NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban quietly traveled to Qatar late last week for a conference and has yet to return to New York City – even as the department braces for potential unrest Friday related to a global “day of jihad” called by the Hamas terrorist group’s ex-chief.
Caban, who sources say visited the Middle Eastern country for a two-day “Arab Tourism Security Forum,” was noticeably absent from Thursday’s City Hall briefing where officials discussed the NYPD’s decision to ramp up patrols for possible protests.
The overseas trip by the city’s top was unannounced and multiple City council members told The Post they only learned Caban was in Qatar Thursday evening when First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella casually mentioned it during a security briefing.
“This is one heck of a time to be out of town,” one Council member told The Post. “If I were him, I would have been on the first plane back home to 1PP,” the lawmaker said, referring to police headquarters.
Sources said Caban is expected to fly back to the Big Apple Saturday — a day after potential worldwide pro-Palestine demonstrations called on by Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas from 2004 to 2017, in the wake of the terror group’s bloody attack against Israel.
Caban’s trip across the globe didn’t go unnoticed before Thursday, as the Qatar Tribune published photos on Sunday of the commissioner sitting down with the country’s minister of interior at the Lusail International Circuit — a racetrack outside of Doha.
During the meeting they “discussed cooperation between the two countries in the field of security, exploring ways to strengthen and support it,” according to the report.
Back on the home front, the NYPD ordered all cops to report in uniform on Friday and heightened security at all police precincts.
Deputy Commissioner of the NYPD Intelligence and Counterterrorism Bureau, Rebecca Weiner, told the Jewish community on Thursday that there will be an increased police presence around the city “to deter anyone who would seek to do us harm in this city.”
“We still are not seeing any threat reporting suggesting violence in New York City,” she noted. “We are obviously aware that that can change at any moment.”
Religious centers have been advised to limit access to their buildings and to check that their locks, alarms and security cameras are working properly.