138 Countries Seek to Combat Global Crime

Top government officials from 138 countries launched a drive Wednesday against cross-border crime with a two-part program to combat the world’s organized criminals.

Alarmed at the rising power of international gangs, a U.N.-convened conference approved the “Naples declaration” in which delegates pledged themselves to crack down harder on crime on their own turf and cooperate closely with other countries.

“We proclaim our political will and strong determination, as well as our unequivocal commitment to ensure full . . . implementation of the present declaration and the global action plan against organized transnational crime,” the declaration said.

The world’s criminal gangs are estimated to turn over $750 billion a year from drug smuggling, arms trafficking and prostitution rackets.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who hosted the conference, said the fight against crime is a global war that can be won only if countries unite.

There are worrying signs that the mobs are overcoming their traditional clannishness and joining forces to boost business. The collapse of communism in Eastern Europe has brought a new threat from Mafia-style groups there.

The World Ministerial Conference on Organized Transnational Crime, the highest-level gathering convened by the United Nations on crime, urged countries to tighten their own laws to prevent criminal organizations from benefiting from international loopholes.

But the countries stopped short of calling for the immediate introduction of an international convention on organized crime, advocated by some Third World members.

The conference was held in Naples, infamous for its Camorra criminal gangs, to underline Italy’s and the international community’s determination to battle the mobs.

Berlusconi attended a ceremony here Wednesday at a special U.N. monument honoring all victims of organized crime.

But Berlusconi’s own legal problems, with Milan magistrates serving him with an official warning that he is under investigation for alleged corruption, have to some extent overshadowed the conference.

Magistrates suspect him of involvement in bribes paid by his Fininvest media company to finance police before he took power in March elections. Berlusconi denies the allegations.

Seeking to save his political skin, Berlusconi threatened Wednesday to resign and seek new elections if his coalition allies fail to back him.

Berlusconi said he has a “contract with voters” to pursue the program he put forward for general elections last March.

Speaking at a news conference, the billionaire businessman also said he is willing to sell his three national television stations, which he has previously refused to do.