The international community is failing to cooperate with the war against Al Qaida, a key UN official charged last week.
Member states have
declined to provide reliable information regarding Al Qaida, a key official told the United Nations Security Council. This has resulted in poor information flow on the whereabouts of agents and
assets.
"We need member states to deliver appropriate information to our
committee and improve the quality of information," Ambassador Heraldo Munoz of
Chile, head of the Security Council sanctions committee on Al Qaida,
said. "Let us
remember the main characteristic of Al Qaida. It is a global terrorist
network and that global terrorism is not defeated unilaterally, but through
cooperation."
Munoz, speaking after a closed-door briefing to the Security Council on
Wednesday, said countries have failed to close down Al Qaida-related assets, Middle East Newsline reported.
Only 84 states have reported to the Security Council sanctions committee
on Al Qaida. Agents of the group have been arrested in 102 countries.
"We have 372 individuals and entities on our consolidated list and this
does not reflect the extent of functioning of Al Qaida and the Taliban given
consideration that about 4,000 individuals linked to this terrorist network
have been detained in over 102 countries," Munoz said.
UN officials said Al Qaida continues to control a range of assets in
countries. They include bank accounts, property, front companies and other
investments.
Munoz said UN member states have failed to provide sufficient information
on captured weapons and explosives. The committee has set a priority
regarding information on man-portable surface-to-air missiles employed in Al
Qaida attacks.
Another failure by member states, officials said, was the continued use
of charities to funnel money to Al Qaida. They said this has allowed Al
Qaida to circumvent sanctions.
"Charities continue to be abused and used to channel money to terrorist
activities. We have discovered that in several cases," Munoz said. "Many
countries do not act against charities because they are linked to religious
and cultural beliefs. But at the same time we do know some of them continue
to be a channel."
