LYON, France (AP) - The Latest on the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Interpol President Meng Hongwei (all times local):
8:35 p.m.
Interpol says a Chinese official who was reported missing has resigned as head of the international police agency. The update came after Beijing announced Meng Hongwei was under investigation in China.
Interpol said Sunday night that Meng had resigned as president of the agency’s executive committee, effectively immediately. It did not say why.
Meng is China’s vice minister of public security. His whereabouts and status have been mysteries since his wife reported Friday that she had not heard from him since he went to China at the end of September.
The disciplinary organ of China’s ruling Communist Party said Sunday night that Meng is “currently under the monitoring and investigation” of China’s new anti-corruption body, for unspecified legal violations.
Interpol, based in Lyon, France, said the senior vice president of its executive committee, Kim Jong Yang of South Korea, would become acting president.
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6:15 p.m.
The disciplinary organ of China’s ruling Communist Party says the head of Interpol, a senior Chinese official, is under investigation on suspicion of unspecified legal violations.
The party’s watchdog for graft and political disloyalty said on its website late Sunday that Meng Hongwei, China’s vice minister of public security, is “suspected of violating the law and is currently under the monitoring and investigation” of China’s new anti-corruption body, the National Supervision Commission.
Meng’s wife told reporters in the French city of Lyon on Sunday she hasn’t heard from her husband since Sept. 25. She says he sent an image of knife that day, she thinks as a warning he was in danger.
Interpol, which is based in Lyon, said Saturday it made a formal request to China for information about Meng.
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5:35 p.m.
The wife of the missing president of Interpol says her husband sent her an image of a knife before he disappeared during a trip to their native China.
Making her first public comments on the mystery surrounding Meng Hongwei’s whereabouts, Grace Meng told reporters in Lyon, France on Sunday she thinks the knife was her husband’s way of trying to tell her he was in danger.
She says she has had no further contact with him since the message that was sent on Sept. 25. She says four minutes before Meng shared the image, he had sent a message saying, “Wait for my call.”
She says she hasn’t heard from him since and does not know what happened to him.
Interpol is headquartered in Lyon.
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