Interpol delegation seeks Pak coop in identifying terrorists

Islamabad, Dec 23 (PTI) An Interpol delegation led by the
body's chief Ronald K Noble is in Pakistan to seek its
cooperation to help identify terrorists worldwide, including
those involved in the Nov 26 attacks on Mumbai, and to enhance
cooperation in the war on terror.

The delegation is scheduled to take up these matters with
interior ministry chief Rehman Malik, a close aide of
President Asif Ali Zardari, and other senior officials
Tuesday.

The team is visiting Pakistan to seek the country's
"agreement to work through Interpol to help identify
terrorists worldwide, including those behind the deadly
November 26-29 terrorist bombings in Mumbai", said a statement
from Interpol.

It will discuss the ways in which Interpol can work with
Pakistan "in relation to the Mumbai bombings to enhance
regional and global investigative efforts on the terrorist
attacks".

The team will "enhance cooperation in the fight against
terrorism in the wake of the September 20 suicide truck
bombing at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad", the statement
said.

It will provide a classified briefing to Pakistani
officials on the Marriott Hotel bombing which killed nearly 60
people, including the Czech envoy and two US Marines.

The briefing will ascertain "what additional intelligence
about the suspects can be shared with all of Interpol's other
186 member countries".

Interpol will also discuss the organisation's offer to
deploy its advanced technology to secure Pakistan's borders by
next year. The technology, known as MIND/FIND, enables
immigration officials to carry out direct screening of
passports and identity documents on a real-time basis against
Interpol's global database of over 16 million stolen and lost
travel documents.

The team will also discuss the possibility of Pakistan
seconding a police officer to Interpol's General Secretariat
in Lyon, France to share expertise with the world police
community.

"It is only the sharing of critical police information on
terrorism through Interpol's global tools and services,
including its databases on wanted persons and lost or stolen
travel documents, that can help countries to protect
themselves from events such as the Marriott and Mumbai
bombings in Pakistan and India respectively," Noble said after
meeting the Director General of Pakistan's Federal
Investigative Agency, Tariq Parvez, Monday.

Noble travelled to Pakistan after a visit to India, where
he met Home Minister P Chidambaram to review Interpol's
investigative and counter-terrorism assistance following the
Mumbai attacks. PTI RHL
RKM
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