Qatar, UN sign MoU to open counter-terrorism office in Doha

ISLAMABAD: Qatar’s Shura Council has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United Nations, represented by the Office of Counter-Terrorism, aiming at providing a framework for cooperation to enhance the role of parliaments in countering terrorism and the conditions related to this phenomenon, and to facilitate cooperation between the two sides in areas of mutual interest.

The office will cover activities of the parliaments of world countries. Diplomatic observers are attaching significance with the development and see it as an enhanced role of Qatar.

According to the Qatar embassy announcement the MoU states that the Shura Council and the UN enter into direct arrangements to establish the Office of the UN Counter-Terrorism Programme in Doha, which will be concerned with the parliamentary participation in preventing and combating terrorism.

The office's headquarters will be in Qatar and its activities will cover the parliaments of world countries. The MoU was signed by Speaker of the Shura Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud and Under-Secretary-General of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov.

Speaker of the Shura Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid Al Mahmoud underlined the role of Qatar in countering terrorism, noting that the establishment of the UN office in Doha affirms the confidence of the international community in the efforts exerted by the State of Qatar under the leadership of Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani to counter terrorism and address its roots and causes, highlighting the essential role of parliaments in preventing and combating terrorism in light of their basic functions in enacting legislation, setting policies, allocating budgets, monitoring government actions, and ensuring the implementation of international pledges related to terrorism.

The Doha-based Office of the UN Counter-Terrorism Programme will provide technical assistance and training to world parliaments in order to build capacity of parliamentarians to better understand and respond to terrorism-related issues.