Tajikistan’s capital Dushanbe hosted yesterday an international conference on regional and international co-operation on counter-terrorism and its financing through drug trafficking and organised crime.
The conference was held in co-operation with Qatar, the United Nations, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
Qatar’s delegation was chaired by the Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Qatar for Counterterrorism and Mediation of Conflict Resolution, Dr Mutlaq bin Majid al-Qahtani.
The envoy thanked the government of Tajikistan for hosting the conference in co-operation and partnership with the government of Qatar, the United Nations, the European Union and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. He said that this was further proof of the strong and strategic partnerships Qatar has in the field of countering terrorism and its financing.
He said that terrorism and its financing represent a grave threat to international peace and security. He added that the international community has a collective responsibility to counter terrorism and its financing in line with international law and UN Security Council resolution number 2467, which calls on all countries to prevent terrorist acts and bans the provision of all support to people or organisation involved in terrorist attacks.
He stressed that combating the financing of terrorism remains one of the most important priorities for Qatar, highlighting the legislation that the country adopted in that regard. He added that the country has also ratified the majority of international and regional counter-terrorism agreements, and established national mechanisms in the fields of counter-terrorism in line with UN Security Council resolutions. He said Qatar is working closely with the designated UN agencies and that the country has recently contributed $75mn to the UN Counter-Terrorism Office in support of its mission and goals over the next five years.
He highlighted the relationship between terrorism and transnational organised crime, saying that nexus has become tangible and dangerous. He highlighted that these groups also began carrying out very complicated transactions using the Internet, stressing that governments will need to co-operate as they can no longer face these threats alone without co-ordination.
He added that an important issue to focus on at the conference is the adverse impact regional conflicts have on advancing joint efforts in the field. Al-Qahtani noted that terrorism thrives in unstable environments, adding that wars and conflicts feed terrorism and extremism. He gave an example with the armed conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa, which led to the undermining of group efforts in combating terrorism and ultimately to weakening the border security of those countries. He stressed that the region’s instability paved the way for criminal organisations and terrorist networks to prosper. He highlighted that criminal organisations have changed their tactics, and now have ties with extremist groups in those regions.
Al-Qahtani highlighted the potential of using the war zones not just for drug trafficking, but for illegal arms dealing that would include the components for weapons of mass destruction. He said that Qatar has expressed its concern over the danger the lack of co-operation regionally poses to resolving these threats.
He added that the international community cannot just stand helpless as some countries interfere in the internal affairs of others, in clear violation to the sovereignty of these countries.
Al-Qahtani renewed the commitment of Qatar to co-operate with all countries as well as regional and international organisations in achieving joint goals.
