The Interpol said on Thursday it foiled a militant plot to carry out an attack during the cricket World Cup now being played across South Asia.
“Last week, through cooperation from Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives, we were able to identify, locate and arrest a terrorist,” head of the Paris-based international police agency, Ronald K Noble, told reporters in Islamabad along with Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The Interpol chief said the man with “criminal intentions”, whom he did not identify, was arrested on his way from Karachi to the Maldives. “Thanks to the cooperation of your country and other countries, we were able to make sure that the World Cup remains safe,” he said. Neither Noble nor Malik, gave further details.
Earlier this month, India issued an alert over a possible attack on the hugely popular tournament being played until April 2 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.
Noble also said that the Interpol would provide two million Euros for capacity building of 38 centres of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) across the country besides giving access to the agency to its database.
Noble appreciated what he called strong role of Pakistan in global war against terrorism and said Pakistan was among the best countries that were cooperating with the Interpol. He also said that the sacrifices rendered by Pakistan in war on terror were eternal and of paramount importance. The interior minister gave a list of “most wanted persons of 2009” to the Interpol and called for issuing “blue notices”. Noble said Pakistan had done a great job by providing the list to the Interpol.
Malik said that Pakistan had a pivotal role in war on terror which it was fighting for global peace. He said peace in Pakistan and Afghanistan would guarantee peace in the rest of the world, adding that international community must support Pakistan to root out terrorism and extremism. “Pakistan must be treated as victim (of terrorism) and it needs moral support,” Malik said.
The minister stressed for imparting training to Pakistan security agencies by the Interpol to effectively cope with terrorism and extremism. He assured the Interpol chief that Pakistan would not let its soil be used by anyone against any country.
Malik, on the occasion, also urged India to share information, if any, to cope with any untoward incident.
Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday, conferred Hilal-e-Pakistan on Interpol chief Noble, during a special ceremony held at the Presidency. The citation read on the occasion said that “Mr Noble has rendered marked services and played a very positive role in projecting Pakistan’s viewpoint towards international policing issues”. The president appreciated services of Noble for promoting cooperation between the Interpol and Pakistani security authorities.
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