IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

U.N. Cracks Down On Flow of Foreign Fighters to Terror Groups

Obama is the only sitting American president to chair the Security Council.
Get more newsLiveon

The U.N. Security Council, at a meeting chaired by President Barack Obama, unanimously passed a resolution Wednesday cracking down on the flow of foreign fighters to militant organizations such as ISIS.

The council voted 15-0 to compel countries to make it a crime for their citizens to travel abroad to fight with militants or recruit other people to do it.

Obama is the only American president to chair a Security Council meeting. He also did it in 2009.

“Resolutions alone will not be enough. Promises on paper can’t keep us safe,” Obama said. “Lofty rhetoric and good intentions will not stop a single terrorist attack. The words spoken here today must be matched and translated into action. Into deeds.”

As representatives from the Security Council government took their turns speaking, President Francois Hollande of France made mention of a countryman who was beheaded by an al Qaeda splinter group.

France has faced terrorism before, Hollande said, and “we have never given in. Every time, we come out of these things more robust with solidarity.”

IN-DEPTH