CIAO DATE: 11/01

G-7 Declaration on Terrorism

Released at the G-7 Economic Summit in Lyon, France, June 27, 1996.

In the aftermath of the cowardly attack in Dhahran, which took the lives of a large number of American citizens and injured hundreds of innocent people, we, the member countries of the G-7, condemn this barbarous and unjustifiable act and express our wholehearted solidarity with the United States and Saudi Arabia in their terrible ordeal. We pay tribute to the memory of the victims and convey our deepest sympathy to their families, as well as to the American and Saudi peoples. We also condemn other recent terrorist outrages.

These tragedies strengthen us in our conviction that terrorism is a major challenge to all our societies and states today. We reaffirm our absolute condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, regardless of its perpetrators or motives. Terrorism is a heinous crime, and there must be no excuse or exception in bringing its perpetrators to justice.

We proclaim our common resolve to unite our efforts and our determination to fight terrorism by all legal means. In keeping with the guidelines for action adopted by the Eight in Ottawa, we strongly urge all states to deny all support to terrorists. We rededicate ourselves and invite others to associate with our efforts in order to thwart the activities of terrorists and their supporters, including fund-raising, the planning of terrorist acts, procurement of weapons, calling for violence, and incitements to commit terrorist acts. Special attention should be paid to the threat of utilization of nuclear, biological, and chemical materials, as well as toxic substances, for terrorist purposes.

We consider the fight against terrorism to be our absolute priority, and reiterate the necessity for all states to adhere to the relevant international conventions. When implemented, many of the recommendations the Eight will be considering tomorrow to deal with crime will better equip our law enforcement authorities to work together to combat terrorism. And we are resolved to do more: to examine and implement, in cooperation with all states, all measures liable to strengthen the capacity of the international community to defeat terrorism. To that end, we have decided that a ministerial meeting to consider and recommend further actions will be held in Paris, as early as the month of July.