Dhaka to assist in implementing UN chief’s anti-terror action plan

Bangladesh will work with the United Nations in implementing the UN chief’s new action plan to prevent violent extremism.

The plan was along the lines of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ policy towards radicalism, Bangladesh’s Permanent Representative to the UN Masud Bin Momen said during a discussion at the UN General Assembly on Friday.
 
“The seven points of the UN secretary general’s action plan are similar to the existing measures undertaken by Bangladesh to resist militancy and prevent it.
 
“The government is determined not to allow any local or external militant outfit’s presence on Bangladesh soil.”
 
Only law enforcement was not enough to tackle terrorism; rather its roots would have to be eliminated, Momen commented.
 
He also highlighted different government programmes -- including promotion of education and religious values at the grassroots, and empowerment of women and youths -- on preventing spread of terror in the country.
 
Permanent representatives of 70 member states spoke at the discussion chaired by UNGA President Mogens Lykketoft.
 
They all stressed the need for an inclusive and strategic approach keeping in mind the UN charter and the UN Security Council’s decisions to deal with violent extremism globally.
 
Earlier, the assembly unanimously accepted a resolution on Ban Ki-moon’s Plan of Action to Prevent Violent Extremism.
 
High-level talks on this plan are scheduled to be held in Geneva in April and at UN Headquarters in New York in June.