UNITED NATIONS?Arab nations pledged Tuesday to eradicate terrorism but demanded independence for Palestinians, whom they called ?victims of modern terrorism.?

The debate came during the second day of a week-long session of the U.N. General Assembly to discuss terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks against the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon.

Pakistan, which has pledged support for the U.S. campaign to punish Osama bin Laden and his network blamed by Washington for the attacks, also warned that the West must do more to eliminate world poverty, which it said breeds extremists.

Diplomats from Yemen, Sudan, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, as well as the Palestinian envoy, endorsed a new Security Council resolution requiring all 189 U.N. member states to stop giving money, support or sanctuary to terrorists.