RIYADH, 5 February 2005 — With the international anti-terrorism conference set to open today, security has been beefed up around the venue as well as Mariott Riyadh, site of the media center, and Royal Conference Palace, where the government’s guests have been accommodated.
All vehicles passing by those sites were being screened, creating traffic jams in the areas. Security has been so tight that calls placed at the Royal Conference Palace, where VIP guests are staying, were not forwarded even to their aides. Security personnel, including those of the special forces, have been deployed at all strategic places.
Over 300 international and local journalists will be covering the event, according to a spokesman of the Ministry of Information and Culture. He said correspondents of news agencies from around the world have arrived for providing live coverage. Saudi TV has set up its own production units at the media center, which is fully equipped with wireless transmission facilities for relaying news and photos.
Anti-terrorism experts from the US, Britain and 50 other countries have checked in for the conference. The US delegation will be led by Homeland Security Adviser Frances Fragos Townsend. From the Asian side, Ali Rabiei, adviser to Iranian President Mohammad Khatami will attend the conference, while the Indian delegation will be led by Ambassador M.O.H. Farouk.
The main theme of the conference is terrorism and its relationship with money laundering and arms smuggling. Material distributed at the media center highlights the Kingdom’s role in cracking down on money laundering. In this context, it is pointed out that Saudi Arabia has investigated many bank accounts suspected of having links to terrorism and has frozen more than 40 accounts.
A publication released by the Saudi Embassy in Washington also refers to new legislation approved by the Council of Ministers which stipulates jail sentence of up to 15 years and fines up to $1.8 million for offenders. The new law implements the 40 recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money-laundering and the eight on terror financing.
It said a Saudi-US task force has been organized from across law enforcement and intelligence agencies to work side by side to share “real time” intelligence and conduct joint operations in the fight against terror.
These measures have drawn favorable comments from FATF which said in its 15th annual report last year: “Saudi authorities have focused heavily on systems and measures to counter terrorism and the financing of terrorism. Specifically, they have taken action to increase the requirements for financial institutions on customers, established systems for tracing and freezing terrorist assets, and tightened the regulation and transparency of charitable organizations.”
In the crackdown on terror, a report issued by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies notes that Saudi Arabia’s total internal security budget for 2003 topped $7 billion and rose to an estimated $8 billion last year. The publication gives details of the weapons confiscated by the security force in their confrontation with terrorists.
