The First Meeting of the ECO Ministers for Interior, titled “Security,
Stability and Sustainable Development”, was held in Tehran on 1st
November, 2006. It was preceded by Senior Officials Meeting (SOM)
on 30-31 October, 2006. The meetings, hosted by the Islamic Republic of
Iran, were chaired by Dr. Abdureza Rahmani Fazli, Deputy Interior Minister
for International Affairs and Provincial Economic Coordination and H.E.
Mr. Mostafa Pourmohammadi, Minister for Interior of the Islamic Republic
of Iran, respectively.
In his
inaugural speech, the Interior Minister emphasized the seriousness of the
challenge posed by terrorism and transnational crimes. He said these must
be addressed effectively in order that ECO could focus exclusively on
achieving its cherished goals of economic prosperity and regional
interaction. The Minister expressed the hope that the meeting would mark a
major milestone in the struggle against crimes.
The ECO
Secretary General, Mr. Khurshid Anwar, welcoming the participants said
that terrorism and transnational crimes were our common enemies. They were
beyond any single country to overcome effectively. Member states must
proceed with a sense of urgency to intensify cooperation in the campaign
against terrorism and organized crimes.
The
Interior Ministers endorsed the report of the Senior Officials and adopted
a 15-point Tehran Declaration. In the Declaration, the member states
acknowledged that terrorism and transnational organized crimes posed them
a common threat and they must fight it jointly. They agreed to set up a
High Level Experts Group to prepare a comprehensive cooperation plan to
launch a coordinated and organized campaign against crimes.