APS : Tuesday, 16 October 2018
ALGIERS-The 2nd General Assembly (GA) of the African Police Cooperation Mechanism (AFRIPOL) on Tuesday decided to create three working groups to combat cross-border crime, cybercrime,
terrorism and extremism, said the African Union (AU) Commissioner for Peace and Security, Smail Chergui.
“The 2nd General Assembly decided to create three working groups: the first is responsible for the fight against cross-border crime, the second for the fight against cybercrime and the third for the prevention and fight against terrorism and extremism,” Chergui announced at a press briefing devoted to the presentation of the results of the GA.
The work focused on “issues related to terrorism and violent extremism in the African continent,” said Chergui, stressing that some practical proposals were made on how to deal with these scourges.
“All African countries are involved in cooperation to meet security challenges,” Chergui continued.
The GA also recommended “the support, acceleration and activation of a communication system (Afsycom) between all member countries’ police bodies” for the exchange of information and documents, said Chergui.
The meeting welcomed “AFRIPOL’s achievements in record time, notably the organization of 3 training sessions in Algeria for police experts from member countries and the supply of many African police bodies with modern technical equipment like Afsycom, which enables police experts from African countries to hold remote consultation meetings.”
In this regard, Chergui stressed that the 2nd GA decided to organize the AFRIPOL Assembly during the month of October of each year, which will enable Africa to prepare for the annual Interpol Conference and to submit common African positions on continental issues to the international police organization.
On this occasion, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security revealed that “the Algerian presidency of Afripol will continue until the next GA,” stressing that “discussions began with member countries to define the venue for this assembly.”
