The United Nations on Friday condemned "in the strongest terms" the latest terrorist attacks in Egypt and Pakistan, the execution of a Briton in Iraq and the shocking slayings of 335 children and adults in southern Russia. Statements by Secretary General Kofi Annan and the U.N. Security Council were issued a day after three bomb attacks killed more than 30 people in Egypt's Sinai resort area. The 15-nation Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution calling the attacks a threat to peace. "I wish to emphasize yet again that no cause can justify acts of terror perpetrated against civilians," Annan said. Security Council President Emy Jones Parry, the British ambassador, said that the decision-making body believes that terrorism "in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security, and that any acts of terrorism are criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of their motivation, whenever and by whomsoever committed". Parry presided over a Security Council meeting in which its members adopted a resolution first offered by Russia after Chechen insurgents seized a school compound in Beslan, resulting in 335 children and adults killed when Russian troops on stormed the compound on September 6. Explosions inside the school contributed to the massive death toll. --More 2223 Local Time 1923 GMT
