By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- As the UN Security Council's Counter-terrorism Committee begins the second phase of its work, its chairman has announced a rigorous work schedule that he says is necessary because "there is no time to be lost" in dealing with terrorism worldwide.

The committee was set up by Security Council resolution 1373 adopted on September 28, 2001. The resolution requires nations, among other things, to criminalize terrorist activities, freeze the funds and financial assets of terrorists and their supporters, ban others from making funds available to terrorists, and deny safe haven to terrorists. The committee is to monitor implementation, and it set December 27 as the deadline for states to submit an initial report on what they have done to comply with the resolution.

In the next 90 days, or second phase of its work, the committee will review and respond to all the reports, giving recommendations on what each country should do to ensure that terrorists cannot operate in its territory.

At a press conference January 10, British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, chairman of the Security Council's Counter-terrorism Committee, said the committee received reports from 117 of the UN's 189 member states, a 62 percent response, and that he was "satisfied that it is an extremely good start."

"The history of the UN in getting member states to respond to requirements of this kind is a mixed one," he noted. "We consider it pretty well if we get 50 percent to respond with a complex report of this kind by the due date."

Greenstock said that the committee does require reports from all member states and will contact those who have not yet submitted theirs.

In the meantime, the ambassador said, the committee and a group of experts appointed by the UN secretary general to assist the committee "have more than enough (work) to start."

"The overall objective of the work we are doing is long-term in its nature and is aimed at raising the average global standard of government action against terrorism," Greenstock said. That is in contrast to the "shorter term, high profile, and extremely important action that has been taken in Afghanistan" after the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11.

"Behind the basically military approach to the perpetrators of the September 11 attacks must come a stronger performance against terrorism in all its aspects worldwide and indefinitely into the future by all members of the United Nations," the ambassador said. "That is what (resolution) 1373 is all about."

"A global consensus on how to deal with terrorism is absolutely vital, otherwise the practitioners of terrorism will just dive into those areas where they find greater protection," he said. To have 95 percent of the world's territory protected against terrorism "is not enough if the 5 percent that's left is able to foster, and protect and supply and finance terrorists."

The committee itself will not deal directly with acts of terrorism but will be a "coordinating mechanism, a monitoring mechanism (and) also a stimulant and catalyst for the UN member states to raise their game against terrorism," Greenstock said.

The Counter-terrorism Committee is made up of representatives of the 15 countries currently sitting on the Security Council: the five permanent members of China, France, Great Britain, Russia and the United States plus the 10 nonpermanent members of Colombia, Ireland, Mauritius, Norway, Singapore, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Guinea, Mexico and Syria.

The committee has been divided into three subcommittees of five members each. UN member states' reports have been assigned to one of the subcommittees alphabetically. No country will be on the subcommittee reviewing its own report, the ambassador said. Each subcommittee is expected to review 5 reports a week for the next ten weeks.

The subcommittee will invite the member state whose report it is reviewing to be present for the discussion. Afterward the subcommittee will prepare a letter with recommendations to the country that will be reviewed by the committee as a whole before being sent to on to capitals, he said.

"I'm driving them hard both because there is no other way to get through the immense paper load at this time than to go for it," Greenstock said. "Secondly, we haven't got time on this subject."

"There is stuff out there that needs to be dealt with, and it is the obligation of member states to deal with it on their territory, and that obligation has got to be realized and made effective everywhere. There is no time to be lost," the ambassador said.

"It is very important that the Counter-terrorism Committee should establish its cooperative, helpful, transparent, open relationship with member states to try to keep going the excellent response we've had since the 11th of September worldwide on the need to address terrorism operationally and comprehensively," he said.

The ambassador said that he didn't think any state "will be absolutely 100 percent on the ball in terms of (resolution) 1373."

"Even the United Kingdom has had to change its laws and has work to do to meet all the requirements of 1373. I would say the United States is in the same position. Nobody is perfect," he said.

Greenstock said he expects there will be one category of nations that won't need a great deal of follow-up. In a second category, he said, there will be "a majority of states who will be very keen to have a clean nose...but will have a lot of work to get there and will want a lot of assistance in getting there. Then (there will be) probably a minority of member states who will need some persuasion to reach the stages of full compliance with 1373, and we will have to go through a number of rounds."