The 2002 INTERPOL Asian Regional Conference opened this morning in Colombo, Sri Lanka. This four day biennial gathering provides the opportunity for over 100 police chiefs and senior law enforcement officers to identify ways to improve professional police co-operation at the international level.

'Crime is increasingly global and increasingly organized. States have little hope of detecting or preventing international crime if they work alone. At this Asian Regional conference, 39 countries are represented: 32 from Asia & the South Pacific, the Middle East & North Africa, with 7 observer countries from Europe and the Americas' said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble, at a press conference this morning.

The Secretary General continued:

'INTERPOL is probably the most democratic international organization in the world. It is based on mutual cooperation between professional police forces. By focusing on actual criminal conduct, INTERPOL is able to maintain cooperative international relations and information sharing even where diplomatic relations between member countries may be fragile.'

Over 2.8 million messages were exchanged through INTERPOL channels during 2001, and over 1300 individuals apprehended following INTERPOL notices and diffusions.

There are three main thrusts to the conference:

• Strategies for strengthening regional co-ordination and co-operation;
  
• Priorities, structures and information sharing systems; key topics are improving communication, resources, using the Internet to fight crime,
  organized criminal trafficking in human beings and terrorism.
  
• Specific crime threats in the region:
  
  • Terrorism ;
    
  • Security at world sporting events, with a focus on the experience of the Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and the forthcoming football World Cup;
    
  • Corruption - global standards for police ethics and conduct;
    
  • Child pornography on the internet ;
    
  • International fugitives;
    
  • Trafficking in Women and children for sexual exploitation.