KUWAIT CITY, 28 April 2004 — Interior ministers of the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council will sign an anti-terrorism pact next month in Kuwait, the GCC secretary-general said here yesterday.
The pact will focus “on boosting security cooperation among the member states and would give a clear message that we are united” against terrorism, Abdul Rahman Al-Attiya was quoted as saying by the Kuwait News Agency.
GCC leaders sealed the accord to coordinate their efforts in combating terrorism at their summit in Kuwait last December, and asked their interior ministers to finalize details and endorse the pact.
“Expressing keen interest in boosting joint security cooperation and coordination to fight terror, the summit approves the signing of the GCC agreement to combat terrorism,” said the gathering’s final communiqué.
Attiya strongly condemned the latest bombing in Riyadh, which left five dead and 145 people wounded, “as a sinful terrorist attack which contravenes noble Islamic teachings.”
Saudi Arabia has been fighting its own war on terror since suicide bombings killed 52 people at residential compounds in Riyadh in May and November 2003.
Top officials in the Kingdom have repeatedly pledged to wipe out militants supporting Al-Qaeda movement, which has been blamed for the deadly attacks.
A man claiming to be Al-Qaeda’s top agent in Saudi Arabia denied in an audiotape that surfaced yesterday responsibility for last week’s bombing in Riyadh, but vowed to launch more attacks on Americans in the Kingdom.
“It must be known that we are not responsible for the bombing of the headquarters of the emergency forces in Riyadh,” said a man claiming to be Abdul Aziz Issa Abdul-Mohsin Al-Muqrin on the tape, which was posted on a website known for its militant content.
Al-Muqrin, who is said to have recently taken over leadership of Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia, warned the militant group would carry out “fierce” attacks this year against US interests and urged Muslims to avoid American civilian and military sites.
The tape warned Washington to withdraw its troops and bases from Muslim states and to end its occupation of Muslim land and its support of Israel.
Meanwhile, Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed Al-Sabah said yesterday that the Gulf states were facing “a real terror plot” to destabilize the region.
“We believe there is a plot to destabilize the region,” a concern which prompted the Kuwaiti prime minister to tour the GCC states, Sheikh Mohammed told reporters in Parliament.
Kuwaiti Premier Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah visited the other five members of the regional alliance for talks, which concluded Monday, during which combating terrorism was high on the agenda. Kuwait is GCC’s current rotating president.
“We are facing real dangers that we must not underestimate,” said Sheikh Mohammed, in reference to the conflict in Iraq and the wave of terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia.
“The solution is neither impossible nor costly. It requires Gulf solidarity, because fighting terror needs software and not (only) heavy guns,” Sheikh Mohammed said.
Security agencies in the Gulf states should exchange information while their media and cultural bodies should coordinate to fight “destructive ideas which constitute a real danger in the region,” he added.
Sheikh Mohammed also said his country was in “continuous contact” with the United States over instability in Iraq and other related issues.
“Instability in Iraq affects the region in general and Kuwait in particular,” he said.
