UN Proposal Would Punish Iraq and Syria Militants

The following excerpts are from AINA.org:

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Britain has proposed a draft U.N. resolution aimed at punishing recruitment and financing of foreign fighters for the Islamic State militant group now controlling a swath of Syria and Iraq, and all other terrorist groups associated with al-Qaida.

The early draft, obtained Monday by The Associated Press, calls on all countries to take measures to suppress the flow of foreign fighters to these groups and demands the immediate withdrawal of those already in Iraq and Syria.

It also demands that all militants from the Islamic State group, Jabhat al-Nusra, and other al-Qaida linked groups "cease all atrocities and terrorist acts."

The proposed resolution expresses the Security Council's readiness to impose sanctions on those recruiting, supporting and fighting for terrorist groups, and says a list of individuals will be added to the resolution before its adoption.

Council experts met again Monday to go over the text and several diplomats said they hope the resolution can be adopted as soon as the end of this week.

The draft deplores "in the strongest terms" the terrorist acts and "violent extremist ideology" of the Islamic State group and stresses that "widespread or systematic attacks directed against any civilian populations because of their ethnic background, religion or belief may constitute a crime against humanity."

It cites atrocities by the group including mass executions and the killing of Iraqi soldiers, the deliberate targeting of individuals based on their religion or belief, the kidnapping of civilians, forced displacement of minorities, unlawful use of child soldiers, rape, arbitrary detention and destruction of places of worship.

A council diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because consultations are closed, said the United States wants to add a sentence from a press statement adopted by the council last Thursday that singles out the Islamic State group's attacks that forced hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, many from the vulnerable Yazidi and Christian communities, to flee.

The draft resolution urges all countries to meet their obligation under a 2001 resolution adopted immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States to cooperate in bringing the perpetrators, organizers and sponsors of terrorist acts to justice.

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UN Proposal Would Punish Iraq and Syria Militants