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| Mozambique recalls victims of Sept. 11 |
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The struggle against terrorism "is an integral part of the principles that govern Mozambican foreign policy", the Mozambican government said on Wednesday in a declaration marking the first anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Reading the declaration at a ceremony held in the Maputo offices of the US Agency for International Development (USAID), Minister in the Presidency for Parliamentary and Diplomatic Affairs Francisco Madeira reiterated Mozambique's condemnation of "these abominable acts."
The terrorists "took the lives of thousands of innocent citizens, caused incalculable moral and material losses, and created panic, desolation and a profound sense of disbelief and uncertainty, not among the American people, but among the people of the entire world."
Madeira said that success in fighting terrorism "requires concerted action by the entire international community through the United Nations."
It was crucial, he added, that all UN member states should sign and ratify the various international conventions and protocols aimed at preventing and stamping out terrorism.
The Mozambican government, he pledged, had started the process of ratifying these conventions and had taken measures "to prevent any possible use of our territory for the planning, organization or execution of terrorist acts."
He said that the government's program to consolidate peace, and to fight against poverty would be "constantly threatened if joint action does not prevail against the forces of terrorism. Thus the struggle against terrorism is also the struggle for the development of Mozambique."
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano also reiterated the commitment of Mozambique to the fight against terrorism, describing it as "the main threat to international peace, security, and stability."
In a message to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, Chissano said "the government of Mozambique, in fulfillment of its international obligations and under its efforts against terrorism, has subscribed to the relevant international agreements."
He pledged that Mozambique would "work within the framework of the Unite Nations, the African Union, Southern African Development Community, and with all other international institutions and governments to enforce adopted international conventions and resolutions, which are crucial in the fight against terrorism."
In a message of solidarity sent to US President George W. Bush, Chissano restated his rejection of terrorism, and declared, "nothing can justify such evil and abominable behavior."
But, he also told Bush that the Mozambican government "considers that the United Nations should be the driving force in confronting this challenge."
The victims of the Sept. 11 attacks were also remembered in the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic. The Assembly chairman Eduardo Mulemb we began the morning's proceeding with a minute of silence in memory of the victims.
Source: Xinhua
Editor: Zhao Xuan
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