Ain-Al-Yaqeen - February 11, 2005

		February 11, 2005

COUNTER-TERRORISM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE:

UNDER THE CHAIRMANSHIP OF THE CUSTODIAN OF THE TWO HOLY MOSQUES:
THE SAUDI COUNCIL OF MINISTERS REITERATES ITS INSISTENCE ON EXERTING UTMOST EFFORTS TO ROOT-OUT TERRORISM AND CONDEMNS THE TERRORIST ACTS IN KUWAIT.
PRINCE SAUD AL-FAISAL: NO DIFFERENCES BETWEEN DELEGATIONS.
PRINCE MOHAMMED IBN NAIF DELIVERS THE KINGDOM'S SPEECH AT THE CONFERENCE.
THE IRAQI MINISTER OF INTERIOR STRESSES THAT ESTABLISHING AN INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR COUNTER-TERRORISM IS A STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd Ibn Abdul Aziz chaired the cabinet's weekly session held at Al-Salam palace in Jeddah.

At the outset of the session, the monarch praised Almighty Allah for the Kingdom's success in enabling pilgrims to perform Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, easily and comfortably and for the divine honoring of this country to serve the holy sites and pilgrims. He prayed to Almighty Allah to accept Muslims' good deeds and to return pilgrims home safely.

In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) following the session, Dr. Fouad Ibn Abdul Salam Al-Farsi, the Minister of Culture and Information, said that the King expressed his great appreciation for the efforts exerted by the various public departments and bodies and private establishments and sectors in servicing pilgrims within the framework of the able capabilities that have contributed to achieving this high level of success in Hajj for the year 1425H.

The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques stressed that the Kingdom has been going ahead with the set up of developmental and organizational projects in the holy sites to further facilitate Hajj to enable pilgrims perform this ritual comfortably and safely.

Then the Cabinet reviewed the deliberations of the International Counter-terrorism Conference currently hosted by the Kingdom, the Minister of Culture and Information said.

In this regard, the Cabinet commended the address delivered at the conference by Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, who called on all countries to set up an International Center for Combating Terrorism.

The Center should include specialists in this field and aim at exchanging and passing information promptly in accordance with the speed of events to thwart them prior to their occurrence.

Welcoming all the delegations participating in the conference, the Cabinet renewed the Kingdom's stress on unifying all international efforts to confront and uproot terrorism, prevent the causes of its spreading, and eliminate all its sources in general.

The Cabinet emphasized the importance that the Conference should bring about outcomes and recommendations that serve all countries in confronting and containing this phenomenon through further cooperation in the field of combating terrorism, exchanging expertise, experience, opinions, ideas and proposals for forming an international bloc to face up to terrorists and deviant thoughts and to prevent them from achieving their objectives in destabilizing countries and their peoples.

On the other hand, the Cabinet condemned the terrorist acts in Kuwait, expressing the Kingdom's support for the efforts exerted by Kuwait to combat this dangerous phenomenon.

Dr Al-Farsi said the Cabinet then reviewed the local items on its agenda and took the following decisions:

The Minister of Transport or his deputy was authorized to discuss with the Philippine side a draft agreement on cooperation between the Government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines in the field of sea transportation. The final version of the agreement will then be forwarded for further authentication.

Article (6) of the Saudi Engineers Society's system was amended upon recommendations co-presented by the Minister of Commerce and Industry and the President of King Abdul Aziz City for Sciences and Technology to read as follows: "The Board of Directors of the Society is composed of ten members to be elected from among the Society's founders. The term of office of the Board of Directors will be three renewable years."

The Cabinet approved the appointment of Mujahid Ibn Othman Al Sagheer as Assistant Undersecretary of Najran Governorate for Security Affairs; Dr. Ma'en Ibn Sulaiman Hafiz as Minister Plenipotentiary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; and Abdullah Ibn Rashid Al Sinaidi as Assistant Undersecretary for Following-up Citizens Affairs at the Ministry of Civil Service.

