September 12, 2008	Friday	Ramazan 11, 1429

BRUSSELS, Sept 11: The European Union’s anti-terrorism coordinator said on Thursday that the EU was preparing to help poorer countries like Pakistan, Algeria and Morocco combat terrorist groups better.

Gilles de Kerkhove said the EU was drafting a plan at the request of the United Nations to help poorer countries meet UN anti-terror resolutions.

Measures passed by the United Nations after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington bound UN members to freeze the assets of terrorism suspects and groups and institute tougher border controls.

Mike Smith, executive director of the UN’s Counter-Terrorism Committee, said the UN was eager to tap the expertise of richer nations and those with a history of terror attacks to help other UN members that were struggling to put in place important anti-terrorism measures.

“There are many parts of the world where even the basic governing capacity is so weak that it’s virtually impossible to build these complex (anti-terror) structures,” Mr Smith said.

De Kerkhove said aid could include training police and judicial officials, and sending experts on how to prevent the radicalization of religious schools.

He gave no estimates on how much money EU governments would make available.

He said the EU’s executive office, the European Commission was already providing assistance to 80 countries around the world to bolster anti-terror measures.

And he said he would visit Pakistan in December to assess what needs that country needed to combat Taliban and Al Qaeda groups.—AP