First Day of UN World Summit – Blair Rallies Support for United Stance Against Terrorism

British Prime Minister Tony Blair addressed the UN World Summit in New York 14th September 2005 and called for the world to unite to defeat terrorism and to ensure that “the future does not belong to fanatics.”
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The largest ever summit of world leaders commenced yesterday 14th September 2005, gathering the world’s most powerful leaders from 191 countries.

It was well publicised that Blair would look to the summit with hope of uniting the world on two fronts; fighting global terrorism and global poverty.

Blair told the UN that terrorists would not be beaten until “our passion for the democratic way is as great as their passion for tyranny.”

“We should not underestimate what we face. This terrorism has disfigured countries in every continent, at every stage of development, with every conceivable mix of races and religions,” Blair passionately said.

The British premier continued stating that the terrorists aims were not just to kill but also to cause “chaos and instability”. He also said that suicide bombers and fanatics even “want us to believe that somehow it is our fault – that their extremism is somehow our responsibility.”
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“They play on our divisions. They exploit our hesitations. This is our weakness and they know it,” Blair rallied.

The United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution proposed by Britain asking for all states to outlaw incitement to terrorism.

US President George Bush supported Blair saying that delegates had a “solemn obligation” to stop terrorism in its early stages. He said, “We must all do all we can to disrupt each stage of planning and support for terrorist acts. Terrorists must know that, wherever they go, they cannot escape justice.”

During a hugely busy first day for Prime Minister Blair at the 2005 UN World Summit, Tony Blair also personally met with some of his fellow leaders, a Downing Street press statement stated.

The press release told that Blair held a 30-minute bilateral meeting with President Bush in which both expressed their will to continue aiding Iraq's transition to democracy and security. They discussed progress made on the Middle East peace process, and the President gave Mr Blair an update on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

Later Blair also met with the President of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf. The two leaders then held a joint press conference to talk about how to deal with terrorists. Mr Blair again described terrorism as “evil and destructive.”

The Prime Minister also met briefly with Russian President Vladimir Putin to continue talks begun at the G8 summit, which took place in Scotland earlier this summer. In addition they also discussed next year's handover of the G8 chairmanship from the Britain to Russia.