The General Assembly’s Sixth (Legal) Committee to which the issue of terrorism was allocated by the Assembly on Saturday, debated today whether to give the issue priority status on its agenda. The US has urged priority. Britain, which proposed this morning the creation of a working group to study the matter, in effect opposed it as a priority item and the Arab members and their supporters backed the British suggestion.
The US proposed today the convening of a “plenipotentiary conference” early next year to “consider adoption of a convention on the prosecution and punishment of international terrorism.” In a resolution that complemented Secretary of State William P. Rogers’ address today to the Assembly, the US called on member states “as a matter of urgency” to adopt and implement the Tokyo Convention of 1963, the Hague Convention of 1970 and the Montreal Convention of 1971, all of which deal with aerial hijacking and the safety of civil aviation.
The resolution also asked the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to “pursue as a matter of urgency” a convention to enforce the previous three conventions. The US resolution urged all states to “take immediate steps to prevent the use of their territory or resources to aid, encourage or give sanctuary to those persons involved in directing, supporting or participating in acts of international terrorism.” The members were also urged to “address the political problems which in some instances provide a pretext for acts of international terrorism.”
Brazil supported the US in the matter of priority. Japan said that while it supported priority consideration in principle, in practical terms the British proposal for a working group should be considered. The Soviet Union claimed that if the US wanted a “business-like discussion” of the issue it should not insist on priority. The Arabs and their supporters suggested that time be taken to study the matter thoroughly, a suggestion generally regarded as a delaying tactic. Israel was to have addressed the Sixth Committee this afternoon but postponed its presentation until tomorrow.
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