Consultative Meeting of International Experts On Counter-Terrorism Opens in Abuja

9 May 2011
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Economic Community of West African States (Abuja)
press release

Abuja-Nigeria — A two-day consultative meeting of international experts to consider the Draft ECOWAS Counter-Terrorism Strategy and Implementation Plan opened at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in Abuja on Monday, 9th May 2011.

The ECOWAS Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Brigadier General Mahamane Toure, told the opening session that the region cannot afford to treat terrorism with indifference because it remains a critical challenge against the background of various incidents in Member States. He blamed the terrorist activities on the region on complex factors related to political, economic, social and cultural issues exacerbated by widespread poverty and youth unemployment. The Commissioner said some Member States have signed and ratified existing international instruments on counter-terrorism while others have enacted national legislation for domesticating such instruments for the prosecution and punishment of offenders.

The ECOWAS Commission, he said, has also evolved various regional instruments with "robust framework and institutional capacity to assist Member States in their efforts to prevent and combat terrorism." According to the Commissioner, the challenge for the region is for Member States to coordinate their interventions and strengthen collaboration in the fight against the common threat, adding that "any success in our efforts to eliminate and prevent safe havens would require all Member States to be on the same wave length, particularly in the prohibition regimes and punishment of terrorism offences". He said the workshop was part of a deliberate policy to tap into the skills of international experts in order to ensure that the ECOWAS Plan not only conformed to continental and global best practices but was also implementable.

The meeting is part of the process to establish a comprehensive framework and institutional capacity to assist Member States in their efforts to prevent and combat terrorism as mandated by the relevant ECOWAS instruments. Participants including experts from local, regional, continental and international institutions, as well as representatives of partner countries are attending the meeting.

Read the original article on Ecowas.

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