On the other hand Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, received a telephone call from King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain.

The King of Bahrain congratulated the Crown Prince on the success and good results of the international anti-terrorism conference. The call also dealt with the close bilateral relations between the two countries.

Meanwhile Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal announced that Counterterrorism International Conference will deal with four major issues, including the ideology of terrorism, terrorism and drugs, past experiences and terrorist groups and organizations.

The minister said that major international organizations agree that terror attacks in Saudi Arabia have not constituted a major threat to the Kingdom.

Prince Saud stressed that the conference will concentrate on implementing major procedures globally to combat terrorism. "The conference will discuss ideas and opinions related to anti-terror campaigns," Prince Saud said. "Therefore, we have invited countries that have past experience in dealing with terrorism."

When asked about US President George Bush's recent remarks directed toward the Kingdom, Prince Saud observed that friendly countries normally exchange advice freely. "When we advise the United States to change its policies in the Middle East, that does not mean we have anything against them," he said.

The prince also noted that all President Bush did was express his hopes and ambitions "just as we express our hopes and aspirations."

Prince Saud assured all that the Kingdom's goal is to eradicate terrorism not just to polish the country's image.

Referring to recent incidents in Kuwait, the prince stressed that there is great cooperation between the GCC countries, and that they all exchange information.

"What happened in Kuwait proves that the means of cooperation is strong between the GCC countries," he said. "The terrorists were caught before accomplishing any major attack," he said.

In closing remarks, Prince Saud stressed that finding ways to resolve the Palestinian issue would help decrease terror attacks in the region.

Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said that the Saudi school curriculum has been reviewed and revised according to the needs of Saudi society and its development.

Answering a question at a press conference on the link between terrorism in Saudi Arabia and what is taught in Saudi schools, Prince Saud said: "The Kingdom had long ago started working on reviewing and revising as well as developing its curriculum to meet the demands of Saudi society.

"It was improved to conform to the needs of today's generation and to upgrade the student's knowledge and logic based on human causes and motives required of the new generation.

"We tried to eliminate any flaws or what might hinder progress and we tried to ensure that the new curriculum focuses more on understanding, humanity, and tolerance. The media are now addressing and appreciating the positive changes that have already taken place."

The foreign minister said the general secretariat of the ongoing Counterterrorism International Conference held two sessions, the second day of the four-day forum.

The discussions, he said, revolved around the phenomenon of terrorism as the most important challenge for people, nations, cultures, and humanity as a whole. Participants in the discussions agreed on the need to deal with terror, its aspects and motives. Delegates also agreed to intensify efforts to combat terror and eradicate it, Prince Saud added.

"The delegates also agreed that any counterterrorism attempt will fall short unless it is part of a collective effort on the part of the international community," he said.

"They also called for an international strategy to combat terror through a unified and comprehensive system for exchanging information," he added. "The crown prince's call for establishing an international center for combating terrorism has been commended and welcomed by various countries."

Conference spokesman Brig. Gen. Mansour Al-Turki acknowledged in an interview with Al-Arabiya television that terrorists were able to gain some financial gains and support from charity and philanthropic donations.

"Unfortunately, the abundance of charity funds were misused due to a lack of administrative procedures to control money transfers among branches of charity organizations around the world," he said.

"Therefore, the Kingdom has moved to reorganize charity and philanthropic activities. Those who are not licensed were banned from fund-raising and we can see today that there are no more donation boxes," he added.

Along with organizing and controlling charity activities, the government has been working on curbing other means of financing that might be used for funding terrorism such as money laundering, money from drugs or narcotic trafficking, occasional fundraising at religious events such as coupons distributed during Ramadan, he stressed.

The spokesman cited strategic moves to dry up terrorism financing and mentioned how the Kingdom has now made it mandatory for anyone who wishes to transfer money abroad to produce his ID.

Brig. Al-Turki said Arab and Muslim delegates attending the conference rejected moves to link Islam with global terrorism.

