By KUNA
United Nations : A UN survey of the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373 concerning counter-terrorism noted that the Western Asian countries took “significant” remedial steps in strengthening their counter-terrorism legislation but said that was not enough.
The survey, prepared by the Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), covered all regions around the globe including Western Asia: Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.
The survey did not mention any country by name when it stated specific fields.
It said that in view of the instability in some areas and the resulting displacement of people across borders, there is a “priority need to enhance border control, screen travelers and prevent the smuggling of weapons.” It added that given high levels of international worker-remittance transfers in the subregion and regional patterns of reliance on informal, non-bank transfer mechanism, “action to regulate alternative remittance systems is a priority, as well as action to prevent the abuse of non-profit organizations.
It complained that a lack of reporting on law enforcement and border control “have hampered assessment of whether measures to combat terrorism have been put in place and are being effectively implemented.” CTED urged states in the region to report on the policies and controls being developed and utilized in these areas.
Among CTED recommendations are to promote adoption of legislation to fully implement the international counter-terrorism instruments across the subregion, encourage states to take action to prevent the abuse of informal worker remittance networks for the purpose of terrorist financing and to take adequate measures to protect their non-profit sector from abuse by terrorist financing.