Tajik-German police cooperation issues discussed in Berlin

DUSHANBE, May 5, 2011, Asia-Plus -- A delegation of Tajik Ministry of Interior (MoI), led by Interior Minister Abdurahim Qahhorov, visited Germany from May 1 to May 4 to discuss cooperation issues with German colleagues.

The source at a MoI says issues related to expansion of cooperation between Tajik and German law enforcement agencies in combating transnational crime, terrorism and religious extremism were among major topics of discussions.

During their stay in Berlin, Tajik Interior Ministry officials reportedly held talks with Mr. Jorg Ziercke, the chief commissioner of the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (Bundeskriminalamt or BKA), Mrs. Dagmar Enkelmann, head of the Bundestag Group for German-Central Asia Affairs, as well as senior representatives from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Interior and Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

Tajik delegation members also visited the police department in the Federal State of Brandenburg, where their German colleagues informed them of activities of German law enforcement agencies on investigating and solving crimes committed by organized crime groups.  German police officers acquainted their Tajik collages with legal, practical and technical aspects of countering organized crime, the source added.

The Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (Bundeskriminalamt or BKA) is a national investigative police agency in Germany and falls directly under the Federal Ministry of the Interior.  As law enforcement in Germany is vested in the states, the BKA only becomes involved in cases of international organized crime or when requested by the respective federal state authorities or the federal minister of the interior.  The federal prosecutor can also direct it to investigate cases of special public interest.