Spokesman Gen. Al-Turki enumerated the salient points brought up by member delegates from each country in the session.

He said among the root causes of terrorism that were raised by some participants include poverty, human rights violations, and inequitable distribution of wealth, among others.

Gen.Al-Turki said the conference held its second and third general assemblies during which ways to enhance international cooperation to fight terrorism were discussed.

The Official Spokesman of the International Counter-terrorism Conference and Official Security Spokesman of the Ministry of Interior Brigadier Mansour Ibn Sultan Al-Turki said that Prince Mohammed Ibn Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Assistant Interior Minister for Security Affairs has delivered the speech of the Kingdom's delegation to the Conference in the 5th session.

Prince Mohammed emphasized the importance of the call of Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, for setting up an International Center for Combating Terrorism, the spokesman reported.

In his daily briefing, Brigadier Mansour pointed out that the session was also addressed by Dr. Mohammed bin Ali Koman, the Secretary General of Arab Interior Ministerial Council, and the head of the Philippines' delegation.

Prince Mohammad Ibn Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Interior for Security Affairs and head of the Saudi delegation to the International Anti-Terrorism Conference, stressed the importance of establishing an international anti-terrorism center.

In a key speech in the conference, he said the center will help in organizing anti-terrorism efforts.

He urged the gathering to serve as an advanced step in continuing a process of an international partnership to confront terrorism.

The Plenary meeting was held in three sessions including the opening session in which the organization or work of the conference was read and participating states were divided into workshops.

The plenary session of the first day of the conference included the following:

The plenary session was opened with the speech of His Royal Highness the Chairman of the conference who welcomed the delegates and stressed the importance of coming up with views and various experiences of counter-terrorism. He said that terrorism is a global phenomenon not related to any religion or identity and that its not merely an action but the results of deviant thought that needs to be addressed which means the importance for intellectual, cultural, media institutions combating the idea without restriction to the security institutions. The speech of the Chairman also included the emphasis that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is one of the first countries to combat terrorism. He made it clear that the terrorist acts being witnessed in the Kingdom is a result of activities reflecting alien deviant thoughts not related to Islam and that the Saudi people are totally against terrorism.

The Head of the Algerian delegation presented a message addressed to the conference from His Excellency President Abdulaziz Boutaflika which included the emphasis by His Excellency on the importance of the conference and invitation to surmount all the challenges facing the conference to come up with a set of principles and recommendations to serve as the means of renewal for the international community in counter-terrorism and to reject duplicity in perception of terrorist acts and to develop national legislations against perpetrators of terrorist acts and to include bilateral and multilateral cooperation covering the political and security aspects of terrorism and which is based on a comprehensive project of collective security.

The conference adopted the inclusion of proposals made by His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz in the conference agenda for discussion and in the appropriate executive format.

The Head of the Pakistan delegation spoke about the efforts of Pakistan in combating terrorist cells on its border with Afghanistan in the war against Al-Qaida. He highlighted the positive achievements from security and intelligence cooperation with Afghanistan and the United States in the fight against counter-terrorism.

The Head of the delegation of the United States of America delivered an address in which she congratulated the Saudi security authorities for their bravery and competence in facing the terrorist forces. She stressed the depth of Saudi-American relations describing it as strategic and of special importance which continues to grow by virtue of agreement in the visions of the two countries and their cooperation in combating international terrorism. She also praised the multi-dimensional reform efforts in the Kingdom saying that this conference is a clear testimony of the depth of Saudi Arabia's commitment to combat terrorism.

The Delegation of Russia spoke about the significance of holding this conference in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia the land of Islam which prohibits terrorist acts. He pointed out the determination of his country to exert all efforts possible to prevent weapons of mass destruction reaching terrorists and that this should form the major objectives and aims of the conference. He stressed that Russia is one of the first countries to face terrorism and to succeed with positive results in many aspects. He also stressed the need to defeat terrorism in Chechnya and the importance of preventing terrorist cells from carrying out their destructive activities saying that Russia does not associate terrorism with any religion or nationality and will never do that and called for preventing terrorists from doing that.

