Putin: Un Must Coordinate Anti-terror Fight

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, today said the UN needed to move away from settling disputes between member states towards coordinating a global fight against terrorism.

Mr Putin's speech to the UN summit general assembly in New York echoed comments made by Tony Blair and the US president George Bush yesterday that the world must unite to defeat terrorists.

"There is a need to adjust this organisation to the new historical reality," Mr Putin said. "Who else will take the role of coordinating and organising this work but the UN?"

However, Human Rights Watch said the Russian president had previously defended escalating military action in Chechnya as a part of the worldwide war against terrorism.

The Russian military had often used the argument that it was fighting terrorists to justify putting down uprisings in Chechnya.

In February this year, the European court of human rights fined Russia for killing civilians during the Chechen conflict. It also ruled that Moscow had been liable for the deaths of civilians during the "anti-terrorism" operation launched to restore Russian control over the republic in 1999.

The three-day summit in New York is being held to take action to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goals on global poverty and disease, and to agree on plans to reform the organisation.

However, the final declaration - agreed just hours before the conference began - falls far short of the sweeping reforms envisioned by the UN secretary general, Kofi Annan. It has been criticised by aid agencies as failing to commit to key pledges on poverty.

The fight against terror has become a central focus of the summit. Yesterday, Mr Blair challenged the UN to "come of age" to defeat terrorists.

"It must become the visible and credible expression of the globalisation of politics," he said. "We work with each other or we suffer in isolation."

Mr Bush also used his speech to the assembled world leaders to call for a comprehensive international agreement to fight terrorism. "The terrorists must know that, wherever they go, they cannot escape justice," he said.

A parallel meeting of the UN security council yesterday unanimously passed a UK-sponsored resolution outlawing incitement to terrorism at home or abroad.

However, the resolution has been undermined by a failure to agree an actual definition of terrorism.

In particular, some Middle East countries have insisted that some groups, such as the Palestinians, are engaged in legitimate resistance and are not terrorists.

The Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, was expected to call for the Palestinians to disarm militant groups during his speech to the summit today.

His speech to the assembly is predicted to put the onus on the Palestinian authorities to take steps towards peace now that Israel has left the Gaza strip.

Paraphrasing from the speech Mr Sharon will deliver, an Israeli official said: "Israel has done its share ... and it's up to them whether they're going to see their destiny is in their hands and move forward.

"If they move forward, they will find that there's a partner. But if they fail to do what they need to do, they can only blame themselves."

At the start to the assembly yesterday, Mr Annan said "a good start" had been made with the declaration, but insisted more must be done to bring the UN into the 21st century.

"Let's be frank with each other, and the peoples of the United Nations. We have not yet achieved the sweeping and fundamental reform that I and many others believe is required," he said.