Ireland will be one of the 15 members of a United Nations Security Council committee set up to monitor the implementation of a comprehensive resolution against terrorism which was passed unanimously by the council at the weekend.
All states are required within 90 days to report the progress they have made in implementing Resolution 1373. Under its terms, the council decided that all states should prevent and suppress the financing of terrorism and should criminalise the provision or collection of funds for that purpose.
The resolution was introduced by the US; France and the UK were closely involved in preparing the text. Ireland strongly supported the broad thrust of the resolution but took a stand against a formulation which sought to ensure that terrorist suspects "receive" justice.
It was felt by the Irish delegation, working in close consultation with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, that this might be interpreted by some as granting permission to administer punishment without going through proper legal procedures. Irish UN sources said our Ambassador to the UN, Mr Richard Ryan, discussed the matter with the US, which eventually accepted a different formulation which provides that terrorist suspects should be "brought to justice".
Speaking in New York yesterday, the Minister welcomed the resolution: "It is an approach that we advocate and support." It was a "logical follow-up" to Resolution 1368, which had been passed by the Council on September 12th and had declared the attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon as a threat to international peace and security.
Resolution 1373 "deals with the longer-term issues" by obliging member-states to increase their co-ordination in tackling the "operational aspects of terrorism" by cracking down on financing, organisation and transnational communication between terrorist groups, Mr Cowen continued.
Under the terms of the resolution, the financial assets and economic resources of those who commit or facilitate terrorist acts should be frozen without delay. States should also prohibit their nationals, or persons or entities in their territories, from making funds available to persons who commit or facilitate terrorist acts.
States are also required under the resolution to deny a safe haven to those who finance, plan, support, or commit terrorist acts. All states should prevent terrorists from using their territories as a base for activities against other countries and their citizens.
States are also required to ensure that anyone who has participated in the financing, planning or perpetration of terrorist acts is brought to justice. Terrorist acts should be established as serious criminal offences in domestic laws and regulations, with commensurate sentences.
States should assist one another in criminal investigations or proceedings relating to the financing or support of terrorist acts and prevent the movement of terrorists by effective border controls. Claims of political motivation are not to be recognised as grounds for refusing requests for the extradition of alleged terrorists.
Although many of its provisions are already contained in international treaties, the resolution invokes Chapter Seven of the UN Charter, thereby making it mandatory on the world body's 189 member-states to comply.
The issue is complicated, however, by the fact that there is no internationally agreed definition of terrorism. The UN General Assembly is currently trying to arrive at a definition as part of a new omnibus treaty on terrorism.
"You are talking about a certain grey area. For most of the time, if something looks like a terrorist and makes a noise like a terrorist, it's a terrorist," the British ambassador, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, said.
There has been speculation that sanctions could be imposed at a future point against states which failed to comply with the resolution within the agreed time. This is not made explicit in the text, although the council "expresses its determination to take all necessary steps in order to ensure the full implementation of this resolution, in accordance with its responsibilities under the Charter".
The speedy adoption of the resolution reflects the atmosphere of urgency in dealing with the terrorist problem, following the September 11th attacks.