THE UNITED NATIONS, Nov 11 (Hina) - In his speech before the United Nations General Assembly on Sunday, Croatian President Stipe Mesic confirmed Croatia's devotion to the goals of the international anti-terrorist coalition but also
warned that the roots and causes of terrorism in the world needed to be removed.
THE UNITED NATIONS, Nov 11 (Hina) - In his speech before the United
Nations General Assembly on Sunday, Croatian President Stipe Mesic
confirmed Croatia's devotion to the goals of the international
anti-terrorist coalition but also warned that the roots and causes
of terrorism in the world needed to be removed.#L#
"It is not enough to defeat the terrorists we are faced with today.
We have to do everything we can to make sure that we shall not be
dealing with new terrorists tomorrow,", Mesic said,
"I view the situation as follows: it will not be difficult to
encourage fanatic behaviour not only in individuals, but also in
large groups of people, thus turning them into ruthless killers --
terrorists, as long as famine, poverty, and non-development are
present in large parts of the world, as long as people suffer from
inequality and absence of freedom as a result of unresolved
regional crises anywhere in the world," Croatian head of state
said.
He stressed there cannot be "our" or "their" terrorism. "There is no
justified or unjustified terrorism. It is in the nature of
terrorism, regardless of whether it is masked by an ideology,
religion or a liberalisation war, to kill innocent people - the more
the better. Terrorism is therefore absolutely unacceptable, and
this is why we are fighting against it today," Mesic said.
The Croatian President stressed that the first big war of the 21st
century is not a clash of cultures or a conflict of religions, but a
confrontation of civilisation and non-civilisation.
He believes that the establishment of the global anti-terrorist
coalition, which he compares with the anti-fascist coalition from
World War II, represents the beginning of deep and far-reaching
changes on the world political scene. "I am speaking about changes
in relations between countries or groups of countries, and the
changes in the nature and way of functioning of international
alliances, such as NATO for example, as well as international
organisations, both the existing ones, such as the United Nations,
and the ones which are just emerging, the Permanent Court for War
Crimes being one example," Mesic said.
In closing, Mesic said he would like the UN General Assembly session
to reaffirm this world organisation as an irreplaceable instrument
in the struggle for a different and better world.
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