(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The seventh annual INTERPA conference continued yesterday for the second day with discussions on various themes that covered issues of political violence, counter-terrorism and extremism, how to manage crowds and secure major events such as international sporting events, as well as discussions on the programme of rehabilitation and reintegration of people and other topics on the agenda.
The second day's proceedings started with a session on 'crowd management during major events and the fight against terrorism during international sporting events.
Addressing the session, Interpol's Project Stadia senior manager Falah Dousari said the project aims to make the world safer and has recorded many achievements that have benefited the 192 member-countries of the organisation. It has contributed to collecting knowledge about the world's largest sporting events to support all member-countries in organising safe and secure sporting events.
He noted that the project has three programmes to fight crime that enhance the possibilities of states to combat crime through the implementation of best practices and police and security arrangements as well as the provision of intelligence to organise major sporting events, leaving a legacy for law-enforcement agencies worldwide.
Dousari added that the security challenges that accompany major events such as the FIFA World Cup are many and varied, including the cyber threat to organised and emerging crime and terrorism. The international community must address these challenges to ensure the safety and security of all participants in the events and their safety, it was observed.
Further, he said the International Criminal Police Organisation, or Interpol, always stands alongside countries that have ambitions to host major events around the world to help them overcome these challenges.
Major Ali Mohamed al-Ali, deputy executive director of Security Affairs at the Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy (SC), presented a paper on 'security preparation and planning for World Cup 2022.
Pointing out that Qatar is the first country in the Middle East to host the World Cup, he said the SC is carrying out all the infrastructure projects for this major event, creating a lasting legacy for the region and the world, and will hand over the projects within the stipulated period.
Major al-Ali stressed that in order to manage and co-ordinate safety and security efforts for the 2022 World Cup, we have launched the security committee in 2022 with the mission to deliver the safest and most secure FIFA World Cup ever.
Dr Hadi Khader from Sudan presented a paper on 'combating extremism in global sports. He pointed out that increasing incidents followed by riots and violence in sports venues worldwide underscored the importance of preventive security strategies.
Liu Minghui, from the People's Public Security University of China, presented a paper on 'risk assessment of terrorism in relation to international events.
He presented an example of the assessment of terrorist risks to civilian systems and of the psychological and humanitarian aspect of the fight against terrorism. He also reviewed the main characteristics of terrorist attacks on sporting events, pointing out that it is a global phenomenon and there is an open database of terrorist attacks occurring all over the world.
He said the records of sports events from 1983-2016 showed there had been a total of 74 attacks. The number of such attacks may not be too big, but the resulting effects were huge, and had devastating effects on everyone interested in sports. He added that the number of attacks from the 1970s until 2016 was small but at the same time had devastating effects. These attacks took place in Colombia, France, Spain, the UK and a number of other countries. The data indicated that Colombia had the highest number of attacks.
In another session, Barbora Vegrichtova from the Police Academy of Czech Republic, presented a paper on 'criminal tattoo symbols in the context of radicalisation in prison facilities. She explained the visual language used by prisoners and its various manifestations.
Last updated: April 04 2018 08:45 AM
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