Igor Ivanov, minister for foreign affairs of the Federation of Russia, and Peter Schieder, Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly president Copyright Council of Europe Photo Service

 The chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Peter Schieder, told a conference on combatting terrorism that international human rights standards must be maintained.

 Hundreds of lawmakers from more than 40 countries are attending the two-day conference, which opened Wednesday, in St. Petersburg, Russia. In a written message, Russian President Vladimir Putin greeted the participants, stressing the need for global cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Delegates are expected to discuss ways to better share information, coordinate existing anti-terrorist legislation and crack down on funding for terrorist and organized crime groups. The conference was organized by the Council of Europe and the inter-parliamentary assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which includes most of the countries that once belonged to the former Soviet Union.

 The forum follows an unprecedented meeting, also in St. Petersburg, of some of the world's top intelligence and security services earlier this week. The aim of that gathering was to create a permanent working group to coordinate efforts in the fight against international terrorism. 

Some information for this report provided by AFP. 

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