The Head of Delegation of the United Kingdom presented his address in which he said that the terrorist threat is great and that terrorist activities is more complex and dangerous than other activities. He stressed the importance of prioritizing work on dismantling terrorist cells and putting in place a long-term comprehensive plan for combating terrorism. He stressed the cooperation and commitment of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with all in combating terrorism. The advice of the delegation of the United Kingdom also included reference to the establishment by its country of an information analysis centre on terrorism to know the threat it faces and its commitment to protecting its people amongst whom are Muslims working with the United Kingdom to strengthen their role in the society and improve their social status. He also noted the importance his country attached to the development in Iraq and its commitment to work with the new Iraq government. He said he was looking forward to the London conference to support the reforms in the Palestinian Authority.

The Head of the Delegation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan presented the address of his country in which he stressed the basic constants adopted by Jordan in combating terrorism and rejecting harboring of terrorist elements and bargaining with them and not to allow them to use Jordanian territory in any of their operations.

The Head of Delegation of Kazakhstan presented the address of his country in which he appreciated the initiative of the Kingdom for holding this conference and commended the achievements recorded by the Kingdom in combating terrorism. He expressed their readiness to cooperate and invited them to hold a conference on putting in place the appropriate criteria for education and information.

The Head of Delegation of the State of Kuwait delivered his address in which he lauded the cooperation existing between the Kingdom of Kuwait and his country's appreciation of the information provided by the Kingdom which prevented the recurrence of some terrorist activities. He emphasized that terrorism has no religion or nationality and collective action was required in order to counter it and overcome the thoughts that motivate it.

The Head of the Delegation of Japan stated that financing was an important factor in the war against terror and underscored the importance of overcoming it. He appreciated the Kingdom's efforts to counter terrorism and called upon all nations to cooperate towards that end.

The Secretary-General of the Interpol stated that terrorists used stolen passports and were involved in arms-smuggling, drug trafficking and money-laundering operations. He underlined the importance of this conference in reinforcing the work undertaken by the Interpol and the importance of data exchange on wanted terrorists.

The work of the Plenary Session on the second day involved the following:

The Head of Delegation of the Arab Republic of Egypt emphasized the importance of laying international definitions for terrorism and differentiating it from a legitimate struggle. Terrorism should be prevented an umbrella of international legitimacy. His country renounced any link between Islam and terrorism and emphasized the importance of addressing the root causes of terrorism. He requested the developed countries to provide developing countries with their technical expertise and preparing a comprehensive program for data exchange. He announced his country's support of the initiative submitted by Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz in his inaugural speech.

The Head of Delegation of Indonesia stated that international action should be oriented towards dealing with the roots and causes of terrorism and countries' economic conditions.

The Head of the Turkish delegation announced that poverty, exploitation, violation of human rights and marginalization were the main causes of terrorism, in addition to international conflicts. He reiterated his country's renunciation of any links between terrorism and Islam. He requested the international community to adopt a unified definition of terrorist acts and supported the proposal submitted by Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz to establish an international centre for date exchange.

The Delegation of the Federal Republic of Germany spoke about the need to unify efforts for countering terrorism and supported those efforts exerted by the Untied Nations to reach a definition of terrorism. He said that fair division of wealth and maintaining human rights and freedom were pivotal in preventing terrorism and denied any link between Islam and terrorism in his country.

The Head of the Canadian Delegation requested that the basic political, economic and social factors leading to terrorism be studied and that the conference's recommendations include the establishment of a mechanism for cooperation between states for the prevention of terrorist financing.

The Head of the Australian Delegation indicated that much is to be done for strengthening he common action against terrorism particularly in the field of security and judicial cooperation and extradition. The terrorist threat requires strenuous efforts and joint action between bereaved countries to work together against terrorism.

