World leaders to take on 'root causes' of terror at NY meet

The one-day conference, "Fighting Terrorism for Humanity," is the joint brainchild of Norwegian Prime Minister Kjell Bondevik and Nobel peace laureate Elie Wiesel.

The stated aim of the gathering -- which will take place on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and will be opened by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan -- is a discussion of the root causes of terrorism.

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"Our aim is that the struggle against terrorism will lead to increased security, and to enhanced understanding, openness and tolerance between cultures and religions," Bondevik said in a statement.

"In the struggle against crime, all agree to the need to prevent, to introduce security measures, to investigate and to arrest offenders. As part of the international struggle against terrorism, it is vital that political leaders also focus on the roots of terrorism," Bondevik said.

Among the 14 leaders who have confirmed their attendance at the summit are French President Jacques Chirac, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George W. Bush have also been invited, but officials at the Norwegian mission to the United Nations said it was more likely that their chief diplomats would attend.

During the conference, the participants will meet with survivors of the September 11, 2001 attacks and other terrorist strikes.

As a starting point for discussions, the conference will use the report of an international panel of terrorism experts which convened in Oslo in June.

The panel sought to debunk certain myths, with wide agreement among the experts that there was only a weak and indirect relationship between poverty and terrorism, and that state sponsorship is not a "root cause" of terrorism.