SECRETARY-GENERAL Ban Ki-moon has called the death of Osama bin Laden “a watershed moment” in the global fight against terrorism.
Ban told reporters that the United Nations will continue, with world leaders, to lead the campaign against international terrorism.
The General Assembly has adopted a global counterterrorism strategy, he said, and using that as a basis the United Nations will continue to work with its 192 member states “to completely eradicate global terrorism.”
“The crimes of al-Qaeda touched most continents, bringing tragedy and loss of life to thousands of men, women and children,” he said.
Ban said he was in New York on the “dark day” of September 11, 2001 when the twin towers of the World Trade Center were destroyed in an al-Qaeda attack ordered by bin Laden. At the time, Ban was chief of staff to the General Assembly’s president.
“Personally, I am very much relieved by the news that justice has been done to such a mastermind of international terrorism,” the secretary-general said. “I would like to commend the work and the determined and principled commitment of many people in the world who have been struggling to eradicate international terrorism.”
“The United Nations condemns in the strongest possible terms … terrorism in all its forms, regardless of its purpose and wherever it is committed,” Ban said.
“The death of Osama bin Laden announced by President Obama last night is a watershed moment in our common global fight against terrorism,” he said.
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