The Head of the Syrian Delegation underscored the importance of this conference in removing international confusion over the topic of terrorism and requested that the definition of terrorism include that of state terrorism. He welcomed the initiative submitted by Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz and expressed his country's willingness to cooperate on this score.

The Head of the delegation of South Africa expressed his country's willingness to cooperate in the field of counter-terrorism and indicated that it had already taken important steps in that direction.

The Head of the Delegation of the European Union stated that ending money transfers by terrorists will contribute in stemming terrorist activity and underlined the importance of consolidating international cooperation to promote national skills in this field.

The Delegation of Singapore emphasized the importance of confronting organized crime as complementary effort in countering terrorism and called for intensifying international cooperation in countering terrorism through the creation of a mechanism for early warning in the security field. He also called for collaboration in the field of data exchange and extradition.

The Head of the Delegation of Greece stated that his country had gained extensive experience in counter-terrorism during the preparation for the Olympic Games last summer. His country drew much benefit from the cooperation existing between national and international services without compromising freedom and human rights.

The Head of the Malaysian Delegation delivered a speech in which he announced his country's support for the initiative of the Crown Prince and expressed readiness to cooperate with the proposed centre once it is established. He expressed his hope that the momentum achieved in this conference will push forward towards holding an international counter-terrorism summit. He also stressed that combating terrorism, requires a comprehensive strategy that would address the deep causes underlying the emergency of these elements.

The Head of Tajikistan Delegation indicated in his speech, that there are numerous problems facing the countries of Central Asia. Due to Al-Qaida and its operatives of the extremist forces. He emphasized the necessity of promulgating the right definition of Islam by competent authorities and mass-media, considering it constitutes one of axes of combating terrorism.

In his speech, the Sudanese Head of Delegation, declared the support of his country to the Crown Prince's initiative to establish a counter-terrorism international centre. He also underlined the necessity of differentiating between terrorism as a crime, and the people's right in armed struggle to liberate their land.

The Head of Delegation of the Republic of Yemen lauded in his speech the proposal by the Crown Prince, expressing in the meantime the readiness of his country to cooperate in order to put the proposal into effect. He indicated that his country had taken precautionary measures to dry the sources of terrorism, through a number of Presidential decrees. He also stressed the importance of supporting the principal dialogue as an instrument of combating terrorism and extremism.

The UN Secretary-General's Representative underlined in his speech that there are new concepts in the area of combating terrorism under the auspices of the Security Council, the most important of which is the Security Council Resolution on boosting the Counter-terrorism Committee, formed by Resolution 1373, through the adoption of Resolution 1535 (March 2004) stipulating the setting up of an executive body in charge of following the commitment to the resolution. He also expressed his support to the Crown Prince's Initiative to set up an international centre to coordinate counter-terrorism efforts.

The Peoples Republic of China Head of Delegation delivered a speech where he indicated that the international action contributed to confronting Al-Qaeda organization and drying its finances. He warned against factors that may limit the success of international action, including linking the terrorism phenomenon to a specific race or religion. He also welcomed the Crown Prince Initiative.

The Head of the Delegation of the Islamic Republic of Iran, indicated that combating terrorism requires a unified political will, stressing the refusal of his country to link terrorism to Islam. He said that effective combating of terrorism, necessitates national, regional and international mechanisms, providing necessary expertise to countries which need them. He also expressed the support of his country to the Crown Prince Initiative.

The Indian Head of Delegation expressed his country's support to the Crown Prince Initiative indicating that the World community is in need of well organized, coordinated and effective international action, to combat terrorism. He said that his country was ready to provide support in the area of media technology, technical information and other intellectual field that concentrate on Dialogue between Civilizations, in addition to tolerance and respect of others.

The head of UAE Delegation condemned the terrorist acts committed against the kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait calling for supporting the proposal of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia on setting up an international centre for combating terrorism.

In his speech, the Head of the Spanish Delegation, called for confronting terrorism within the framework of Human rights respect, enhancing intelligence cooperation between countries, and developing special legislations related to drying the finances of the terrorists and extradition.

