NEW YORK (CP) _ Prime Minister Jean Chretien delivered a mild rebuke to the United States on Monday when he called on all countries to co-operate in devising an effective response to terrorism that helps reduce the disparity between rich and poor.
``No one country, no matter how powerful, has either the wisdom or the ability to defeat terrorism on its own,'' Chretien told an international anti-terrorism conference.
``We must work together to devise a lasting and effective response that respects international law,'' said the prime minister, making reference to the U.S. unilateral attack on Iraq last spring.
Chretien, who will also address terrorism at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, said there's a ``solid battle plan for the here and now'' that includes $20 billion US raised by G-8 countries to counter the threat of weapons of mass destruction.
Canada is contributing $1 billion Cdn ($1.34 billion US) over 10 years.
U.S. President George W. Bush, who will ask UN countries to contribute more troops and money for post-war Iraq, did not attend the conference.
But Senator Richard Lugar, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, said the Sept. 11 attacks that ``jarred our country out of its complacency'' illustrated the need for enhanced trade, support for fledgling democracies and expanded efforts to control weapons of mass destruction.
Of those, said Lugar, the most important is a comprehensive international system under which every country must account for weapons of mass destruction and work toward destroying them.
``We cannot guarantee that terrorists will not strike but we are not helpless,'' he told the conference organized by Norway and Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
``This process will be painstaking and expensive,'' said Lugar, but ``international prosperity and security hang in the balance.''
``When nations resist such accountability (and diplomatic means are exhausted), the U.S. and other responsible nations must not rule out the use of force.''
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan opened the conference attended by nearly 20 heads of state, counterterrorism experts and terror victims just hours after the UN headquarters in Baghdad was attacked for a second time.
He called on countries to ``win hearts and minds'' and unite in solving political disputes that give rise to terrorism, saying military force alone will not suffice.
``We need more debate, not less. We must use our heads, not our hearts, in deciding on a response. It is our duty ... to try to understand this deadly phenomenon,'' said Annan.
``We should not pretend that all terrorists are simply insane. We are also mistaken if we assume that terrorists are mere products of their environment.''
It's the responsibility of nations to ``articulate a powerful and compelling global vision'' to combat terrorism, he said.
``There must be the promise of a better and fairer way,'' said Annan. ``The moral vision of human rights, the deep respect of the dignity of the individual, is one of our most powerful weapons against it.''
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, who called al-Qaida ``only a shadow of its past,'' said the world must look past the group responsible for the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks ``to the breeding grounds of terrorism.''
``The fact is that today most of the unresolved political disputes and issues involve Muslims. Their demands for justice are often brushed aside. This has given rise to hopelessness, frustration and desperation.''
``Foreign occupation and the suppression of the rights of peoples to self-determination is a direct cause for suicide bombings and terrorist acts that flow from despair.''
Musharraf called for a clear legal definition of terrorism and help from the West to resolve political disputes involving Muslims. INDEX: INTERNATIONAL POLITICS SOCIAL DEFENCE
NEW YORK (CP) _ Prime Minister Jean Chretien delivered a ........... CNW
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