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| Europe |
| Interpol chief says police must head off bio-terrorism threat |
| 2005-05-26 |
| The head of Interpol told a European regional conference of law enforcement chiefs Wednesday police around the world must be fully equipped to deal with the possible threat of a bio-terrorism attack. "We have to look forward and prepare for new threats," the organisation's president Jackie Selebi said in an opening address to Interpol's annual conference held in Nicosia. He said Interpol's latest anti-terrorism initiative was a global programme to enhance the preparedness of law enforcement organisations to prevent and deal with bio-terrorism. "We, as police, cannot afford to be unprepared for the eventual use of biological agents by terrorist groups." The international law enforcement body head warned that failing to combat bio-terrorism and its capability to inflict mass casualties was not an option. "The consequences of such failure are too dire to contemplate," he said. Selebi, attending his first regional conference since being appointed last October, said Interpol was now addressing a threat that had been "underestimated" for far too long. But at a later news conference he was careful not to suggest that any bio-terrorism attack was imminent or inevitable. "I don't think Interpol holds any information that this particular country on this particular day, that this is going to happen. We simply are saying we need to be prepared for every and any eventuality," he said. With better cooperation between 182 member states and the use of a secure high-tech global communications system, Interpol says it is becoming more effective in the fight against international terrorism. Some 144 countries -- including all 46 from Europe -- are connected to Interpol's global communication system called I-24/7 allowing them to respond quicker to crises and alert each other about dangerous fugitives. A total of 117 member countries have shared information on suspected terrorists under Interpol's Fusion Task Force project. The result has been that the database had increased "dramatically" to more than 8,000 suspects, compared to information on only 2,000 individuals a few years ago. International police cooperation is about denying terrorists the opportunity to prepare and carry out attacks, or escape justice by going from one country to other, said Selebi. "The fight against terrorism lies with the police. They, and only they, can fight terrorism because they can detect, investigate and send them to jail." Top law enforcement officials from across Europe have gathered in Nicosia for Interpol's annual general meeting focused on international crisis coordination, such as the recent Asian tsunami, and transborder crime. Delegates for the three-day meeting will also look at people and drugs trafficking as well as international organised crime. The easternmost outpost of the European Union since its accession to the wealthy bloc in May last year, Cyprus itself complains of a meteoric rise in the number of migrants from Africa and Asia seeking asylum in its territory. |
| Posted by:Spavirt Pheng6042 |
| #1 Must ?!? The poor ones, too? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-05-26 01:40 |