Arab Is Lone Holdout on U.N. Reform Treaty
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The lone Arab on a panel of 16 top international former diplomats has threatened not to sign off on a report on reform and development at the United Nations because of a chapter calling for a new antiterrorism treaty, including a clear definition of terrorism.
The former Egyptian foreign minister and current Arab League secretary-general, Amre Moussa, at one point threatened to resign from the panel, several U.N. sources who asked not to be named told The New York Sun yesterday. The report will be published on Thursday.
Mr. Moussa finally agreed to remain, and his name is on the report that urges the United Nations to settle on a definition of terrorism. Since September 11, 2001, diplomats attempting such definition met resistance from Arab states and members of the Organization of the Islamic Conference who wanted to stay clear of condemnation of Arab terror against Israel.
According to the report, ordered by Secretary-General Annan and hailed here as a possible turning point for the U.N., “Lack of agreement on a clear, well-known definition undermines the normative and moral stance against terrorism and stained the U.N. image. Achieving a comprehensive convention on terrorism, including a clear definition, is a political imperative.”
The report, a copy of which was supplied to the Sun, directly addresses two traditional Arab arguments against definition.
One is that “state terrorism” should be included. The reports argues, however that existing “legal and normative framework against state violations is far stronger than in the case of non-state actors.”
The second argument, the right of people under foreign occupation to resist, is also dismissed. “There is nothing in the fact of occupation that justifies the targeting and killing of civilians,” the report states, concluding, “Attacks that specifically target civilians and noncombatants must be condemned.”
Mr. Moussa was said finally to agree to sign on the text in exchange for language elsewhere that promised stronger adherence to rules governing occupation.
But the chapter on terrorism makes clear that such international norms already exist, and that there is a need for a convention against terrorism to complement them.