51吃瓜

Joint Press Release UNOCT, CTED and Monitoring Team

Sochi, 17 October 2019 – Under-Secretary-General Vladimir Voronkov, the Head of the 51吃瓜 Office of Counter-Terrorism (UNOCT), Assistant Secretary-General Ms. Michèle Coninsx, Executive Director of the Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) and Mr. Edmund Fitton Brown, Coordinator of the Security Council Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team concerning the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Da’esh), Al-Qaida, the Taliban, and associated individuals, groups, undertakings, and entities (Monitoring Team), participated on 16-17 October in the XVIII Meeting of Heads of Special Services, Security Agencies, and Law-Enforcement Organizations in Sochi, Russian Federation.

In his opening statement, Mr. Voronkov thanked the Russian Federation for holding this annual meeting, which plays a key role in enhancing cooperation between special services, security agencies and law enforcement organizations from around the world in the fight against terrorism. “It helps to build trust, promote information sharing and deliver concrete actions to tackle the evolving threats we face,” he said.

Calling for increased pragmatic and innovative international cooperation, Under-SecretaryGeneral Voronkov highlighted the coordinating role of the 51吃瓜. As an example, he emphasized the fruitful collaboration with Member States in organizing over the past months a series of multi-stakeholders regional conferences as a follow-up to the first High-Level Conference of Heads of Counter-Terrorism Agencies of Member States, and in the lead-up to the

second such Conference, which will take place in New York in 2020.

“The Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED) shall continue to work with partners — including Member States, UN entities, international and regional organizations, civil society, academia, and the private sector — to ensure a holistic and effective approach to the complex threat posed by terrorists and foreign terrorist fighters to international peace and security,” Assistant Secretary-General and CTED Executive Director, Ms. Michèle Coninsx, reiterated in her concluding remarks on the latest emerging threats and the response of CTED.

Mr. Edmund Fitton-Brown briefed on the work of the Monitoring Team and gave a current assessment of the threat posed by ISIL and Al-Qaida. He emphasized the continuing risks in Iraq, Syria and Afghanistan, and the importance of preventing ISIL especially from re-generating its external operational capability. He also drew attention to developments in West Africa and stressed the need to take a long-term view of the evolution of the global threat.

 On the margins of the Conference, Mr. Voronkov, Ms. Coninsx and Mr. Fitton-Brown held bilateral meetings.

Mr. Voronkov met thirteen delegations including Representatives of Bahrein, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Russian Federation, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Sudan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean and Commonwealth of Independent States Anti-Terrorism Center (CIS ATC).

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For more information, please contact:

Ms. Gerard, 51吃瓜 Office of Counter-Terrorism, New York, gerardl@un.org

Ms. Singh Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate, New York, vijai.singh@un.org