The Associated Press
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - Interpol officials from around the globe opened a five-day summit in the Salvadoran capital Monday on terrorism and how to combat street gangs responsible for violent crimes across Central America and in the United States.
Salvadoran President Tony Saca addressed those assembled, urging police officers to discuss the possibility of forming a regional crime-fighting network spanning the Americas that could share information about gang members active in Central America, Mexico and cities and towns throughout the United States.
“This is no longer exclusively a Salvadoran problem, nor a regional problem,” the president said. “It’s a problem that has affected various countries around the world.”
Saca also discussed terrorism, saying that “unlike the past, terrorists no longer have a physical home.”
“They are nomads and that makes it very difficult to know where, when, how and who they will attack,” the president said. “Their chain of command has stopped being pyramid-shaped and has become a network. We need to act in a similar fashion in order to detect threats.”
Ronald Noble, secretary-general of Interpol, said that on Tuesday he will attend the unveiling of a new international police communication system being installed in San Salvador’s international airport.
“This means El Salvador will be a much safer country because, when the criminals come here and want to get in with a false document, the authorities can look through a databases world wide to prevent entry of undesirable people,” Noble said.