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It is particularly meaningful for INTERPOL to be here with you again as the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the world at large continue to go through times of trouble and uncertainty. As I said last December when I was last with you, terrorism remains a global problem. Your country and your citizens have suffered more than your share of terrorist attacks, and your Federal Investigative Agency remains at the forefront of ensuring that the lessons and experiences gained here are shared with countries and police colleagues worldwide.

My presence here today is proof that the entire international police community continues to stand by your side during these difficult times; proof that the entire international police community supports you and your law enforcement officials during these times of hardship; and proof that the entire international police community grieves with you when innocent Pakistanis are indiscriminately killed, when brave policemen are murdered while protecting the lives of others, and when visiting world-class athletes and others are attacked while traveling to participate in your most sacred national pastime.

Yes, INTERPOL and all of its 187 member countries’ police forces are here to help ensure that the over 170 million honest, law-abiding and hardworking people of Pakistan are able to live in a free and open society safe from the threat of terrorism.

My message today is one that I have repeated all over the world, from Africa to the Americas, Asia and Europe. Investigating, preventing and deterring terrorism requires the collaborative efforts of all nations, because no one country alone has the solution and no one country can confront the threat of terrorism alone. The responsibility for protecting the world from terrorists must be shared by us all.

INTERPOL knows based on experience that the more relevant and timely the information that is securely shared among police institutions and counterparts worldwide, the more substantive and spectacular our collective successes are.

This is what INTERPOL is all about, and this is what Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has proved with its ongoing thorough and highly professional investigation into last November’s tragic and deadly terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India, that claimed the lives of over 170 innocent individuals and injured over 300 others. 

On Friday, following my meeting with the Honourable Mr. Malik and FIA Director General Tariq Khosa, Pakistani authorities shared investigative information into the Mumbai terror attacks with the INTERPOL General Secretariat headquarters in Lyon, France.

For the first time in the three months since those deadly attacks occurred, INTERPOL has received police information of paramount importance that will allow us to help Pakistan’s FIA thoroughly and comprehensively determine the full international dimension of these attacks.

For the first time, we have police information on those who planned, facilitated and funded those attacks.

For the first time, we have detailed information about telephone numbers, bank accounts used in terrorist financing, Internet addresses, and the equipment and materials used to perpetrate these attacks. Already Pakistan’s FIA has established links to seven countries including India and countries in the heart of Europe and the Middle East.

All of this information is being checked against INTERPOL’s global databases to determine what international links may exist.

We also have sent key leads and information received from Pakistan to all of INTERPOL’s 187 member countries so that they can better protect their citizens and also provide Pakistan with valuable information.

And we are using our global network of 200 INTERPOL terrorism contact officers located in the different regions of the world to increase the scope of the investigation from the initial seven countries with clear links to these attacks to determine whether any other countries were used to facilitate or fund these tragic terrorist attacks.

Moreover, INTERPOL has been given copies of FIA requests for additional investigative leads that Pakistan had sent to four countries without response in order for INTERPOL to help Pakistan obtain this critical information.

Helping Pakistan’s FIA obtain this information on a timely basis is so important that tomorrow, former INTERPOL Executive Committee member and former head of the INTERPOL National Central Bureau in Beirut, George Boustani, who is also my special emissary for Arabic-speaking countries, will be deployed to three Middle Eastern countries with a member of INTERPOL’s Command and Co-ordination Centre at the General Secretariat in Lyon, in an effort to facilitate those countries’ providing Pakistan’s FIA with important and time-sensitive information regarding potential links to the Mumbai terrorist attacks beyond Pakistan and India.

Moreover, this week Pakistan’s FIA will send INTERPOL the DNA profiles that it obtained during its investigation. These profiles will be compared against the world’s only global DNA database, with more than 83,000 DNA profiles.

Information exchanged through the INTERPOL databases would not only result in potential breakthroughs in the Pakistani investigation but will also help other police forces protect their own citizens from terrorist attacks. In order for these comparisons to be complete, India will be required to send INTERPOL the DNA profiles that they obtained in their investigation.

In closing, Pakistan has been a nation among nations for a little over six decades. In many ways, it is a young democracy, yet in the area of using INTERPOL’s global network and anti-terrorist tools and services, Pakistan is a leader. 

I am also heartened to learn that the government of Pakistan has created an independent National Counterterrorism Authority to ensure a co-ordinated counterterrorism strategy, and I am especially encouraged that the FIA’s former Director General Tariq Parvez has been selected to head this new agency.

Pakistani authorities’ co-operation following the Mumbai attacks has been no less than extraordinary. I would like to commend them for their strong beliefs in the INTERPOL vision, for their sound understanding of 21st-century police co-operation and for setting an example for the international police community. 

More countries will be better able to protect their citizens at home thanks to the co-operation of Pakistan’s FIA with INTERPOL.

I respectfully submit that one measure of modern civilization, one key to survival for all of us, is sharing the responsibilities, the ideas and the options that face us each day to keep our citizens, visitors and indeed the entire world community safe from terrorism. I have been truly impressed by the wisdom shown by the government of Pakistan in asking its Federal Investigative Agency to so thoroughly investigate this case without waiting for complete investigative files from any other country.

Pakistan has also shown courage and integrity by publicly stating that the FIA’s investigation to date revealed that the Mumbai terrorist attacks were partially planned here in Pakistan by certain Pakistan nationals, and the FIA also has identified clear and objective links to seven other countries. 

But Pakistan’s investigation can only go so far without the full co-operation from the entire world police community. In this regard, INTERPOL remains ready, willing and able to facilitate such co-operation in any way possible.

As terrorists use all resources open to them and speed to execute their attacks, so must governments and law enforcement agencies worldwide use all available resources and speed to fight terrorists. In this regard, the world’s greatest law enforcement resource to combat terrorism is a combination of bilateral co-operation, multilateral co-operation and INTERPOL’s global network of 187 member countries’ law enforcement agencies.

Anything short of this combination will provide terrorists with security gaps that they will exploit at the expense of the safety of our citizens and the freedoms we should enjoy.

Thank you very much.