KABUL, Afghanistan – Strengthening best practice standards on national law enforcement agencies communicating information to INTERPOL on escaped prisoners was central to discussions in Kabul today between senior law enforcement officials at Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry and INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble, ahead of talks with Interior Minister Zarar Ahmad Mogbil.

On his first visit to Afghanistan, Mr Noble said that a lack of information-sharing on escaped prisoners remained a serious gap in international security. He said when it came to charged or convicted terrorists and members of criminal organizations, 'their escape cannot be considered an internal problem for any country alone when crimes such as terrorism and drug trafficking are clearly transnational – the danger they represent is international.'

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LYON, France – INTERPOL and the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) today announced the 122nd victim identification following Typhoon Frank during which an estimated 1,330 people lost their lives, including 820 passengers and crew from the Princess of the Stars ferry.

The Disaster Victim Identification teams in Cebu City, made up of experts from the Philippines National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), ICMP and INTERPOL and its member countries from around the world, announced 34 new identifications today – all made utilizing the most modern DNA-matching techniques at the ICMP.

The current total of 122 DNA-assisted identifications is more than double the target of 10 per week set by the NBI, INTERPOL and ICMP on August 17 when the first DNA-identified victims were returned to their families.

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