§ Lord Hyltonasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will ask the Council of Europe, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the NATO Partnership for Peace to consider and to produce agreed standards on how to deal with terrorism and terrorist threats, using the minimum necessary force. [HL205]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (Baroness Scotland of Asthal)We discuss counter-terrorism policy and initiatives in various international fora, including the Council of Europe, the G8 and, more generally, in the OSCE. Discussion of international terrorism also forms part of the workplan for the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which involves NATO and its Partner nations. Whilst each of these organisations has a role to play, we believe it is important that the United Nations, which has already agreed 11 international terrorism conventions, should remain the principal forum for multilateral discussion of terrorism.