MARRAKECH, Morocco (AFP) — Interpol began its annual meeting in Morocco Monday facing a decision on whether to make more global appeals like the one used to catch an notorious Canadian paedophile suspect this month.
Delegates from 144 of the 186 member states in the international police organisation are in Marrakech for the four-day gathering.
Interpol is to decide Tuesday whether to make greater use of public appeals for help in paedophilia or other crime investigations after tip-offs helped them track down a major paedophile suspect in Thailand within days.
Christopher Neil, 32, was arrested in northeast Thailand on October 19 after more than 350 people on five continents replied to an unprecedented Interpol appeal which included the use of an identikit photo.
The suspect's digitally blurred face appeared in about 200 Internet photos of him abusing Asian boys but computer experts in Germany were able to produce identifiable pictures of the man which were then made public.
Interpol detectives said the appeal provided the breakthrough in the case.
But there are concerns that the increased use of public denunciations in paedophilia cases could lead to a rise of mob justice and false allegations.
Ronald Noble, Interpol's secretary general, said the so-called "Operation Vico" had been designed with to deal with a worst case scenario.
"That of a worldwide manhunt for an unknown terrorist planing to kill millions of us using a biological or nuclear weapon," he said in an opening address to the gathering.
The operation was codenamed "Vico" because the images were believed to have been taken in Vietnam and Cambodia in 2002 or 2003.
Interpol president Jackie Selebi said Interpol would soon put in place a new system called I-LINK which would allow specialized crime investigators to instantly check and exchange information from the body's databases on terrorism, child exploitation, drugs and high-tech crime.
"The tools we have put in place have an almost unlimited potential to further strengthen global policing," he said.
"We must continue to anticipate future crime threats and act now to prevent now," he said.
Terrorism and human trafficking are also high on the agenda of the assembly, as well as the opening in Vienna next year of an Interpol anti-corruption school, the first world training body dedicated to the fight against graft.
Interpol delegates will also examine a planned accord with the World Anti-Doping Agency to try to step up the fight against doping in the sports world.
Founded in 1923, Interpol is based in Lyon in France. In 2006, more than 4,200 people wanted by Interpol were arrested worldwide, up 20 percent since 2005.
Interpol is primarily financed by member countries. It operated at a deficit last year with its expenditures of 46.7 million euros exceeding its budget of 45.1 million euros. The budget for 2007 is of 44.5 million euros.
Selebi said Interpol's executive committee would establish a working group to study recommendations regarding the development of a new financial contribution scale for the organization.
"We need more money, it is as simple as that," he said.
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