عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Arab World

OIC Stresses its Rejection of All Forms of Terrorism

The OIC stressed the need to combat all terrorist groups and organizations.
The OIC stressed the need to combat all terrorist groups and organizations.
TT
20
TT

OIC Stresses its Rejection of All Forms of Terrorism

The OIC stressed the need to combat all terrorist groups and organizations.
The OIC stressed the need to combat all terrorist groups and organizations.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) stressed on Tuesday the need to combat all terrorist groups and organizations wherever they are, adding that terrorism constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, including international humanitarian law and human rights law.

The announcement came during the statement delivered by Saudi Arabia on behalf of the OIC Group before the Sixth Committee of the General Assembly on “Measures to eliminate international terrorism,” held in New York on Tuesday.

Nidaa Abu Ali, First Secretary of the Permanent Mission of Saudi Arabia to the UN, said the OIC Group condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, regardless of the motivations, the identity of the perpetrator and the location it was committed.

“The Group reaffirms that terrorism could not be associated with any religion, race, faith, theology, values, culture or society,” Abu Ali said, reiterating the OIC’s respect for sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of all states in accordance with the UN Charter.

The Group also strongly condemned any attempt to link Islam with terrorism to achieve narrow interests.

“The OIC firmly rejects targeting Muslim minorities during COVID-19, blaming them for the local transmission of the virus,” Abu Ali said.

She reiterated the importance of promoting dialogue, understanding and cooperation among religions, cultures and civilizations for peace and harmony in the world, welcoming all regional and international initiatives and efforts to that end.

“The Group believes that it is essential to follow a comprehensive approach in combating terrorism by addressing the root causes of terrorism, including the unlawful use of force, aggression, foreign occupation, festering international disputes and political marginalization and alienation,” she said.

She added that the Group believes that it is essential that Member States bolster their cooperation and coordination with the aim of prosecuting the perpetrators of the terrorist acts and preventing providing any finance, safe havens, assistance or weapons to terrorist groups and organizations.

She said the OIC looks forward towards the convening of a second-high level conference under the auspices of the UN in order to formulate joint organized response by the international community to terrorism in all its forms.

Most Viewed

 
Arab World

A British TV Art Expert Who Sold Works to a Suspected Hezbollah Financier is Sentenced to Prison

FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
TT
20
TT

A British TV Art Expert Who Sold Works to a Suspected Hezbollah Financier is Sentenced to Prison

FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa
FILED - 27 October 2023, Iran, Chomein: A woman sorts flags of the Lebanese Hezbollah militia in a factory. Photo: Arne Immanuel Bansch/dpa

An art expert who appeared on the BBC's Bargain Hunt show was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison for failing to report his sale of pricey works to a suspected financier of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group.
At a previous hearing, Oghenochuko Ojiri, 53, had pleaded guilty to eight offenses under the Terrorism Act 2000. The art sales for about 140,000 pounds ($185,000) to Nazem Ahmad, a diamond and art dealer sanctioned by the UK and US as a Hezbollah financier, took place between October 2020 and December 2021. The sanctions were designed to prevent anyone in the UK or US from trading with Ahmad or his businesses, The Associated Press said.
Ojiri, who also appeared on the BBC’s Antiques Road Trip, faced a possible sentence of five years in prison in the hearing at London’s Central Criminal Court, which is better known as the Old Bailey.
In addition to the prison term, Justice Bobbie Cheema-Grubb said Ojiri faces an additional year on license — a period of time after a prison sentence ends when an offender must stay out of trouble or risk going back to prison.
She told Ojiri he had been involved in a commercial relationship “for prestige and profit” and that until his involvement with Ahmad, he was “someone to be admired.”
“You knew about Ahmad’s suspected involvement in financing terrorism and the way the art market can be exploited by someone like him," she said. "This is the nadir — there is one direction your life can go and I am confident that you will not be in front of the courts again.”
The Met’s investigation into Ojiri was carried out alongside Homeland Security in the US, which is conducting a wider investigation into alleged money laundering by Ahmad using shell companies.
“This prosecution, using specific Terrorism Act legislation, is the first of its kind and should act as a warning to all art dealers that we can, and will, pursue those who knowingly do business with people identified as funders of terrorist groups,” said Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
Ahmad was sanctioned in 2019 by the US Treasury, which said he was a prominent Lebanon-based money launderer involved in smuggling blood diamonds, which are mined in conflict zones and sold to finance violence.
Two years ago, the UK Treasury froze Ahmad’s assets because he financed Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shiite militant organization that has been designated an international terrorist group.
Following Ojiri's arrest in April 2023, the Met obtained a warrant to seize a number of artworks, including a Picasso and Andy Warhol paintings, belonging to Ahmad and held in two warehouses in the UK The collection, valued at almost 1 million pounds, is due to be sold with the funds to be reinvested back into the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the Home Office.