The following topics were highlighted in the workshops:

1.Terrorism origins, culture, ideology and its relation with religions.
2.Experiences of participating countries and means to benefit from them.
3.Terrorism causes and means of addressing them.
4.Security Council Resolutions on terrorism and combating it.
5.Enhancing cooperation between states to combat terrorism and its causes.
6.Enhancing cooperation in the field of training and technology coordination in combating terrorism.
7.Impediments to international coordination in combating terrorism.
8.Strengthening information exchange mechanisms and channels.
9. Maximizing benefit from technology, exchange of relevant experiences.
10.Terrorism exploitation of mass media and international communication networks to promote terrorism ideology.
11.Causes leading to the creation of Terrorist organizations.
12.Activation of Mass Media role in enhancing awareness of terrorism.

Iraq's Minister of Interior Falah Hassan Naqib has welcomed the initiative of Crown Prince Abdullah for setting up an international anti-terrorism center and said it could help Iraq in stopping the flow of arms and funds from across the borders as well as preventing infiltration of insurgents into his country.

Naqib, who is here to attend the ongoing anti-terrorism conference, was speaking to the media on the current situation in Iraq. He said their own security forces would be in place in 18 months. "I would say within 18 months we will be able to have ... full control of our internal security," Naqib said.

Referring to Prince Abdullah's proposal, he said it was a step in the right direction, "since we are one of those countries that have suffered from terrorism. We look forward to working together for coordination in this regard and signing an agreement with neighboring countries to eliminate terrorism."

On the presence of foreign insurgents in Iraq, Naqib said there are many Sudanese in his country. "The Sudanese were there even in Saddam's time. That may be the reason for their infiltration even after the fall of the Saddam regime."

"Maybe they (Sudanese) are 30 percent of the total numbers we have," the minister said.

Many terrorists, he claimed, are infiltrating into Iraq through other countries. "They are being helped by Iraqis for monetary gains. They have the phone numbers of these agents who help to smuggle them across the borders."

On the question of the whereabouts of Jordanian terrorist Zarqawi, Naqib said "he has been on the run all the time. But we are trying to hunt him down."

He accused a neighboring country of interference in its internal affairs. There was also religious interference from across the border, he claimed. The other problem was funding and arms smuggling into Iraq, mainly from some Arab countries.

Asked to evaluate the outcome of the conference, he said one of the aspects discussed was organized terrorism. "Almost 90 percent of the criminals who are involved in terrorism are those with a criminal background."

Terrorism, he pointed out, originated in Western countries in the 1960s. They successfully fought and defeated terrorism. "It is now our turn. Terrorists come from a particular educational and socio-economic background," he said, adding that these issues will have to be discussed.

Referring to the deteriorating situation in Iraq, Naqib claimed the problem had been partly created by the media. "They are exaggerating the situation in Iraq. They convey the impression that America is killing Iraqis."

Asked about his assessment of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and whether it was responsible for fanning the flames of terrorism, the interior minister said "the situation in Iraq is different and has nothing to do with the US policies."

He was referring to the popular conception that the strong pro-Israeli bias in US policies was largely responsible for the surge in anti-American sentiments that have been blamed on terrorist acts in various countries.

Naqib declined to be drawn on when foreign troops might withdraw. "We have agreed that when we have been able to build up our forces and we are able to protect our country and our internal security, we will ask the foreign forces to leave Iraq," he said.

Deputy Foreign Minister Mohyil-Din al-Dhabi said that Yemen supports a Saudi proposal for an international center for fighting terrorism.

During his meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal, the deputy minister who is heading Yemen's delegation to the International Anti-Terror Conference in Riyadh pointed out to the efforts of Yemen in fighting terrorism.

The two men discussed aspects of Yemeni-Saudi cooperation in various fields especially security.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz opened the four-day anti-terror conference Saturday with a call for the establishment of an international center to combat and pre-empt terror.