ALMATY. May 16 (Interfax) - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) must give equal attention to its three areas - security, economic and humanitarian cooperation, Kazakh Foreign Minister Yerzhan Kazykhanov told an SCO foreign ministerial conference in Almaty.
"The SCO must not become a military bloc; it must not be targeted against third countries or organizations. It is important to keep pace in the suppression of terrorism, separatism and extremism, drug trafficking, illegal arms trade and organized crime, and to upgrade economic and humanitarian cooperation," he said.
Central Asian security must be a permanent focus of the SCO, Kazykhanov said. "The recent elimination of number one terrorist Osama bin Laden is obviously a success of the United States, but it cannot be called a victory over international terrorism. Revenge-seeking followers of al-Qaeda, the Taliban and other terrorist and extremist organizations may cause a new outbreak of terror acts," he said.
Kazakhstan has a firm position in the anti-terrorist fight, he said.
"The international efforts must rule out the possible access of terrorists to nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. The nuclear-free zone in Central Asia is an important factor of security," Kazykhanov said.