China vice public security minister voted Interpol head

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING (AA) - China’s vice minister for public security has been elected as the new president of the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) during the body’s annual General Assembly meeting in Indonesia’s Bali island.

Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported that an election Thursday -- during the closing ceremony of the 85th General Assembly -- saw Meng Hongwei become the first Chinese official to secure the post.

Meng succeeds Mireille Ballestrazzi of France, and will preside over Interpol’s Executive Committee for a four-year period.

Meng pledged in an acceptance speech to work together with all member states in the 190-member body to strengthen Interpol as a platform for global police cooperation.

He was also quoted as vowing to promote more effective cooperation and increase support for “the capacity-building efforts of police" from member countries.

The 85th General Assembly -- held Nov. 7-10 -- was attended by a delegation from the Turkish National Police’s Interpol department, headed by Lutfi Cicek.

The assembly is composed of delegates appointed by the governments of member countries.

As Interpol's supreme governing body, it meets once a year and takes all major decisions affecting general policy, the resources needed for international cooperation, working methods, finances and programs of activities.

It also elects the organization's executive committee, in which each member country represented has one vote.