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07/30/96
FACT SHEET ON COMBATING TERRORISM FROM G-7/P-8 MINISTERIAL
(P-8 seeks ICAO action on airport bomb detection) (1210)
Paris -- A Fact Sheet issued following the ministerial meeting of the
G-7/P-8 here July 30 indicates that the world's industrialized nations
plus Russia (the P-8) will seek action by the International Civil
Aviation Organization (ICAO) in negotiating and adopting uniform
strict international standards for airport bomb detection and
heightened security measures at airports.
In view of terrorist attacks on air, rail, subway, and bus transport
systems, the Eight also agreed to the following other U.S. proposals
to help prevent and solve terrorist crimes:
"Explosive identification: The Eight will work together and urge
nations to cooperate to track more closely the manufacture, sale,
transport, and resale of explosives to keep them out of terrorists'
hands, as well as to tag explosives in order to speed up
investigations. The United States will share with other nations
ongoing research and regulations we are developing."
Following is the official text of the Fact Sheet:
(Begin text)
Under the leadership of President Clinton, the United States has
pressed an international campaign to combat terrorism. Commitments
made at Paris build on principles agreed upon at the June 1996 Lyon
Summit, as well as the Halifax Summit and Ottawa Ministerial in 1995
(see background below).
Paris Achievements. The July 30 Ministerial Meeting on Terrorism in
Paris was the latest in a series of international meetings in which
the Eight (the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy,
Japan, and Russia) endorsed 25 explicit ways to enhance cooperation in
the fight against terrorism and transnational crime. The members of
the Eight urged all states to join in these efforts. At Paris, the
Eight committed to strengthen counterterrorism cooperation by
improving security procedures, prosecuting and punishing terrorists,
tightening border controls, expanding international treaties outlawing
terrorism, and preventing terrorists' fundraising. At the urging of
the United States, the Eight agreed to ensure implementation of the 25
measures "without delay" and called on terrorism experts to meet
before the end of the year to assess the implementation of the
initiatives.
Among the most notable new achievements of Paris are the following:
Protecting Mass Transportation: In view of terrorist attacks on air,
rail, subway, and bus transport systems, the Eight agreed to the
following U.S. proposals to help prevent and solve terrorist crimes:
-- Safety standards: The Eight will seek action by the International
Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) in negotiating and adopting uniform
strict international standards for airport bomb detection and
heightened security measures at airports.
-- Explosive identification: The Eight will work together and urge
nations to cooperate to track more closely the manufacture, sale,
transport, and resale of explosives to keep them out of terrorists'
hands, as well as to tag explosives in order to speed up
investigations. The United States will share with other nations
ongoing research and regulations we are developing.
-- Vehicle identification: The Eight will urge all car producing
nations to adopt a common standard for labeling vehicles and parts.
Identifying the parts of the trucks used to deliver the Oklahoma City
and World Trade Center bombs proved critical in those investigations.
-- Passenger manifests: The Eight will urge nations to work to
standardize passenger manifests in order to speed up retrieval of
passenger information; name, nationality, countries of travel origin
and destination, method of payment, and nature of travel documents all
offer critical information.
-- Cargo manifests: The Eight also will urge nations to standardize
cargo manifests. Tracking cargo for content, manufacturer, origin,
destination, shipper, importer, and ultimate purchaser helps both to
deter attacks through heightened security awareness and to trace
packages or freight used in an attack.
-- Implementation: To ensure rapid implementation of these
initiatives concerning mass transportation, the Eight agreed to a U.S.
proposal that its experts will meet by November to follow-up on the
aggressive implementation of these initiatives.
Declaring Terrorist Bombings an International Crime: International
agreements exist which outlaw attacks on air and maritime
transportation, but no international agreement outlaws terrorists
bombing attacks, for example, on public buildings or ground
transportation. The Eight agreed to:
-- Draft and negotiate an international treaty requiring nations to
prosecute or extradite all terrorists who carry out bombings or other
acts threatening public safety.
-- The Eight agreed to a U.S. proposal that legal experts from the
Eight will convene by November to discuss a draft treaty, on which
negotiations would begin soon at the United Nations.
Criminalizing Possession of Biological Weapons: To deal with the
threat of terrorist use of biological weapons, states must act to
outlaw individuals' possession or use such deadly tools; the existing
Biological Weapons Convention only expressly prohibits abuse by
nations, not individuals or groups. The Eight agreed to:
-- Urge members of the Biological Weapons Convention, when they meet
in September to review the convention, to commit themselves to outlaw
the individual use or possession of these weapons.
-- Attorney General Reno called on all states to act as soon as
possible to address this pressing issue.
Stopping Terrorists from Using Encryption: Terrorists' use of
encrypted computer communications hampers investigators' speed in
averting planned attacks and apprehending those responsible. The
Eight agreed to:
-- Call on participating countries to develop and adopt uniform
encryption technology that allows law enforcement officials to crack
terrorists' codes.
-- Attorney General Reno urged the OECD to complete its work on this
issue by February.
Further U.S. Steps and Assistance: In addition to the steps announced
by the Eight, the United States urge all interested states to join us
in going even further in fighting terrorism and transnational crime.
We pledge to move forward with this joint effort in two technical
areas:
-- Forensic database: The FBI will explore the initiation of a
forensic science database, which would serve as a clearinghouse for
evidence on terrorist crimes. We will consult with police agencies of
the Eight within 90 days about this plan.
-- Explosive taggants: We will share with other nations the results
of our ongoing research into explosive taggants, as well as taggant
regulations we are developing.
Background on Halifax, Ottawa, and Lyon Meetings
At Halifax: In June 1995, the Eight leaders met at the Halifax Summit
and adopted broad principles to combat terrorism. These were
developed further at the Ottawa Ministerial on Terrorism (December
1995). The Ottawa Declaration called on all nations to:
-- ratify the major international anti-terrorism agreements by 2000;
-- limit terrorist fund-raising;
-- strengthen border security;
-- stop trafficking of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons;
-- strengthen protection of aviation, maritime and other
transportation systems against terrorism;
-- intensify international training efforts and information sharing by
governments to help protect public facilities against terrorist
attacks.
At Lyon: At the June 1996 Lyon Summit, the Eight endorsed 40
practical steps that all governments should take to combat
international crime and terrorism, and authorized their Experts Group
to take specific actions on these recommendations in each of these
areas prior to the 1997 Denver Summit. In particular, they urged
cooperation to:
-- bring international criminals and terrorists to justice, through
extradition or effective prosecution;
-- stop the laundering of ill-gotten gains and funding for criminal
and terrorist acts;
-- protect national boundaries from criminal trespass;
-- safeguard the hi-tech communications central to international
commerce and cooperation.
(End text)
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