UAE | Crime

UAE set to sign DNA Charter in two weeks

The UAE is soon to get access to the Interpol's International DNA database which has over 77,000 DNA profiles pooled in from 48 countries worldwide, officials told Gulf News.

  • By Rayeesa Absal, Staff Reporter
  • Published: 23:36 October 27, 2008
  • Gulf News

Abu Dhabi: The UAE is soon to get access to the Interpol's International DNA database which has over 77,000 DNA profiles pooled in from 48 countries worldwide, officials told Gulf News.

"The Interpol's DNA Charter will be signed in less than two weeks," said Lieutenant Colonel Dr Ahmad Al Marzooqi, Head of Forensic Biology and DNA Section at Abu Dhabi Police. The charter is due at the UAE Interior Minister's office and will be signed soon, he noted.

Currently the country sends DNA profiles manually to the Interpol to match with profiles of wanted criminals. However, once the charter is signed the UAE will have online access to the database making the process much easier.

"Twenty-three countries amongst the 187 Interpol members have online access to the database," said Werner Schuller, Assistant Director of Forensic Support and Specialised Technical Databases at Interpol's General Secretariat in France.

UAE will soon become the first country in the Middle East to be granted the online access, he said.

Criminals

There are two ways of accessing the database for member nations, Schuller explains. "They could send the DNA profiles from a crime scene to the National Central Bureau of Interpol, who will then send a request to the General Secretariat in order to find matches in the database on behalf of the country. Alternatively, member nations who sign the charter will get the authorisation to access the database online," he says.

The officials were speaking at the sidelines of the Interpol's DNA monitoring experts group (Meg) biannual meeting, which is being hosted in UAE for the first time by the Interior Ministry.

A local case for instance involved the profiles of criminals from the Wafi Mall heist in Dubai last year, which were sent to the Interpol and helped identify the criminals within hours. "Technically within seconds," added Schuller.

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