| Submit your comments on this article |
| Stolen Blank Passports Aiding Terrorists |
| 2004-02-28 |
| EFL LYON, France (AP) - Only 34 countries have agreed to share their data on stolen or missing blank passports, which number in the hundreds of thousands and allow terrorists to breeze across borders, the Interpol secretary general said. All this time the Pakistanis had no need to forge anything. Ronald Noble told The Associated Press that between them, the complying countries - who make up about one-fifth of the agency’s 181 members - report 80,000 blank missing passports. "This is only what’s on file," Noble said. "You can imagine the rest. If we don’t have a global database with everyone contributing, think of all the terrorists and criminals trading in documents." By multiplying the complying nations’ lists of stolen blank passports by five, Noble said the global figure could be estimated at about 400,000. Mr. Noble lacks imagination. Although Noble did not single out countries, other Interpol officials said the United States, Britain and Germany were among members that did not share their databases. Didn’t know that. Seems like a natural for us to do this, wonder why we aren’t? All members are able to consult the list even if they do not contribute information to it. Unless the numbers appear in a worldwide computerized database so that border police can identify them, anyone can use a custom-made blank to move undetected. When Italy recently decided to cooperate, authorities sent Interpol the numbers of 200,000 missing travel documents. Within two days, Noble said, police in other countries had made arrests. "Welcome to our country, ’Silvio.’ Git yer hands up!" A senior Interpol official said he expected Washington to soon begin supplying data to the list. U.S. Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo, reached by telephone, had no immediate comment. According to international security specialists, Washington’s reluctance to supply data to Interpol reflects a broader problem faced by the world’s largest cross-border police organization. Some Interpol officials complain bitterly that the United States, among others, accepts all information but refuses to share crucial data in return. U.S. authorities acknowledge a general policy of caution, saying Interpol’s worldwide membership leaves too many potential security gaps. But, Noble argues, that has changed since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks in America. "Law enforcement agencies are always going to keep some things from everyone else," he said. "But the U.S. is sending many more Red Notices (fugitive alerts), and they tell us much more than before." I’d suggest we could do better here. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #1 I suggest that there might be more to this. There are two key terms here. One is 'providng data'. The other is 'sharing databases' Providing data implies providing data about your own passports that are missing. Sharing databases implies letting everyone else know about what you know about their dodgy passports. This could be sloppy journalism but is more likely to be Interpol pushing a Tranzi agenda that should rightly be rejected. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2004-2-28 11:33:11 AM |