New York  - The United States said Tuesday it was ready to strengthen the United Nations' capability to play a "central role" in fighting terrorism around the world.

The position taken by Washington's envoy to the UN, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, come days after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India's financial centre, that killed close to 200 people.

"The US strongly supports a central role of the UN in the global fight against terrorism and wants to strengthen the UN's ability and resolve to play a constructive and effective role," Khalilzad said during a special session of the UN Security Council to discuss global security and international terrorism.

He urged UN members to work in close cooperation "to create a less permissive operating environment for terrorists."

"We urge all member states to comply with their international obligations to deny terrorist safe havens and to bring to justice those who finance, plan, facilitate or perpetrate terrorist acts," he said.

The administration of US President George W Bush has called on the UN Security Council to impose financial sanctions against several prominent Pakistanis for their alleged support of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistani militant group believed to be responsible for the Mumbai attacks, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

Washington was apparently focusing on some former or current leaders of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency for their role in the attacks.

Khalilzad said the Mumbai attacks targeted civilians, which served as a reminder that no regions in the world can escape terrorists.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the world organization is well placed to play a "central role" in fighting terrorism.

He warned that those armed with planes and guns today could come back with "more potent" force tomorrow and urged UN members to work together to fight global terrorism. (dpa)