PA to protest delay in Interpol application

The Palestinian Authority (PA) will protest against a delay in its application to join the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) at the body's annual conference next week, an official told AFP on Friday.

"Palestine applied for membership of Interpol more than a year ago, but the executive committee of Interpol rejected the Palestinian request for a vote and referred it to a committee of experts for examination," PA foreign ministry official Ammar Hijazi told the news agency.

He added that "executive measures" had prevented the issue being on the agenda for Interpol's next annual meeting, to be held on the Indonesian island of Bali from November 7-10.

Hijazi said Palestinian officials would nevertheless attend the meeting to register their protest.

"There is no plan to vote on the Palestinian request at the next meeting, but the diplomatic battle ahead is to expose what the Executive Committee did to postpone a decision," he told AFP, adding that the PA was seeking to enlist support for its bid.