credit: interpol.int / INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock (right)  and Permanent Secretary of the G5  Africa Sahel Maman Sambo Sidikou  sign agreement for increased information sharing to more effectively address emerging terrorist threats across region,  at Interpol  headquarters in Lyon, France May, 16, 2019.

DIPLOMATIC  TIMES  STAFF

The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the G5 Africa Joint Force signed an agreement this week to utilize increased information sharing to strengthen the battle against emerging terrorist and criminal threats across the region. A surge of  deadly terror and criminal attacks in the Sahel region of Africa has alarmed the international community. The growing number of violent and increasingly sophisticated extremist groups across the Sahel – Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, Mauritania and Niger – has resulted in the death of thousands of individuals, with hundreds of thousands more displaced, according to INTERPOL.  In particular Burkina Faso has seen the growth of extremist violence over the last few months, most recently on 12 May when an attack on a church in Dablo left six dead, just two days after the release of four hostages in the northern part of the country by French special forces.  To help prevent these threats from gaining power or spreading into other countries, the memorandum of understanding signed by INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock and Permanent Secretary of the G5 Sahel Maman Sambo Sidikou, will enable technical cooperation, training, capacity building and exchange of expertise. Funding by Germany’s Foreign Office will support expansion of INTERPOL’s network and capabilities as well as developing criminal analysis throughout the region.

“The security challenges facing the G5 Sahel countries continue to grow. INTERPOL is stepping up to provide additional assistance to law enforcement across the region, thanks to the financial support from Germany. “

-said Secretary General Stock.

“Whilst the agreement we have signed focuses on these five countries, INTERPOL’s global reach will help ensure that any relevant information or expertise from around the world can be accessed and used to support local investigations, ” Stock added.

credit: interpol.int / INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock, Permanent Secretary of the G5 Sahel Maman Sambo Sidikou, and Jean Bosco Kienou, President of the G5 Sahel Committee for Defence and Security and Director General of the Burkina Faso National Police,  Lyon, France  May 16, 2019. 

Accompanied by Jean Bosco Kienou, President of the G5 Sahel Committee for Defence and Security and Director General of the Burkina Faso National Police, Permanent Secretary Sidikou welcomed the agreement as an important part of the ongoing efforts to enhance security.

INTERPOL Secretary General Stock confers with Permanent Secretary of the G5 Sahel Maman Sambo Sidikou at Interpol headquarters Lyon,  France. 

“Uniting the work of the G5 Sahel and INTERPOL will help address terrorism and organized crime which severely impact the day-to-day lives of people throughout the region. The G5 Sahel has huge economic potential, which if it is to be fully realised means we need to help these countries develop and maintain their safety and security.”

-Permanent Secretary G5 Sahel , Maman Sambo Sidikou

INTERPOL projects, including MiLex (Military to Law Enforcement exchange), Watchmaker (Identifying and tracking individuals involved in the manufacture or use of explosives) and FIRST (Facial, Imaging, Recognition, Searching and Tracking) are also among the key areas for development at the national level across the G5 Sahel countries.  According to INTERPOL,  biometric information gathered and shared via Project FIRST has already resulted in matches between previously unconnected individuals within the Sahel and beyond.