Singapore: The global police organisation
Interpol began issuing special passports today to its senior
investigators, aimed at allowing them to enter any of the
group`s 188 member countries without visas.
Pakistan and Ukraine become the first countries to accept
the new documents and three more will follow soon, Interpol
Secretary-General Ronald K Noble said during the
organisation`s general assembly here.
He said he is sure the remaining member countries will
also honour these passports.
"We don`t come to a country unless we are asked to go. If
we are asked to go in an emergency, you want us to go as fast
as possible," he told.
Noble said some 1,000 investigators, heads of Interpol
offices around the world and their staff would be given these
passports, similar to the ones held by diplomats and UN staff.
The aim is to ensure that Interpol investigators, who are
of various nationalities, reach the site of a terrorist attack
or natural disaster quickly without being bogged down by visa
red-tape, said Noble, who is American.
"If they have to wait for the process of having their
visa approved because they don`t come from the right country,
that can mean a delayed response, which can mean a delayed
service to the country we are trying to serve," he said.
Noble said there have been many cases in the past where
Interpol investigations have been held up because they
could not travel while waiting for their visa to be approved.
Bureau Report
