KUWAIT CITY, 10 October 2004 — Interior Minister Prince Naif yesterday urged his GCC counterparts to do more in the ongoing campaign to flush out Al-Qaeda militants from the strategic region.
“You are aware that our confrontation of terrorism was, and continues to be, fierce and very strong,” Prince Naif said at the start of a GCC interior ministers’ meeting, which is to review their counterterrorism pact.
This confrontation “confounded the evil people and those who stand behind them. However, the security achievements scored by our countries in their ongoing confrontation with terrorism and terrorists are not enough,” he said.
Calling for closer security cooperation among the six GCC partners, the Saudi minister said that terrorists try, “with the help of enemies of this region ... to harm the interests of our region and obstruct its development.”
Saudi Arabia has been hit by a string of terror attacks in the past 18 months that left about 100 people dead and hundreds wounded. The attacks have triggered a government crackdown on Al-Qaeda sympathizers.
Prince Naif said earlier on arrival here that while Saudi security forces had eliminated important and active terror elements, “we cannot say it’s over until we are sure of it on the ground.”
The main focus of the meeting will be the progress made by the alliance for the ratification of a joint counterterrorism pact signed by the interior ministers in Kuwait last May.
“The meeting will review procedures that have been made for the ratification of the pact ... which indicates that GCC states are determined to eradicate terror, the modern day virus,” GCC Secretary-General Abdul Rahman Al-Attiyah told reporters on Friday.
“We are confident that the pact will be ratified by member states because GCC states are giving top priority to fighting terrorism,” he said.
Bahraini Interior Minister Sheikh Rashed Al-Khalifa told reporters that the meeting would discuss the impact of terrorism on the region. “The meeting is being held amid highly delicate conditions that have an impact on the security of the GCC states, primarily terror and drugs ... which constitute a threat to the security and stability” of the GCC, he said.
UAE Interior Minister Mohammed Al-Badi said he and his counterparts would focus on combating all forms of crime, including cross-border organized crime and confronting the threat from drugs and terror.
The anti-terror pact calls for boosting cooperation and coordination among security agencies and facilitating the exchange of intelligence information. The pact also aims to cut red tape hindering security work.
