Parliament unanimous in call for fight against states hiding terrorists

Date: 13/09/01

By John Shelley and Laurence Frost

THE unprecedented scale of the terrorist attacks against the United States has prompted calls from MEPs for the world's democracies to launch a new international anti-terrorism policy.

The call from the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee came as deputies began to break the stunned silence following news of the devastation in New York and Washington.

In a statement endorsed unanimously, the cross-party committee declared: "This terrorist act is directed against the entire international community of democracies and their citizens. We stand together with the USA in the fight against international terrorism. At the same time, we should develop a joint policy of all democracies against any state hiding or supporting terrorism."

Committee chairman Elmar Brok said the EU and US should take the initiative in launching an action plan to use foreign aid, trade sanctions and military means against states which harbour terrorists. "From the start it must be a joint position of the US, the EU, Japan and other democracies, hopefully including Russia," Brok told European Voice.

He said the policy should be established under a special conference rather than the United Nations, where democracies are still in a minority.

Brok believes an international policy could impose much-needed discipline on its signatories' trade links, ending the spectacle of western countries competing for the attentions of rogue states with a view to reaping the benefits of restored trade. "We've seen this in the past with Libya, Iran and Iraq," he said. "It must end."

The chair of another influential committee echoed the call for new international measures to deal with terrorists.

Graham Watson, who heads the committee on justice and civil liberties, said: "It's now evident not only that the EU member states should step up action to combat terrorism, but that there should also be closer cooperation with other states in order to try and prevent such barbaric attacks in future."

A report by the British Liberal adopted by the Parliament last week calls for the introduction of a European search-and-arrest warrant to enable national police forces to cooperate in the fight against an upsurge in attacks by international terrorists.

British Labour MEP Mel Read was chairing a high-level EU-US delegation meeting in Washington near the Pentagon when it was attacked yesterday. "All the delegation is safe, though obviously terribly shaken," she said. "At the time of the attack on the Pentagon, we were about a mile-and-a-half away in the offices of the European Commission. Streets were clogged with people and cars trying to flee Washington. "We were advised to return to our hotel, where there was a subsequent bomb-scare leading to evacuation of the building for some five hours."

John Richardson, head of the EU's delegation in New York, told European Voice by telephone yesterday that the approximately 30 members of his staff and their families were all safely accounted for, but said that "we had some rather anxious hours there". He said the delegation was not evacuated from its offices next to the United Nations (which was cleared of all personnel) and that the staff chose to stay put. "We took the decision that we were unlikely to be a target," Richardson said, "and that it was actually safer and better for us all emotionally to stick together in the delegation rather than to evacuate onto the streets of New York which were extremely chaotic at the time."

As the horrific events were unfolding in America, fear and confusion in the European Parliament's landmark home in Brussels prompted many workers to stream out onto the streets for fear of a similar strike at the heart of Europe.

Committee meetings in progress when the attack began were suspended for the day and one political group, the European People's Party advised their staff to evacuate the building.

Group spokesman Bob Fitzhenry said: "There were no instructions coming from the secretary-general of the Parliament. The group was waiting for some but a lot of people were very worried so we said they could go home. When I went out outside there were lots of people out there from all the political groups and not just ours," he said.

Shortly afterwards Parliament secretary-general Julian Priestley sent an email to staff informing them that the insitution's security advisors did not consider there was a risk of an attack there, but giving all staff permission to go home.

Once the dust had settled Parliament chiefs were unanimous in their condemnation of the terrorist attacks.

Yesterday (12 September) the institution's political chiefs held an emergency meeting with Commission President Romano Prodi and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, at which they observed a minute's silence.

Pat Cox, leader of the European Liberals, spoke of his "outrage at a new watershed that makes such a spectacular and devastating act of terrorism hardly distinguishable from an act of war".

The pain was particularly acute for Cox. Ruth McCourt and her infant daughter Juliana, a mother and child from his constituency of Cork, died on one of the planes that slammed into the World Trade Center. "This is an outrage that is universal in its impact on democratic society and freedom," he said.

Parliament President Nicole Fontaine said: "In these moments of absolute horror my first thoughts go to the victims and their families. We do not know for the moment who committed these barbaric acts. These are people whose inhumanity has led them to deny the basic right to life in order to advance their own interests."

Hans-Gert Pöttering, chairman of the centre-right EPP group, the largest in the Parliament, said that after the "initial shock" there would be many questions which would need answering. "Above all we must find a way to remove the opportunities for terrorists to prepare such attacks."

Enrique Baron, socialist group leader, said the attack was not just on America but also on "civilisation as a whole". "It is with outrage and deep sorrow that we have learned of these attacks. To those who are responsible we say 'you may think you have succeeded but you have not. You have the blood of many innocent civilians on your hands'."

Green group leaders Heidi Hautala and Paul Lannoye said they were "deeply shocked" by the "senseless attack". "In this dark hour our thoughts are with the victims of this tragedy, their families and with all the American people."

Franz Wurtz, president of the left wing Confederal group of the European United Left/Nordic Green left, said: "I am profoundly upset by the nightmarish images of the terrorist attacks that have struck the United States. The criminal violence and the extreme cruelty that marked this terrifying catastrophe is a challenge to the whole of the human community."

The unprecedented scale of the terrorist attacks against the United States has prompted calls from MEPs for the world's democracies to launch a new international anti-terrorism policy.