Ministry of Interior to be restructured

ABU DHABI — The Ministry of Interior will be restructured with the establishment of new anti-terrorism, human rights, money laundering and organised crimes departments, a senior official disclosed.

By Adel Arafah

Published: Tue 21 Feb 2006, 10:05 AM

Last updated: Sat 4 Apr 2015, 6:51 PM

Addressing a Press conference at the premises of the Police College here yesterday, Major-General Saif Abdullah Al Shafar, Under-Secretary of the Ministry, said the new organisational structure would become functional later this year.

Brigadier Moustafa Shihab, Director-General of the College, was also present at the conference.

"The focus will be on IT, human resources and modern administrative and technical systems," said Maj-Gen Shafar.

Lieutenant-General Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of interior, issued directives that the new structure should include departments that would keep abreast of the latest security developments the country is witnessing, he said.

"The new advanced duties of the ministry require introducing such new structures to cater to the ambitions of the ministry and our sagacious leadership," he said.

The ministry will also construct a new building for the Police College in the capital to take in larger number of students, he said, pointing out that the college receives 190 students every year selected out of the total of 3000 applicants.

''Though the number of students meets the needs of the current stage, we look forward to increasing the capacity of the college to keep abreast of the ministry's ambitions in the next period," he noted.

Maj-Gen Shafar, who is also the Chairman of Abu Dhabi Police College, said human rights, as a subject, has been accorded great importance in the syllabi of the college and other training institutes of the ministry with the aim of making the police officers fully aware and knowledgeable regarding the principles of human rights.

He also announced plans to introduce new technical programmes leading towards a BA in Police Science and Social Justice. The 16th batch of students, whose passing out parade will be held here next Sunday, will be the last to study the old BA programme in Legal and Police sciences.

"The new syllabus focuses on the application and technical side taking into account that the forthcoming period requires training of a new generation of officers capable of using the advanced technologies in the police and security work."

Casting light on the new study fees, the under-secretary said: "We have adjusted some charges regarding naturalisation and residency, and have no objection of adjusting other fees."

He, however, said the issue needs further study in line with the standard of the services. "The hike in charges should be logical, and will be put before the minister of interior before submitting it to the cabinet for action," he added.

Meanwhile, Brig. Shihab said the new curriculum targeted the 17th batch of students, and was introduced in 2002.

He spoke at length about the curriculum saying that it is a technical and academic method, which concentrates on the practical side. It is designed to arm the student with the field experience, which he actually needs in his career, he added.

"The curriculum, applied in the Middle East for the first time, is already in force in a number of advanced European countries," he added.

Earlier in the day, Maj-Gen Shafar watched the concluding rehearsal for the passing out parade of the 16th batch of graduates of the college.