TASHKENT. June 17 (Interfax-AVN) - The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) held a ceremony in the Uzbek capital of Tashkent on Thursday morning marking the opening of an organization to counter terrorism.
The leaders of the SCO member-states met at the headquarters of the antiterrorist organization's executive committee, had an informal conversation for about 10 minutes, and were then photographed together, an Interfax correspondent reports from the scene.
The unveiling of the SCO antiterrorist organization marked the opening of the SCO summit in Tashkent.
Uzbek President Islam Karimov said at the opening that the antiterrorist organization has been set up at the SCO leaders' initiative and its establishment complies with the SCO's charter.
Karimov pointed out the need to develop common approaches to confronting modern threats and challenges. He also said the antiterrorist organization should be manned with highly skilled experts and contacts should be maintained with offices in the SCO capital cities.
The Uzbek president also called for a high level of trust between the SCO special services, who, he said, should regularly exchange information and cooperate with the CIS antiterrorist centers, the UN and Interpol.
In opening the official part of the summit itself, Karimov welcomed the participants and announced the agenda. After that, the presidents began discussing the documents that are to be adopted at the meeting.
The summit was then closed to the press.
The SCO comprises Uzbekistan, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.
Taking part in the SCO summit are also SCO Executive Secretary Zhang Deguang, Deputy Director of the UN Asia and the Pacific Division Vladimir Goryayev, OSCE antiterrorist center coordinator Dimitar Jalnev, chief of the CIS antiterrorist center Boris Mylnikov, CIS Executive Secretary Vladimir Rushailo, and director of the SCO antiterrorist organization's executive committee Vyacheslav Kasymov.