International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) Secretary General (SG) Ronald K Noble called on Interior Minister Rehman Malik in Dubai on Sunday to discuss the regional security situation.
The interior minister appreciated Interpol’s efforts under the leadership of Noble because of which the organisation was vibrant, having enhanced its database on criminals and terrorists, thus helping world police in tracking them worldwide. During the meeting the interior minister briefed Noble about Pakistan’s efforts in the war against terrorism, emphasising the fact that Pakistan had lost 36,000 innocent lives in the war. The Interpol SG appreciated the sacrifices and efforts of Pakistan and invited the interior minister to give the keynote address at the Ministerial Conference to be held this year in Rome, Italy, which Malik accepted.
Noble said Interpol felt much work was to be done by the nations to break the nexus between the terrorists and drug barons and a growing tendency for such alliances had been witnessed in statistics available with Interpol. He said Interpol also felt that financing of terrorists needed to be curbed by the nations to make the world safer and free of terrorism. The organisation also appreciated the initiatives of Pakistan in this regard, he added. Malik also invited the Interpol SG to be the chief guest at the Trans-National Organised Conference. He called upon the world to come down heavy on drug lords, as they were not only detrimental to society in terms of increase in youth addicts but also contributed to increased terrorist activity because of heavy financing by them. Malik also brought to the notice of Noble the difficulties being experienced in getting data from some of the service providers, upon which the Interpol SG promised that Pakistan would be helped especially in getting data related to terrorists and threats to various citizens in the country. The interior minister also requested Interpol to help get Umar Farooq, currently living in Europe, to Pakistan in compliance with the orders of the Supreme Court. The Interpol SG also accepted Malik’s invitation to visit Pakistan this year.
