First informal CTC meeting on Iraq's counter-terrorism technical assistance needs.
An informal meeting of the Counter-Terrorism Committee held on 23 March 2016 was opened by the Chairman calling for a minute of silence in observance of the victims of numerous terrorist acts suffered by Iraq and other countries, including the most recent attacks in Brussels.
In a first for the United Nations, the informal meeting focused on Iraq’s technical assistance needs related to counter-terrorism. Following an assessment visit to the Republic of Iraq on behalf of the Committee by its Executive Directorate (CTED) in September 2015, the meeting saw the participation not only of Members of the Counter-Terrorism Committee but also of Iraq and over a dozen other Member States, as well as representatives of 16 international organizations.
“I would like to note that this meeting is being held just a few months after the visit. This represents a major departure from the practice followed for previous visits, and I wish to thank both the Government of Iraq, for its swift response, and CTED Executive Director and his team, for the rapid follow-up,” said Chairman of the Committee, H.E. Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United Nations, in his opening remarks.
“It is important to note that we will be sharing not just the identified gaps, but also CTED’s assessment of Iraq’s priority technical assistance needs. I am pleased that those needs will be shared among a large group of partners with the very specific purpose to encourage us all to provide support in line with the identified priority areas,” he continued.
Emphasizing the value of enabling first-hand access to information from the field, the Chairman expressed his goal for convening the informal meeting: “With the increase of the terrorist threat in our world today, we all have to make sure that our discussions and efforts in New York are relevant to the field and are, in fact, making an impact.”
Assistant Secretary-General and Executive Director of CTED, Jean-Paul Laborde, followed up by sharing his belief that “this demonstrates that we are all working together towards the same goal: to ensure the swift, targeted delivery of technical assistance to Iraq. […] By helping Iraq to combat terrorism, we are also helping to strengthen peace and security in the region and the world.”
Chairman of the Counter-Terrorism Committee, Egypt’s UN Ambassador H.E. Amr Abdellatif Aboulatta.
The Executive Directorate in its presentation noted that ISIL (Da’esh) continued to pose a significant threat to Iraq. ISIL continues to drain Iraq’s resources, whether through the exploitation of raw materials and banking assets, the confiscation of property, or the looting of cultural artefacts. At the same time, Iraq is facing significant challenges in exercising effective control over large parts of its own territory. This situation is also exacerbated by the massive influx of foreign terrorist fighters into Da’esh-controlled territories. It was stressed that it was of the utmost importance that the international community not only identify ways to assist Iraq, but also determine how its combined resources can be most effectively deployed.
In the meeting, a number of Member States and international organizations voiced their support for Iraq and its efforts to counter terrorism.
“In recognition of the importance of the discussions today, the Committee’s next formal meeting will include reflection upon some of the issues raised [and] as CTED follows up with our partners on how best to support Iraq, I intend to hold a further informal meeting with you all in six months to evaluate progress made and identify further steps that still need to be taken,” the Chair concluded.