Interpol chief urges global coordination to fight against terrorists

Interpol Secretary General Jurgen Stock said here Friday that greater coordination is essential for the global community to effectively respond to the threat of so-called "returning foreign terrorist fighters (FTFs)" usually from Syria.

With increased concerns of the potential displacement of FTFs due to increased military pressure on ISIL, the Interpol chief said that five years after the start of the Syrian conflict, dangerous gaps still remain in global screening efforts.

Attending the meeting in Rome of interior ministers from Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Spain, Stock said up to 15,000 fighters are still within the conflict zones, a more complex picture was emerging.

"The concern is what these foreign terrorist fighters will do with the skills acquired in battle and the networks which facilitated their recruitment when they leave the conflict zones," he said.

"We are moving away from the original ISIL foreign terrorist fighter landscape, with flows now potentially heading towards multiple conflict zones as well as individuals returning to their countries of origin," Stock said.

"We are facing a much less predictable model in terms of terrorist travel, and we need to apply the lessons learned from attacks by individuals such as Mehdi Nemmouche in implementing a global response," he added.

After fighting in Syria for a year, Nemmouche travelled via southeast Asia before returning to Europe to carry out his deadly attack at a Jewish museum in Brussels, killing four people, according to a Interpol statement.

"For Interpol, here lies perhaps the greatest gap in international efforts against this threat," said Stock. "By sharing information globally via Interpol, countries extend their national security perimeter, potentially enabling the identification of a threat far away from their own border, or even closer to home," he added. Endit