Dissolution of State Power Can Fuel Terrorism: Rousseff

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff while commenting on the Paris attacks said although there is not one single reason for the rise of terrorism, it can be fueled by what she called “the dissolution of state power”, in veiled criticism of the US campaign to weaken the government of Syrian President Bashar Al Assad.

Rousseff’s comments highlighted the gap between the BRICS countries and the allies of the US and the EU on the Syrian crisis and support for Assad. Although British Prime Minister David Cameron has now stated that the differences over the future of the Syrian President have “reduced” and that the UK government is willing to “compromise”.

Rousseff, alongwith her BRICS partners, have been opposed to Western policies of unilateral intervention in Libya and Iraq, and highlighted the dangers of political and security vacuums which gave rise to such groups as ISIS.

The scourge of terrorism may not owe its origin entirely to poverty, Rousseff said at the G20 Summit in Antalya, Turkey, on Monday while arguing that poverty can make recruitment easier for terrorist groups.

“Nobody thinks there is a single cause for terrorism,” Rousseff said, who also vehemently rejected the connection between terrorism and a single religion.

“No one can label an entire religion as a terrorism sponsor, even though some members – but not the religion itself – can turn out to be violent,” she said.

Rousseff also said that though her country is far from the targets of the Islamic State (IS) militant group, it is not completely safe, especially given the fact that the country is to host the Summer Olympic Games next year, and that the Games have been targeted in the past by terror groups.

Security remains one of the largest concerns for the organization work of the Rio Olympics in 2016, she added. The organisers of the 2016 Olympic Games are expected to review their security arrangements in light of recent events in Paris.

Brazil has in the past few years pushed multilateralism, especially in the foundation of BRICS, and its role in establishing the New Development Bank.

Moscow, and other BRICS capitals, had warned repeatedly against the Western arming of Syrian rebel groups fighting Assad.

The Ufa communique released after the 7th BRICS Summit in Russia earlier this summer said the BRICS “strongly condemn human rights violations by all parties to the conflict” in Syria.

“We emphasize the need for universal adherence to principles and rules of international law in their interrelation and integrity, discarding the resort to “double standards” and avoiding placing interests of some countries above others,” said the document.

At a press conference following the G20 Summit in Antalya on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has shared Russian intelligence data on Islamic State financing with his G20 colleagues.

“I gave examples based on our information about individuals financing various Islamic State subgroups in different countries. We have established that financing is coming from 40 countries, including G20 countries. We discussed this issue,” Putin told journalists.

“We discussed the need to implement the relevant UN Security Council resolution, which was adopted on Russia’s initiative, on preventing financing of terrorism, unlawful trade in objects of art after terrorists pillage museums in the territories they seize, and unlawful sale of oil and petroleum products and earnings from this sale,” he added.