Patil stresses need for information sharing on terrorism

New Delhi, Sep 15 (UNI) Home Minister Shivraj Patil today stressed the need for exchange of intelligence on terrorism and called upon countries to check free flow of funds collected for financing the scourge and not to provide shelter to terrorists.

In his inaugural address at an International Seminar on Terrorism, organised by the Asia Pacific Chapter of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) here, the Home Minister called for ending the ''open sale'' of weapons and explosives in some countries and pointed out that training of police personnel and development of innovative technologies were critical to combating terrorism and threats from nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

He expressed the hope that such seminars would provide opportunities for cooperation between governments, police and security organisations of different countries to effectively tackle terrorism.

National Security Adviser (NSA) M K Narayanan, in his keynote address, highlighted the global ramifications of terrorism, while elaborating on the particular susceptibilities of Asia on account of its rapid economic growth.

He said the continent faced challenges originating from diverse issues like ethnicity, religion, politics and development, climate change and energy security.

The use of asymmetric warfare, he said, was the most significant challenge. ''The reach of technology, identity politics and the emergence of non-state players had enhanced the vulnerabilities of nation-states,'' he stated.

Stressing on 'zero tolerance' against terrorism, Mr Narayanan said liberal democracy was the strongest answer to terrorism.

Alain Bauer, President, French National Crime Commission, in his presentation, 'New Criminals and Terrorist Threat,' focussed on the need to diagnose and analyse terror acts before looking for solutions.

Highlighting the dangers of customised forms of terrorism, he stressed on the need for strengthening the basic structures of judiciary, police and society for tackling terror.

Obserging that terrorism was basically a policing issue, Mr Bauer said that in addition to sharing compiled data on terrorist outfits, cooperation between countries should extend to timely exchange of actionable intelligence.

Earlier, Director, Intelligence Bureau, P C Haldar, said traditional counter-terrorism strategies needed a review and quick, dynamic and uniform response conforming to national systems.

He said in the fast-changing paradigm of terror, the terrorist remained invisible and exhibited a cross-national spread, spawning intricate networks, with the internet being used as a force multiplier and a resource base for terror cells.

The two-day seminar is being attended by delegates from 13 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, President and key officials of the IACP besides senior security administrators and police officials from terrorism/militancy affected states, officers of Central Para-Military Organisations and analysts/commentators from think-tanks in India.

UNI RB PY KN2121