Many nations not reporting to counterterrorism board

UNITED NATIONS -- More than one-third of the world's countries have failed to submit a report to the United Nations on their counterterrorism measures despite a requirement to do so by the end of December, the British ambassador said Thursday.

As part of the global crackdown on terrorism following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Security Council asked all 189 countries in the United Nations to report the steps they've taken against terrorism.

The reports are to be reviewed by outside experts, but representatives of the 15-member Security Council will decide how to respond to them.

This system could let Security Council member Syria, considered by the United States as a sponsor of terrorism, influence the response to the report by Lebanon. The militant Lebanese Hezbollah group operates freely in Lebanon and Syrian troops are the dominate force there.

In similar reports, Syria and Lebanon made clear they do not view anti-Israel groups operating in the Middle East -- often from their soil -- as terrorist organizations.

British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, who chairs the new Security Council committee on counterterrorism, acknowledged that the lack of an agreed view on what is terrorism is a problem that must be addressed.

The British ambassador played down the number of reports still missing two weeks after the Dec. 27 deadline and said he was pleased that 117 reports had come in. Greenstock said his committee would start "chasing" delinquent countries.