JEDDAH, 12 July 2005 — Saudi Arabia yesterday emphasized the need for setting up a global center to combat terrorism and said it would help boost international cooperation to fight the scourge.
Addressing the Council of Ministers, Prince Abdullah renewed his call for the world community to step up cooperation to counter terrorism, “dismember it, dry up its sources and confront the extremist thinking that leads to terror,” the Saudi Press Agency said.
Prince Abdullah hoped, “the creation of the international counterterrorism center which the Kingdom had called for would help open a new page of effective global cooperation to establish an international community free of terrorism.”
The crown prince proposed the establishment of the center during a counterterrorism conference in Riyadh last February. The gathering then endorsed the proposal and set up a task force to work on the project.
Saudi Arabia, which is battling Al-Qaeda violence, renewed its condemnation of last Thursday’s blasts in London, which killed more than 50 people, saying it stood by Britain “in its quest to capture the perpetrators of the terrorist bombings.”
The Cabinet meeting also urged all Islamic forums to condemn these terrorist attacks and highlighted the fact that they go against the peaceful and humanitarian teachings of Islam.
The Cabinet offered the Kingdom’s condolences to the families of the blast victims. Interior Minister Prince Naif promised to pass on to Britain any information it might get that would help track down the bombers.
The meeting called the killing of Egyptian ambassador in Iraq, Ihab Al-Sherif, as “a heinous crime that violated Islamic teachings and humanitarian values.” It conveyed its condolences to the Egyptian government and people as well as the ambassador’s family.
Late last month, Saudi Arabia issued a new list of 36 wanted terrorists and promised financial rewards of up to SR7 million for those giving information leading to the arrest of the militants or help prevent terrorist attacks.
Saudi security forces killed Moroccan Younis Mohammad Al-Hayari, who was No. 1 on the list and Al-Qaeda network’s frontman in the Kingdom, in a July 3 shootout in Riyadh. The list is the third issued by Saudi authorities who have been battling suspected Al-Qaeda militants since they launched a spate of bombings and shootings in the Kingdom.
According to press reports, Saudi security forces arrested eight terror suspects in the northern town of Arar, near the border with Iraq, on Sunday. Interior Ministry spokesman Mansour Al-Turki said authorities were interrogating the suspects.
Asharq Al-Awsat, a sister publication of Arab News, said two of them tried to flee but security forces caught up with them. The suspects did not put up any resistance. No weapons or ammunition were found in the location where they were arrested.
