Bring perpetrators to justice: UN Security Council

United Nations: The UN Security Council on Thursday condemned the terrorist attacks in Mumbai and urged the international community to cooperate with India to bring perpetrators to justice. The Security Council issued a statement late on Thursday night after day-long consultations over telephone among the 15-members of the most powerful body of the United Nations.

"The members of the Security Council underlined the need to bring perpetrators, organisers, financiers and sponsors of these reprehensible acts of terrorism to justice and urged all States, in accordance with their obligations under international law and relevant Security Council resolutions, to cooperate actively with the Indian authorities in this regard," said the statement issued after the day-long consultations.

With Thursday being Thanksgiving, the United Nations headquarters in New York was officially closed. Given the seriousness of the issue and long-term international implications of the Mumbai terror attacks, members of the Security Council held a series of consultations over phone throughout the day.

Notably most of the ambassadors of the Security Council member nations are currently in Afghanistan as part of a high-profile Security Council delegation.

Expressing condolences to the families of the victims and to the people and Government of India, the statement said: "The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attacks in Mumbai that started on 26 November 2008, which included the taking of hostages and caused numerous deaths and injuries."

Reiterating their determination to combat all forms of terrorism, the Security Council in its reiterated that all acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, and reaffirmed the need to combat by all means, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, threats to international peace and security caused by terrorist acts.

"The members of the Security Council reminded States that they must ensure that measures taken to combat terrorism comply with all their obligations under international law, in particular international human rights, refugee and humanitarian law," it said.