cardosa, called for all nations to co-operate in the anti-terrorist fight. Although he mentioned no names, his remarks were in line with those of a senior Spanish government official who, earlier this week, suggested the US was not always open in sharing information.