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Indian action plan against terrorism finds support at NAM

India's proposal for an international action plan to combat terrorism found strong support at the Non-Aligned Movement summit in Durban despite Pakistan's objections.

The proposal, moved in the NAM political committee, sought a co-ordinated action plan to fight terrorism augmented by mercenaries.

Since India is a victim of cross-border terrorism, it is keen there should be a major initiative to fight terrorism, additional secretary in the external affairs ministry Dilid Lahari said today.

While Pakistan opposed such a move, a number of African nations, including South Africa, host of the 12th NAM summit, lend full support to India's proposal, expected to be adopted by the summit.

The recent bombings of US missions in Kenya and Tanzania and the subsequent missile attacks by the US on terrorist camps in Afghanistan has strengthened India's position that immediate and urgent measures are needed to fight terrorism.

Meanwhile, reports that South Africa attempted to allow rebels from the Democratic Republic of Congo backdoor access to the NAM's 12th summit in Durban were vehemently denied yesterday by the summit's deputy secretary-general Abdul Minty.

South African Defence Minister Joe Modise, who is part of a South African-led delegation keen to broker a ceasefire-driven peace agreement, ''left the door slightly ajar'' for Congolese rebels to attend the NAM political committee meeting, according to the South African newspaper, The Sunday Tribune.

There was no way in which delegates could be ''smuggled'' into a NAM summit, said Minty, who is also a director in South Africa's foreign affairs department. Only official government delegates or representatives of legitimate governments or liberation movements are allowed to attend NAM summits.

Minty said he had no knowledge of any attempts to allow Congolese rebels access to the preparatory first meeting on Saturday of the NAM political committee.

DRC president Laurent Kabila would not attend the meeting of NAM heads of state and government, the South African foreign affairs department said on Saturday.

UNI

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