JEDDAH, 15 September 2006 — Undersecretary at the Saudi Interior Ministry Ahmad Al-Salem said yesterday that Muslims — who are usually accused of being terrorists — are the real victims of terrorism.
Addressing a meeting of representatives from the interior ministries of countries neighboring Iraq, Al-Salem said, “What really pains us is that those committing terrorist acts claim that they belong to Islam and so the enemies have used this chance to undermine our religion and defame it. We all know that Islam does not approve of terrorism in any way and that killing innocent people and destroying properties have been declared unlawful by the Holy Qur’an.”
Welcoming representatives from Jordan, Iran, Bahrain, Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait and Egypt who arrived here for the three-day meeting that is prelude to the forthcoming third meeting of interior ministers, Al-Salem said, “We watch painful scenes in Iraq on TV everyday,” and quoted a Hadith of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) that urges Muslims to be united as one body.
Al-Salem highlighted the Saudi initiatives that aim at supporting the Muslims, Arabs and Iraqi people to overcome crises and attain security and prosperity enjoyed by other Middle East countries. He said he hoped that Arab countries’ cooperation in the fight against terror would help end terrorism.
Iraqi representative Gen. Fakher Maryoush Al-Kaabi said, “The meeting signifies the solidarity of the Iraqi people particularly in the face of their daily suffering as a result of terror attacks.”
Al-Kaabi added that terrorists aim at the infrastructure, vital establishments and the people of Iraq and observed that the terror attacks were not aimed at Iraq alone but were against the entire region.
The second meeting of the interior ministers of Iraq’s neighboring countries was held in Istanbul in July last year to approve a draft statement put forth by an expert meeting. Participants from Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Greece, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and Bahrain had discussed and approved the draft statement.
The draft statement included major issues such as latest developments in Iraq, anti-terrorism campaign and ways that Baghdad’s neighbors could adopt to help restore security to the war-torn country.