The British and American envoys to Guyana yesterday praised the stand taken by Guyana to cooperate with the global coalition against terrorism by implementing provisions of the Money Laundering Act with British High Commissioner, Edward Glover, stressing the need for constant vigilance as it would take time to close down the terrorist networks around the world.

Their remarks were made a press conference they jointly hosted at the US Embassy yesterday to brief the local media corps on the developments in Afghanistan, US Ambassador Ronald Godard noted too, in response to questions from the media that there was no trace so far of money laundering activities on behalf of any terrorist organization either in Guyana or the rest of the Caribbean.

Both envoys recognized the impact of the events of September 11 on the fragile economies of the Caribbean, but offered different solutions as to how they could be assisted to recover.

The US ambassador's solution was the need for the US economy to recover sufficiently so that it could stimulate demand for the products produced in the region and the restoration of public confidence in air transportation so that the American public could resume travelling to destinations in the Caribbean.

Glover said that his government would continue to have a great deal of compassion for the vulnerability of the Caribbean economies and "will do what it can" to assist.

About the measures in place for monitoring persons who enter the US on non-immigrant visas, Godard said that he had not heard of the introduction of any new procedures with respect to Guyanese. However, he said that in his opinion he did expect that there would be some added checks introduced in line with the new security arrangements in the US.

Also, he said that there would be more stringent reviews of the applications for visas from persons in-transit through Guyana.

About the US attack on the Taliban in Afghanistan, about which some concern had been expressed locally, both envoys said that it had been carried out to end its deadly alliance with Osama bin Laden and the al Qaeda terrorists and so deny them a base of operations in Afghanistan. The US ambassador explained that the US had a right under Article 51 of the UN Charter to collectively or by itself to defend itself against armed attacks such as that which occurred on September 11, on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Also, he said that the UN had long recognized the threat to world peace posed by the bin Laden terrorist group as the UN Security Council Resolutions in 1999, 2000 and 2001 attest.

The 1999 resolution (UNSCR 1278) demanded "the Taliban deliver bin Laden to a nation where he is indicted for his terrorist crimes; the 2000 resolution (UNSCR 1333) placed an arms embargo on the Taliban and instructed all member states to freeze the assets of the bin Laden terrorist organisation." The resolution last week condemned the Taliban for allowing Afghanistan to be used as a base for the export of terrorism and for providing a safe haven for Osama Bin Laden and others associated with him.

Both he and Glover denied that it took the events of September 11 for their governments to acknowledge the right of the Palestinians to self-determination. Glover asserted that the UK government had always supported the right of the Palestinians to self-determination, but that the process was a complex one. Godard said that the US administration had been moving in that direction before September 11, and felt it appropriate that President George W. Bush should make the announcement about a Palestinian state at the UN.

Both envoys stressed that the war on terrorism was not a war on Islam, described by Godard as "a religion of peace and love which in no way endorses the atrocities such as occurred on September 11." And Glover, quoting his Prime Minister, Tony Blair, as "one of the world's greatest faiths, so full of compassion, beauty and wisdom." The attacks Glover said, "were the work of terrorists pure and simple."

Glover noted the need for humanitarian aid, which he said would improve as order was restored, as it would be easier to move further supplies, begin to reopen institutions like schools and enable a transitional government to emerge.

Up to the end of last week, Glover said, on average over 2,000 tonnes of food a day was being dispatched in addition to blankets tents and health kits. This, he said, was four times the amount being delivered at the start of October.

About the future of Afghanistan now that the Taliban regime has fallen, the British envoy stressed the need for the links with terrorism to be broken for good. "Our objective is to help the Afghan people create a normal state again and so drive out the terrorists for good."

Afghanistan's future should be in the hands of the Afghan people; a global coalition to help rebuild the country with the United Nations taking the lead and the necessary resources being made available were principles, which he said should guide the political process. Also he stressed: "Any new government must respect internationally agreed norms of behaviour and to be broadbased."

Both Glover and Godard explained that the new anti-terrorist legislation being promulgated was inevitable and necessary to address the threats posed to their societies by global terrorism, which exploit the very freedoms they seek to undermine.

Godard in turn said that there were no easy answers for solving the terrorism problem but that it was clear that only a multilateral response would work as "we face an enemy which respects no borders, assigns no value to human life, is willing to use chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and is unbounded by international law."