MOSCOW, September 9 (RIA Novosti) – The United States has presented a draft resolution to the UN Security Council late Monday, demanding that countries take measures to prevent the flow of fighters to terrorist and extremist groups like the Islamic State and the al-Nusra Front though tough criminal penalties for citizens going to fight and those supporting them, Reuters reported.
The draft affirms that countries should do everything they can to “prevent and suppress the recruiting, organizing, transporting or equipping” of foreign fighters, and to “establish serious criminal offenses” for fighters “in a manner duly reflecting the seriousness of the offense.”
Presented by the US to the 14 other members of the Security Council, the draft resolution will be voted on at a high level meeting chaired by US President Barak Obama later this month. US officials showed confidence that there was a wide consensus on the matter of combatting foreign fighters, and that subsequently there is a good chance of the resolution being passed, Reuters reports.
If passed, the resolution would be legally binding on the 193 member states of the UN, with refusal to follow its ruling carrying with it the risk of economic sanctions.
The resolution is said to have been inspired by the growing problems caused in fighters fueling conflicts in the Middle East, particularly in the Islamic State, a self-proclaimed caliphate in areas of Iraq and Syria, and the Al-Qaeda front al-Nusra in Syria.
The Security Council has already unanimously adopted earlier a British-proposed resolution targeting ISIS and al-Nusra, condemning fighter recruitment and threatening sanctions against people who finance or facilitate fighter travel.
