Opening annual session, General Assembly condemns terror attacks against US 12 September – Opening its annual session at United Nations Headquarters in New York, the General Assembly today expressed its outrage at Tuesday's terrorist attacks against the United States and called for international cooperation to bring the their perpetrators, organizers and sponsors to justice.

In the first resolution of its fifty-sixth session, the Assembly strongly condemned "the heinous acts of terrorism which have caused enormous loss of human life, destruction and damage in the cities of New York - host city of the United Nations - Washington, D.C. and elsewhere."

The Assembly stressed that "those responsible for aiding supporting or harbouring the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of such acts will be held accountable." It also expressed its solidarity with the people and Government of the United States "in these sad and tragic circumstances."

Addressing the Assembly session, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called this "a dark day for the United States, and indeed for the whole world."

"Our host country, and this wonderful host city that has been so good to us over the five decades have just been subjected to a terrorist attack such as we had hardly dared to imagine even in our worst nightmares," said Mr. Annan. He added that it was difficult to find words to express "our sense of grief and outrage, our profound sympathy for the untold numbers of injured and bereaved, and our solidarity" with the people and the Government of the United States.

Mr. Annan stressed that all nations of the world must be united in their solidarity with the victims of terrorism, as well as in their determination to take action, both against the terrorists themselves and against all those who give them any kind of shelter, assistance or encouragement.

For his part, Ambassador James Cunningham of the United States expressed gratitude to those who had extended sympathy to his country, and offered particular thanks to the Secretary-General for urging a firm and united response to the tragedy. "I appreciate the support and condolences expressed by the UN membership, and the condemnation and their sense of resolve," he said. "Together, we've demonstrated - here today in the historic hall of the General Assembly - that we are united and strong in the face of terror."

Following the adoption of the resolution, the representative of Azerbaijan called for the UN to establish a blood donation centre for diplomats. "We, the United Nations diplomatic community, are not only parking rule violators - we do love this city, we love New York, and we want to help it." He requested the Secretary-General to use the UN Medical Service to organize a blood donation so that diplomats could make "our modest contribution to the ongoing New York City rescue process."

The proposal was met by a round of applause, after which Mr. Annan observed, "I think you have had a very good response from the ambassadors and delegates here, and that means that the Medical Service will have no problems, and we will see lots of people queuing up to give blood."

Earlier this afternoon, the General Assembly elected Han Seung-soo, the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea, as President of its fifty-sixth session. The newly elected President joined others in voicing his disgust and outrage at Tuesday's terrorist attacks. He recalled that the UN had been born amid hopes for a lasting peace in the wake of two world wars and expressed his commitment to strengthen the Assembly's role in that effort.

At a news conference following the meeting, the President pledged to meet the challenges facing the Assembly in such areas as peacekeeping, development, curbing the spread of AIDS, and promoting human rights. "This is an ambitious agenda, but not an unrealistic one," he said.

Asked whether the General Assembly's annual general debate - which normally attracts the participation of heads of State and government and other senior officials from around the world - should be postponed under the circumstances, Mr. Seung-soo replied: "I think the general debate will not be postponed, but we do not know how many heads of State will participate in the debate now that the situation has much changed after the terrorist acts yesterday."

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Security Council 'unequivocally' condemns terrorist strikes against US 12 September – In an unprecedented gesture of unanimity, members of the United Nations Security Council today stood up in the Council's chamber to vote for a resolution condemning -- "unequivocally" and "in the strongest terms" -- Tuesday's terrorist attacks against the United States.

By its resolution, the Council expressed its readiness to take all necessary steps to respond to the attacks in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania - and any acts of terrorism - which it called "criminal and unjustifiable."

The Council called on all States to work together urgently to bring to justice the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors, stressing that anyone who aids, supports or harbours those people will be held accountable.

Emphasizing that the attacks represented a threat to international peace and security, the Council called on the international community to redouble its efforts to prevent and suppress terrorist acts by increased cooperation and full implementation of the relevant anti-terrorist conventions and Security Council resolutions.

The Council also expressed its deepest sympathy and condolences to the victims, their families and the people and Government of the United States.

Prior to the adoption of the resolution, individual members of the Council took the floor to voice their outrage, condemning the attacks, urging that the perpetrators be brought to justice, and offering expressions of solidarity and sympathy to the US. In their statements, they echoed the views expressed at the outset of the meeting by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who described yesterday's events as "an attack on humanity as a whole" and urged all nations to join forces in finding the perpetrators.

