Interpol chief visits Syria to enhance cooperation

Secretary-General will meet with high-level representatives from the Syrian Police and judicial authorities.

By AMIR MIZROCH
Assad 224.88 (photo credit: AP)
Assad 224.88
(photo credit: AP)
Interpol Secretary-General Ronald K. Noble embarks on a three-day mission to Damascus Thursday and will meet with a number of high-level representatives from the Syrian Police and judicial authorities, the deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and the director of the Criminal Security Department. Also on the agenda is Noble's proposal to create an Interpol Sub-Regional Bureau for North Africa and the Middle East to help enhance communication and information-sharing on a regional and international level. "We see on a daily basis at the Interpol General Secretariat, that when police from different countries are given the opportunity to work side by side and to have direct personal contact with one another, great results can be achieved," Noble said in a statement released by Interpol on Wednesday. Syria is in the process of upgrading its access to the Interpol Stolen and Lost Travel Documents database, which contains nearly 14 million documents from 113 countries. Such access will permit law enforcement officers in the field to instantly verify whether a person is traveling in a stolen car or is wanted internationally. During his mission, in addition to meeting with staff at Interpol's National Central Bureau in Damascus, Noble will also visit Syria's special unit for combating terrorism and the Criminal Security Department.