Lebanon was given a pat on the back Thursday when Interpol said the country would be the first to receive access to its new central telecommunications center to fight terrorism and organized crime.
Accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the information center is a reward for Beirut’s efforts in fighting drug trafficking, organized crime and terrorism. The announcement came from Interpol secretary-general Ronald K. Noble following a meeting with Interior Minister Elias Murr.
Noble, who arrived here Wednesday night for a three-day visit, also met with the director-general of the Internal Security Forces, Major General Marwan Zein, and with State Prosecutor Adnan Addoum. Their discussions centered on ways of advancing efforts to fight organized crime.
Noble presented Murr with the highest award the organization grants for outstanding security achievements.
Murr said Noble was here to oversee the work of the local Interpol office housed in the ISF headquarters, reinforce cooperation “and examine the security situation in terms of the country’s fight against organized crime, drug trafficking and money laundering.”
“This year, Lebanon has made a colossal effort in those fields and we have some of the lowest crime rates and the highest rates of solving them worldwide, and that’s according to comparative statistics in Lebanon, the United States and Europe,” Murr said.
In response to reporters’ questions about the recent unsolved killings of Jihad Jibril and Ramzi Irani, Murr deferred his answer to Noble, who said that “Lebanon is a safe place.”
“Every country has security problems and you cannot isolate one or two incidents and then claim that the country is not safe,” Noble said.
He added that the local Interpol office “is one of the most important offices in the world, helping us to solve many important … cases as well as money-laundering schemes and drug-trafficking issues.”
He said that last year’s number of drug busts, “especially cocaine,” was tremendous, and that the organization would attempt to recruit Lebanese officers in the organization’s main branch in Lyon, France. Murr said that his office has announced the candidacy of Brigadier George Boustani, head of the Interpol unit at the ISF, for an executive committee position with the international organization.
“Boustani is a 33-year veteran who has been working closely with Interpol and I really hope he becomes one of 13 worldwide members who heads the organization’s operations internationally because of his high qualifications in the field,” Noble said.
After Noble’s visit to Addoum, the state prosecutor said that discussions focused on “terrorism, money laundering and organized crime.”
The two discussed measures that would lead to speeding up the tracking down and prosecution of suspects. Noble and Addoum also tackled a law passed in April 2001 by Lebanon to combat money laundering, and how it could be used to determine whether terrorist activities are being funded.
On Wednesday in Saudi Arabia, Noble said Interpol would open a special regional office to serve Arab countries, translating and distributing messages to speed investigations. He did not say when or where the office would open or if the move was related to the Sept. 11 attacks in the US. ­ With agencies

Copyright © The Daily Star