US Ambassador James Cunningham said his country had suffered a cowardly and evil attack, "but America is not and will not be shaken in its resolve."

"We will grieve and we will heal," Ambassador Cunningham said. "We look to all those who stand for peace, justice and security in the world to stand together with the United States to win the war against terrorism." He warned that the US would make no distinction between the terrorists and those who harboured them, pledging to bring those responsible to account.

"Yesterday's horrifying images burned now into the global memory serve as a constant reminder to all of the need to stamp out this scourge and of the need for determination and action to do so," he said.

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Annan says all nations must join forces to identify perpetrators of terror acts 12 September – Responding with shock and revulsion at the "cold-blooded viciousness" of yesterday's terrorist attacks in the United States, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called on all countries to join forces to root out those responsible.

"All nations of the world must work together to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice," Mr. Annan told a meeting of the Security Council held under what he described as "exceptionally grave circumstances."

"Our host country, and this host city, have been subjected to a terrorist attack which horrifies us all," the Secretary-General said. "We do not yet know the full extent of the damage, but it seems certain that thousands of people have lost their lives and many have suffered dreadful injuries."

The Secretary-General pointed out that "a terrorist attack on one country is an attack on humanity as a whole."

Condemning the attack and those who planned it in the strongest possible terms, Mr. Annan extended "our most profound sympathy" to the victims, to their loved ones, and to the people and Government of the United States. "More than that, we must express our solidarity with the Government and people in this hour of trial," he said.

The Council then observed a moment of silence in memory of the victims of the attacks.

The General Assembly is expected to convene at 3 p.m. to formally open its annual session, postponed from yesterday after the UN was evacuated during the crisis.

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General Assembly postpones special session on children 12 September – In the aftermath of Tuesday's terrorist attacks against the United States, the United Nations General Assembly today decided to postpone its upcoming special session on children.

In a unanimously adopted resolution on the matter, the Assembly did not set a new date for the session, which was to have convened from 19 to 21 September with the expected participation of more than 70 heads of State or government.

Reacting to the decision, the Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), Carol Bellamy, issued a statement pledging to help the world's neediest children "with deepened resolve."

"We are all touched by the events that struck New York and the US on Tuesday," she said. "The City of New York needs to focus its energy on more urgent matters right now."

"We regret the awful circumstances that have caused this summit to be postponed, but if this tragedy makes anything clear, it is that creating and defending a world that is fit for children is hard, hard work," she said, adding, "On days like today, it seems harder."

Her call for re-dedicated efforts on behalf of children was echoed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who urged the Assembly to keep young people's concerns high on its agenda. "The issue is still very much with us," he said. "I think we should stay the course and adopt a concrete agenda for action for this decade."

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Kenya: UN officials condemn attacks against US, voice sympathy for victims 12 September – A top United Nations official in Kenya today condemned the "terrorist atrocities" against the United States and, on behalf of 23 UN agencies represented in Nairobi, expressed sympathy to the people and Government of the US and the families of the victims.

"These terrorist attacks in the United States have shocked the world, they have shocked me and they have shocked UN staff here in Kenya," Klaus Toepfer, Under Secretary-General and Director General of the UN Office at Nairobi, said in a statement.

Yesterday's attacks, he said, had brought back vivid and heart rending memories of the carnage caused in Kenya and Tanzania on 7 August 1998, when terrorist bombs were aimed at the US embassies in Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam, killing 224 people and injuring 4,000 more. "We here in Kenya have direct experience of the misery and grief caused by acts of thoughtless, cowardly, terrorist aggression," the statement said.

Mr. Toepfer offered his deepest sympathy to the families and friends of the victims of the disastrous events that included the attacks against the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C.

"Our hearts and prayers go out to the innocent victims and families who have suffered from these atrocities," he said. "Our thoughts are also with the doctors, nurses, firemen and women and members of the emergency services who have been dealing with the appalling consequences of these attacks. Our prayers are also with George Bush, the US President, and his Government."

"Those terrorists responsible must be caught and brought to trial to answer for these crimes against humanity," Mr. Toepfer said, adding that even though the acts of barbarism occurred on American soil, they were in fact an attack on civilization, democracy and freedom everywhere.

The heads and staff of the 23 UN agencies in Kenya, along with other members of the local and international community, will gather tomorrow at the UN compound in Nairobi for a ceremony in a Garden of Remembrance created in the wake of the 1998 attack. Tomorrow's gathering will show solidarity with the American people and sympathy for the families and victims of the attacks.