Brussels, 29/05/2007 (Agence Europe) - After a two-day meeting in Munich, Interior and Justice Ministers of the G8 countries agreed, on Friday 25 May, to increase cooperation in combating cyber-terrorism and counterfeiting. The previous day, ministers agreed on progress in the fight against child pornography (see EUROPE 9433). The representatives of the eight countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom and United States) called for a contact unit, open 24 hours per day seven days per week, to be set up in each of the states, allowing them to exchange important information to prevent terrorists from spreading their propaganda via the internet. Ministers also agreed to better combat, within their respective societies, the appearance of a radical Islamic trend among immigrants which was liable to turn to violence. The fight against “home-grown” terrorism must not be a matter only for security policy, it related also to integration policy for immigrants, said a statement adopted in Munich. With regard to terrorist attacks on energy infrastructure, German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble stressed the need for agreement on “minimum protection standards”. He said that this was a “vital” area given that this infrastructure was international in nature. Counterfeiting, the G8 said in their final statement, is a problem on which each one of them must improve its legislation to allow companies which fall victim to this crime to claim their rights in civil courts through interim proceedings without the alleged counterfeiters having to be heard. Ministers also called for new measures against poppy growing (used in the production of opium) in Afghanistan, because revenue from this crop could be used to support terrorism. Mr Schäuble admitted that the years spent combating poppy growing had been “anything but satisfactory”. He said that G8 representatives wanted to work in cooperation with countries neighbouring Afghanistan, including Iran, which shares a 900 kilometre long border with it. Afghnaistan is, by far, the world's largest opium producer. (bc)