The United States' ambassador to the United Nations, John Negroponte, hopes the U.N. Security Council will approve an anti-terrorism resolution within the next few days.
Speaking to reporters, Mr. Negroponte confirmed that the United States has formally introduced a resolution to help fight terrorism. He said he is encouraged by the initial reaction among council members.
The proposal is now under discussion, and the U.S. ambassador was reluctant to get into many specific details of the resolution. "I really do not want to get into the details of the resolution at the moment, other than to say that it does address the question of financial and other forms of support for international terrorism and calls upon the member states of the United Nations to take the necessary measures to suppress these kinds of activities," he said.
Mr. Negroponte is hopeful the Security Council will adopt the resolution by Sunday. The United States reportedly wants the resolution approved in advance of Monday's debate on terrorism in the U.N. General Assembly.
Diplomats say that, in addition to financial controls on terrorists, the U.S. proposal in the Security Council also covers cooperation in international terrorist investigations and the extradition of accused terrorists. If adopted, the resolution would be binding on all 189 members of the United Nations.