By Jailan Halawi The closing session of the 67th general assembly of the International Police Organisation, Interpol, overwhelmingly adopted the Cairo Declaration for Combating Terrorism. A total of 103 countries out of 109 adopted the declaration, submitted by the host country. The move, according to conference spokesman Maj. Gen. Serag El-Roubi, means that Interpol has decided to "rise to meet the challenge posed by terrorism. This is a very important message to all nations around the world who provide refuge or any other kind of help to terrorists to stop doing so," he said. El-Roubi told Al-Ahram Weekly that Egypt can now give chase to expatriate terrorists by coordinating with the governments of the countries which shelter them. Egypt has already issued "red bulletins" demanding the arrest and extradition of several terrorists. The conference also adopted a strategic development plan to take the organisation into the new millennium. It acknowledged the growing threat of organised crime, international terrorism and money-laundering, Interpol President Toshinori Kanemoto told a news conference. The scheme envisages upgrading police work through the adoption of new technology such as DNA prints, fingerprinting machines and sophisticated databases. The organisation said it would also place greater emphasis on forming alliances with other international anti-crime and regulatory bodies. The plan encourages greater cooperation with regional police authorities. To this end, Interpol signed a memorandum of understanding with the Council of Arab Interior Ministers. Yet,Interpol officials said the extradition of wanted terrorists faced domestic legislative hurdles in some member states which could take two or three years to resolve. "The Cairo Declaration may be small in print but it is big in the message it conveys to member states. It requests them to allow their legislative bodies to seek solutions to this problem [of extraditing terrorists]," Interpol Secretary-General Raymond Kendal said. Egyptian officials said the Libyan delegation was concerned over a clause dealing with the extradition of terrorists. It was not known how Libya voted in the closed session. Libya is under pressure to hand over two of its nationals suspected of bombing a PanAm jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, killing 288 people. The following are highlights of the declaration: -- The member states of Interpol vehemently denounce all acts and methods of terrorist activities wherever they occur and whoever the perpetrators are, and affirm their commitment to implementing all previous decisions in this regard; -- Member states declare their full support for President Hosni Mubarak's proposal to hold an international conference to combat terrorism under the auspices of the United Nations, with the aim of approving an international anti-terrorism strategy; -- Member states will adhere to an international plan that will enhance police and judicial cooperation by removing all obstacles that impede the extradition of criminals and exchanging information on all forms of trade in weapons, explosives and all substances related directly or indirectly to terrorist operations; -- All member states should abide by the principle of international cooperation in combating terrorism by prohibiting the use of their territory to prepare or finance terrorist operations threatening the security of other nations.
