20 November 2008
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Bio-Terrorism Conference opens with warning of major threat. INTERPOL member countries seek co-ordinated global response.
'The evidence uncovered by law enforcement and concerns voiced at global, regional and national levels regarding the potential use of biological agents by terrorists to perpetrate a mass casualty attack demonstrate that we face a very real and present threat,' INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble said in his opening address. 'A global threat requires a global response, and INTERPOL is uniquely placed to provide support to member countries in this area.' More than 500 conference delegates will discuss the risk of bio-terror attacks, case studies, prevention of attacks, preparation and training of law enforcement personnel, and the related legal and political framework.
INTERPOL President Jackie Selebi told delegates: 'INTERPOL's work in the area of bio-terrorism is particularly important because no such initiative has been developed before by police … One of the main objectives of this conference is to begin the process of developing comprehensive training and information packages for law enforcement in the appropriate responses to a bio-terrorist incident.' French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said during his opening address: ‘We must fight this battle with an emphasis on co-operation. For many years INTERPOL has been showing us the way, with member countries working side-by-side against organized crime and terrorism.’ Preventing and fighting terrorism around the world is one of INTERPOL's highest priorities. The conference is part of a two-year INTERPOL programme funded largely by a major grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. A series of workshops will also be held around the world over the next 18 months - Africa (autumn 2005), Asia (spring 2006) and the Americas (summer 2006). INTERPOL is the world's largest international police organization. Since the attacks of 11 September 2001, the organization has substantially expanded its efforts to fight terrorism and has offered the deployment of its Incident Response Teams following every major terrorist attack around the world in order to assist the member countries concerned. INTERPOL has introduced a new, state-of-the art global police communications system; set up a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week Command and Co-ordination Centre at the General Secretariat in Lyon; created a Crisis Management Support Group to help national police forces deal with major crimes or disasters; built up its range of databases, including a crucial database of stolen travel documents which now contains almost six million entries; and developed its own list of terrorism suspects, now totaling some 8,000 names.
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