MOSCOW (RIA Novosti commentator Vasily Zubkov) - Russia was one of over a hundred countries that attended the recent Eleventh UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Bangkok.
When commenting on the results of the congress, Ambassador Anatoly Safonov, the special representative of the Russian president for international cooperation in the fight against terrorism and organized crime, highlighted several key moments.
He said the approach to terrorism and organized crime, which is linked to it, had changed only after some Muslim countries reviewed their position on the problem. In particular, many of them have assumed a negative view to private charitable foundations, which are involved in financing international terrorists across the world, including in Russia.
"We were seriously concerned that various funds and religious organizations were used for financing terrorist organizations," Safonov said.
The special representative added that the more frequent merger of international organized crime and terrorist organizations, some of which are small and not widely known, has alarmed the world community. According to him, the organizers of the Madrid terrorist attack did not have to pay much, as street drug pushers provided the money.
But the global drug network is receiving enormous revenues from the post-Taliban Afghanistan. The record-high opium harvests of the past few years, gathered despite the substantial international force deployed in that country, are a major headache for drug enforcement agencies. The military and economic methods cannot solve the problem.
This situation is particularly dangerous for Russia, which is located in direct proximity to the region. Up to 15% of pure Afghan heroin is transported by the so-called Northern Route, say the Russian security agencies. The bulk of it goes south to Iran, Turkey, by sea to Africa and on to the U.S. Kosovo has become a major drug crossroads in Europe.
Meanwhile, the drug barons remain the key sponsors of all types of terrorists. The terrorists are using the double standards in the countries' approach to the definition of international terrorism to their advantage, the ambassador said. And it will be extremely difficult to win major victories in the war on terror unless we elaborate a clear-cut and common definition of terrorism.
"We still do not have a coordinated list of international terrorist organizations. Russia has named 15 such organizations and informed the law-enforcement agencies in all countries about them so that they can prosecute these organizations legally," Safonov said. "If we hammer out a common definition of terrorism, we will be able to solve many problems in the struggle to eradicate it."
