Additional Reporting By Hadi Yahmid, IOL Paris Correspondent

PARIS, October 9 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – A French expert in the Middle East and Islamic affairs has maintained that terrorism combat requires thrashing out political settlements to the problems feeding it.

The word "terrorism" is used now by Western media awkwardly in all contexts without distinction, Alain Gresh, the editor of Le Monde Diplomatique, told IslamOnline.net, commenting on a new UN resolution on terrorism.

The Russian-drafted resolution 1556, adopted unanimously by the Security Council Friday, October 8, aims to bolster international measures against terrorism.

"When the West speaks about terror, it places all operations carried out by Spain’s ETA, Britain’s IRA, Al-Qaeda, Hamas and Hizbullah in one basket," said Gresh.

He noted it has been the custom of colonial powers throughout history to label resistance and national liberation movements as terrorist groups.

"France had called the Algerian national liberation movement terrorist in the past. And now Moscow sees the Chechens are terrorist and Israel says the same about the Palestinians," said Gresh.

"The attacks on the Israelis, for instance, are the result of Israeli violence against the Palestinian people.

"People must be dreaming if they expect an end to what the West calls terror in Palestine without a political solution," said the French expert.

He said terror can only apply to the indiscriminate violence targeting civilians.

"But one has to bear in mind that the word terror was originally coined to indicate ‘terror state’ and not to individual groups."

Controversial Resolution

The new resolution "calls upon states to cooperate fully in the fight against terrorism, especially with those states where -- or against whose citizens -- terrorist acts are committed", reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

It said the aim was to "find, deny safe haven and bring to justice" any "person who supports, facilitates, participates or attempts to participate in the financing, planning, preparation or commission of terrorist acts or provides safe havens."

The most serious debate took place over paragraph three of the 1556 resolution, which was amended twice.

Part of the text called terrorism "criminal acts, including against civilians, committed with the intent to cause death or serious bodily injury, or taking of hostages…".

According to UN diplomats, the two Muslim countries in the council, Algeria and Pakistan, had difficulty accepting the text, saying that "including against civilians" could be construed to include attacks on military targets, running the risk of classifying even national liberation movements as terrorist.

They finally came to back the text with the assurance of other diplomats that as far as the resolution is concerned, it would essentially apply to acts against civilians.

"The key is paragraph three, which states quite clearly that intentional attacks on civilians should be punished," said US Ambassador to the United Nations, John Danforth.

International Fund

The resolution proposes the establishment of "an international fund to compensate victims of terrorist acts and their families ... which could consist, in part, of assets seized from terrorist organizations."

It also establishes a working group made up of members of the council, which will propose practical measures to take against persons associated with terrorist activities, other than those already defined by a committee on sanctions against Al-Qaeda and the Taliban put in place by the UN after the 9/11.

The reference to a possible terrorist list as one measure the working group would consider was dropped at the last minute.

The 15-0 vote culminated weeks of negotiations by Russia, which introduced the resolution after the attack on Beslan, where at least 344 persons, 172 of them children, died in the world's deadliest hostage-taking.

It was co-sponsored by China, France, Germany, Romania and the United States.