Sri Lanka hosts anti-terrorism meet to highlight plight of victim states

August 17, 2007 (LBO) – A top French anti-terrorism judge and leading conflict specialists are among speakers at a counter-terrorism conference to be held in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo. Sri Lanka will seek to focus attention on the plight of countries affected by terrorism, especially its own near 30-year experience during the International Conference on Countering Terrorism from 18-20 October 2007, Foreign Affairs Minister Rohitha Bogollagama said Thursday.

It is being organised by the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies and partly funded by the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Central Bank.

Kadirgamar was foreign minister when he was assassinated by the Tigers in August 2005.

The institute is a think tank focusing on Sri Lanka’s strategic interest and named after him.

Among the speakers is Judge Jean Louis Bruguiere, French investigating magistrate in charge of counter-terrorism affairs, who is credited with tracking down one of the world's most wanted terrorist know as Carlos the Jackal.

He also helped investigate the bombing of a passenger aircraft over the Sahara desert in 1989 that killed 170 people and inve