SINGAPORE, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Ronald Noble, Secretary-General of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol), Monday urged all countries to set up bio-terrorism related legislation.

    Noble made the remarks at the Interpol Asian Regional Workshop on Preventing Bio-terrorism which opened here earlier on the day, according to Channel NewsAsia report.

    Noting that the al Qaeda terrorist organization is planning to engage in biological warfare, Noble urged countries to have such legislation that allows the police to investigate scientific activities carried out in their respective countries which may result in the manufacturing of bio-terrorist weapons.

    Noble also said that police forces worldwide need to be trained to know how to investigate bio-terrorism related cases and how to handle such an attack.

    Senior police and government officials from 26 Asian countries, as well as scientific and health experts from around the world, got together at the three-day close-door workshop.

    The aim of the workshop is to enhance regional cooperation in dealing with bio-terrorism and to form a more coordinated national, regional and international response system to the threat.

    Interpol, the world's largest international police organization with 184 members, planned to organize three such regional workshops around the world after its inaugural Global Conference on Preventing Bio-terrorism held in Lyon, France, in March last year.

    The Asian regional workshop is the second of the three. The first one was held in South Africa's Cape Town in November 2005, and Chile will host the third, the Americas workshop, in July this year. Enditem