BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, May 3rd 2011 – Australia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Kevin Ruud said Wednesday terrorism is an enemy of all democracies and large and small countries around the world must remain vigilant following the death of the World’s Most Wanted Terrorist Osama bin Laden.
“Terrorism is an enemy of all democracies. It does not matter where you are in small democracies or in large democracies because they are all the enemies of freedom and seek to use violence to intimidate,” Ruud told reporters in Basseterre, the St. Kitts capital following a meeting with St. Kitts and Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas.
Ruud, a former Australian prime minister, who assumed the post of Foreign Minister in September, told reporters on the steps of Government Headquarters with Prime Minister Douglas next to him that he was in Washington over the weekend to discuss with United States Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates recent actions taken by the US authorities in relation to Osama bin Laden.
“We across the world must cooperate to bring terrorists like Osama bin Laden to justice and that is bringing mass murderers to justice. All countries in the world – small and large – through their intelligence agencies, through their national security agencies, must remain vigilant in the immediate period ahead in dealing with the continued challenges of terrorism. Terrorism is not about to go away. It is a real and continuing problem,” said Mr. Ruud.
He said the onus is on all nations and its people “particularly in democracies to have our agencies work seamlessly to deal with this challenge in the future, to minimize the risk and to maximize our people’s security.”
Ruud and his delegation are in the St. Kitts capital to attend the 14th Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Foreign and Community Relations (COFCOR). He was making a presentation to the group before leaving Wednesday afternoon.
Photo: Australian Foreign Minister Hon. Kevin Ruud (right), speaks to the local media on the steps of Government Headquarters following a meeting with St. Kitts and Nevis' Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil L. Douglas (left).
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