TASHKENT, June 13 (Xinhua) -- The regional anti-terror agency of the Shanghai
Cooperation Organization (SCO) has been successful since it was put into
motion here two years ago, said Vyacheslav Kasimov, director of the agency's
executive committee.
In an interview with Xinhua ahead of the 2006 SCO summit to he held in
Shanghai on Thursday, Kasimov said his agency has effectively carried out
international anti-terror cooperation, adopted early-warning and prevention
measures to help keep the overall security situation of SCO member countries
stable.
According to the plans outlined by the Astana summit last July, the
anti-terror agency coordinated military drills in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and
Kyrgyzstan with an eye on boosting the SCO states' capability to deal with
emergencies situations, Kasimov said.
The Tashkent-based agency hosted a meeting of SCO member countries on
fighting money laundering and financial terrorism last December on which all
participants vowed to strengthen cooperation, the official added.
The agency spared no efforts to collect information about extremist
organizations and terror suspects and posted the blacklist on the website,
Kasimov said, adding the agency also established working relations with other
regional anti-terror groups and relevant UN agencies.
But the official noted that the legal basis for the agency is still in the
buildup process. At Thursday's summit, the heads of state are expected to sign a
cooperation compendium on fighting the "three evil forces" during the 2007-2009
period, he said.
As for the future priorities of the regional anti-terror agency, Kasimov
said the most important task is to set up a security database to improve
information analysis against terror.
The SCO body was set up in June 2004 to facilitate cooperation among the
six SCO member states in their fight against terrorism, separatism and
extremism.
The SCO groups China, Russia and four Central Asian countries --Kazakhstan,
Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. Enditem
