Sofia, Bulgaria: INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble has complimented
Bulgaria's Ministry of Interior and police in fighting all forms of serious
crime and has called for a renewed global effort by INTERPOL member countries
to help Bulgaria identify those behind the terrorist bombing attack on an
Israeli tour bus in Burgas in August which left six dead and more than 30
injured.
Following Noble’s meeting with Bulgarian Prime Minister
Boyko Borissov and Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Tsvetan
Tsvetanov in the capital Sofia, it was also announced that INTERPOL will
provide support to Bulgarian authorities in expanding access to its Stolen and
Lost Travel Documents database to tourist destinations across the country.
This will enable real-time checks to be conducted against
the database, which currently contains nearly 35 million entries from 166
countries, to verify whether an individual is travelling on a fraudulent
document, or is wanted internationally.
“This joint project between the Bulgarian Interior Ministry
and INTERPOL is aimed at improving the security of resorts and holiday
complexes, which is very important for Bulgaria,” said Deputy Prime Minister
Tsvetanov.
“To effectively combat crime and protect its citizens and
visitors, countries need the assistance and support of their partners around
the world and Bulgaria will continue to work closely with INTERPOL in
continuing this cooperation,” added the Minister.
Commending the Bulgarian authorities for the proposed
expansion of INTERPOL’s services, Secretary General Noble said: “Since
attending the 2003 INTERPOL General Assembly as the Secretary General of the
Ministry of Interior, Prime Minister Borissov has repeatedly shown his support
to international law enforcement, and the decision to make INTERPOL’s vital
policing tools even more accessible is another example of his commitment to the
safety and security of citizens and visitors to Bulgaria.”
The Head of INTERPOL
added that the world police body would continue to offer its full
support to the investigation into the Burgas terrorist bombing attack.
In addition to publishing a computer-generated image of the
suspected terrorist, at the request of Bulgarian police INTERPOL has issued a
Black Notice – used to seek information about unidentified corpses – to all of
its 190 National Central Bureaus worldwide in all four official languages, and
also made public the driving licence photo and computer-generated image of his
suspected accomplice.
“Despite the efforts of the Bulgarian authorities who have
been working closely with INTERPOL and the other involved countries, nearly
four months after this appalling attack, the man who murdered five Israelis and
a Bulgarian has still not been identified. Law enforcement and the public must
do more if those responsible are to be brought to justice,” concluded the
INTERPOL Chief.
During his mission to Sofia, Secretary General Noble also
visited the International Operational Cooperation Department and met with staff
at the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Sofia.