World's police forces urged to share intelligence

In an impassioned speech, Pakistan's Interior Minister Rehman Malik told an annual meeting of Interpol that terrorism, drug trafficking and money laundering need the urgent attention of the world.

Pakistan, a front-line state in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida terrorists, has experienced all three types of crimes firsthand, said Malik, warning that they can quickly spread to the region and the world if not tackled jointly by the international community.

"Terrorists have no boundaries, no religion," he said at the conference of the International Criminal Police Organisation, or Interpol, and the United Nations. "This is the time we have to sit together and put our heads together. The cooperation needs to be even more effective."
The Lyon, France-based Interpol was created in 1923 and is the world's largest international police organisation with 187 member countries. It facilitates cross-border police cooperation and focuses on terrorism, organised crime and the trafficking of drugs, weapons, and humans.

Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, who opened the four-day conference, said that while globalisation may have bought untold benefits to countries, it has also made crime global.