RP to UN: Redefine war on terror

The Philippines reaffirmed its commitment to the global fight against terrorism but, along with other Asian countries, challenged world leaders to redraw their battle plans in the war on terror by training their sights on religious intolerance, poverty and social injustice.

In a statement read Monday before the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo emphasized the need for governments to work together, and pushed for a strategy that would remove poverty as a "breeding ground" for resentment and conflict.

"The Philippines believes that conflicts should be addressed before terrorism can begin to define or exploit the conflict. This can be done by working together with other nations," Romulo said.

With several sectors pointing to poverty as the source of terrorism, Romulo said that the global alliance should act to remove poverty and shift toward requiring more accountability on the part of nations that benefit from poverty alleviation assistance.

Citing President Arroyo’s "new kind of peace" for "a new kind of war" being waged by terrorists, Romulo proposed that countries adopt "a hand-up for self-reliance" and discard "the old formula of handouts to the have-nots."

Struggling with a domestic separatist insurgency, the Philippines, along with Indonesia, sought during the annual UN debate greater focus on the social and economic triggers of violent unrest.

Romulo pointed out that the Philippine government is doing its part in addressing the problem of insurgency on the domestic front, particularly threats from the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist New People’s Army.

Both groups have been linked by foreign governments to the al-Qaeda-linked Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network.

"With the help of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), violent secessionism has given way to peaceful autonomy in southern Philippines. The potential for terrorists has been drastically reduced," Romulo said.

For his part, Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirjuda said that their faith remains firm that the war on terror can be won. "But the global coalition to defeat terrorism... must address the root causes of terrorism: the grievances and the poignant sense of injustice that drive human beings to such depths of despair, they would carry out the most heinous acts of mass murder and destruction," he said.

Romulo, Wirjuda and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also issued appeals for an end to the stereotyping of Muslims as terrorists.

"As the country with the largest Muslim population, Indonesia has proven that Islam can be a bastion of democracy and social justice," Wirjuda said as he staked Indonesia’s claim as the world’s most populous Muslim nation to a permanent seat in an expanded UN Security Council.

Meanwhile, Badawi, current chairman of the 57-member OIC, warned that the war on terror was being tainted by anti-Muslim bigotry.

"There is an urgent need to stop tarnishing the Muslim world by unfair stereotypes," Abdullah said. "Most damaging of all is the increasing tendency to attribute linkages between international terrorism and Islam."

Condemning the "prejudices and bigotry" triggered by the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the United States, Abdullah said Islam was all too often being associated with violence.

"We need to clear the confusion of linking the problems faced by some Muslim countries with Islam the religion," he said.

Abdullah’s remarks echoed those last week of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally in the war on terror, who warned the UN General Assembly of an "iron curtain" falling between the Islamic world and the West, with Muslims feeling unjustly treated in international disputes.

China, one of the five permanent UN Security Council members, similarly called for a "new security concept" in tackling both regional disputes and the threat of terrorism.

"Only when the root cause of terrorism is eradicated can people live in peace and tranquillity again," said Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

The United States has branded at least 10 high-profile groups in the Asian region as international terrorist organizations, but is wary of listing others that are seen as having a localized separatist agenda with no global ideological ambitions.

Meanwhile, Stalinist North Korea on Monday devoted its moment in the General Assembly spotlight to blaming US policies for pushing the Korean peninsula towards armed conflict.

"The danger of war is snowballing, owing to extreme US moves to isolate and stifle the DPRK (North Korea) and threats of preemptive strikes against it," Deputy Foreign Minister Choe Su Hon said.

Choe argued that Pyongyang had "no other option" but to possess a nuclear deterrent in the face of what he called US attempts to eliminate North Korea by force and designating it as part of an "axis of evil."

He said the international row over its nuclear program was "the product of the deep-rooted hostile policy against the DPRK pursued by the United States for more than half a century."

Asian leaders also stressed the importance of restoring the United Nations’ legitimacy as a global arbiter following the divisions over the US-led invasion of Iraq.