Countries must look beyond their own borders if they hope to fight terrorism effectively, writes Ibrahim Nafie Terrorism is a global peril. A terrorist act committed in one country rocks the stability and security of countries the world over, and as the recent bombings in the Sinai have demonstrated it does not discriminate in the nationality of its victims. Nor is any region immune. Apart from the US on 11 September, terrorism in recent years has struck Spain, France, Indonesia, Russia, Kenya, Tanzania, Morocco, as well as some Latin American countries. Fighting this threat requires close cooperation between all members of the international community. The onus cannot fall on a single nation regardless of how strong it is, nor can any nation evade their responsibilities on the grounds that the phenomenon is restricted to certain parts of the world. The starting point for any effective global campaign against terrorism is to reach a precise and universally accepted definition of the term. No single country, or group of countries, should be allowed to impose a definition tailored to its specific needs, for then it will not garner the global consensus needed to devise a strategy capable of defeating terror. It is time for nations to rise above their own narrow interests and to treat terrorism for what it is: a global phenomenon that requires a comprehensive, globally agreed upon vision for combating it. Anything short of this will yield, at best, only partial solutions. In this regard, the custom of some nations to issue travel warnings to their citizens against visiting certain regions is counterproductive. Nothing could convey to terrorists more clearly that they had achieved their objectives. Moreover, the policy raises questions as to what advice countries struck by terrorism should give their citizens. Pack up and move to a safer country -- it's hardly feasible. Such patchwork responses fail to address the reality that the entire world has to be made a safer place. I also believe that the tendency of some nations to claim that only they are terrorist targets and, hence, to focus their efforts against certain terrorist groups has inhibited the formulation of a wider anti-terrorist policy. UN Security Council Resolution 1566 offers, perhaps, the clearest illustration of this dynamic. The draft resolution, proposed by Russia in the wake of the Beslan school incident, stirred heated controversy, especially over the provision calling for the creation of a list of terrorist organisations. Obviously, such a list cannot be drawn up before a consensus is reached over a definition of terrorism, one that draws a clear distinction between terrorism and legitimate acts of resistance against foreign occupation. Because certain nations were keen to avoid this task, perceiving it in their interest to keep "terrorism" as ambiguous as possible, the resolution could only be adopted after that provision was dropped. Certain powers, therefore, are responsible for the failure to secure an international strategy for fighting terrorism. Only when they summon the resolve to place the welfare of the international community above their own narrow interests will it be possible to create the vital international umbrella this struggle requires. Aware of this need, Egypt has long been spearheading a drive to hold an international conference, under the auspices of the UN, the aim of which will be to devise an international agreement on fighting terrorism. President Hosni Mubarak reiterated this call during his recent visit to Italy. In a joint press conference with Italian President Carlo Champi, he said that the international conference should address "the root causes of terrorism and the dividing line between peoples striving to obtain their legitimate rights and the attempts of a misguided collection of individuals to impose their opinions by violent means". Nations of the world must summon the resolve to confront the dangers they face. In the past some countries have actively fed and encouraged terrorism in the pursuit of aims of their own. That such policies have drastically backfired should have sobered them into abandoning their blinkered approach to a phenomenon that has come to transcend national boundaries. With regards to the Middle East, in particular, the world must begin to take the Arab view on a number of crucial issues seriously. Specifically, the international community must work to halt the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people, end the occupation and create an independent state. Full sovereignty must be restored to the Iraqi people and the occupation forces withdrawn. Above all, the West, and the US in particular, must cease its application of double standards in its handling of the crucial issues facing this region. The cynicism with which it applies certain principles in order to target Arab and Muslim nations such as Syria, Iran and Lebanon, has fuelled higher and higher levels of Arab anger, which, in turn, is deftly exploited by terrorist groups. I have no doubt that Egyptian security forces will soon apprehend the perpetrators of the Sinai attacks and take all necessary measures to prevent any repetition. However, the fact that the victims of Taba were Egyptian, Israeli, Italian, Russian, American and Polish underscores the fact that the issue is one that demands the concerted efforts of the entire international community. Ad hoc, go-it-alone, patchwork solutions will never get at the root causes of terrorism. I should also add that sensationalist, inaccurate and misleading reporting only detracts from the imperative of devising a radical remedy to this global phenomenon, one that treats its underlying causes and ensures the collaboration of the entire international community.
