Shanghai Five Vow to Fight Terrorism JointlyThe police and security chiefs of the "Shanghai Five" countries: Russia, China, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Tajikistan decided Friday to develop a joint strategy for combating the most dangerous types of crimes, primarily terrorism.Terrorism, extremism and separatism can be halted only by means of joint efforts, "by combining all efforts into one fist," Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Rushailo told an extraordinary meeting of the chiefs, who conferred to draft documents for the Dushanbe summit of the Shanghai Five due in May. The spread of terrorism in Central Asia and the North Caucasus has seriously destabilized the regional situation, and it can be curbed much more effectively through international anti-terrorist cooperation, said the minister. Other delegations' leaders expressed support for Rushailo's stand in their speeches and stressed the need for more energetic efforts against manifestations of transnational terrorism and drug trafficking. The so-called Bishkek Group, comprising the heads of law enforcement agencies and special services of the five states, approved an appeal to the Shanghai-5 heads of state for stepping up their interaction in the law enforcement sphere. The document contains specific proposals extending interaction in the law enforcement field, including a five-nation program on combating crime in concrete aspects and a five-nation treaty on this. During the group's meeting, measures were discussed to increase the efficiency of interaction among these countries' law enforcement agencies and special services in struggling against terrorism, arms and drugs trafficking and illegal migration. An agreement was also reached to create and use the five-nation basis to further develop such cooperation. Each of the participants of the Moscow meeting noted that the country they represent "has its own experience in combating terrorism." Head of the Chinese delegation Public Security Minister assistant Zhu Entao said China fully rejects terrorism in all its forms and supports Russia's efforts to keep the country's integrity as well as the counter-terrorist operation in the Chechen republic. Rushailo said that the results of the meeting "are not only of Russian, but also of international significance." |
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