Rivals Microsoft and Google are working together to fight the use of the internet to recruit terrorists and criminals, the UN said. In a two-day meeting in Seattle, led by the UN Working Group, Google, Microsoft, Cisco and Symantec worked out ways to stop the world wide web being used to recruit terrorists and for other crime.

In a statement Richard Barrett, the co-chair of the group said  there has been a "high level of crime on the internet". "It is essential that you bring in the private sector, which is an essential partner in moving forward" in the fight against terrorism on the internet, Barrett said.

Laborde said discussion on fighting terrorism on the internet should involve more UN departments and governments, as well as the European Union and the Council of Europe to tackle the terrorism-internet connection.

It is not clear what the software giants came up with as a plan to squash terror on the net.