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IN THE NET: Christopher Paul Neil was arrested 11 days after Interpol issued a worldwide public appeal. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
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MARRAKECH (MOROCCO) - INTERPOL will make more public appeals for help in identifying suspected paedophiles, like the recent one which led to the arrest of a Canadian man in Thailand.
The measure, announced yesterday, was approved on Monday - the first day of the global police organisation's annual general assembly, held this year in Marrakech in southern Morocco - said Interpol president Jackie Selebi.
Of the 144 Interpol member states taking part in the meeting, 115 voted in favour of the measure, one formally abstained and no country voted against it, he said.
There are 186 member states in Interpol, which is based in France.
Delegates specified that appeals for help from the public would be made only as long as the images used did not show the face of the victim, Mr Selebi said.
Christopher Paul Neil, 32, was arrested in north-eastern Thailand on Oct19, just 11 days after Interpol issued an unprecedented worldwide public appeal for help to identify a suspected paedophile.
The suspect had been pictured in about 200 Internet photos depicting the sexual abuse of Asian boys, with his face digitally swirled to conceal his identity. But German computer experts unscrambled the pictures and produced identifiable images of the man which Interpol made public.
Some senior Interpol members had opposed unmasking the suspect on the grounds that it would alert criminals to the fact that police could now unscramble pictures, which could prompt them to use different ways to hide their identities.
Several delegates at the closed- door meeting in Morocco opposed launching appeals for help from the public because of the risk that suspected paedophiles could commit suicide or suffer mob justice, a European delegate said.
But Interpol secretary-general Ronald Noble argued that the advantages of getting the public involved outweighed the disadvantages, the delegate added.
Before launching the appeal, Interpol had circulated photos of Neil to police around the world to try to identify him, with no success.
But just three days after going public, the agency had established his name, nationality, birthday and place of work, with more than 350 people on five continents providing information.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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