The regional anti-terror agency of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) has been successful since it was put into motion here two years ago, said Vyacheslav Kasimov, director of the agency's executive committee.

In an interview with Xinhua ahead of the 2006 SCO summit to he held in Shanghai on Thursday, Kasimov said his agency has effectively carried out international anti-terror cooperation, adopted early-warning and prevention measures to help keep the overall security situation of SCO member countries stable.

According to the plans outlined by the Astana summit last July, the anti-terror agency coordinated military drills in Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan with an eye on boosting the SCO states' capability to deal with emergencies situations, Kasimov said.

The Tashkent-based agency hosted a meeting of SCO member countries on fighting money laundering and financial terrorism last December on which all participants vowed to strengthen cooperation, the official added.

The agency spared no efforts to collect information about extremist organizations and terror suspects and posted the blacklist on the website, Kasimov said, adding the agency also established working relations with other regional anti-terror groups and relevant UN agencies.

But the official noted that the legal basis for the agency is still in the buildup process. At Thursday's summit, the heads of state are expected to sign a cooperation compendium on fighting the "three evil forces" during the 2007-2009 period, he said.

As for the future priorities of the regional anti-terror agency, Kasimov said the most important task is to set up a security database to improve information analysis against terror.

The SCO body was set up in June 2004 to facilitate cooperation among the six SCO member states in their fight against terrorism, separatism and extremism.

The SCO groups China, Russia and four Central Asian countries -- Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Source: Xinhua