Committed to wiping out terror, KSA eyes world help

Saudi Arabia told an international conference on security yesterday that the terror threat remains and sought global cooperation to combat it.
"The danger of terrorism and terrorists still persists and affects several countries," Prince Turki bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Kabeer, undersecretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told delegates on Saturday in an opening address at the two-day International Conference on United Nations’ Collaboration with Counter Terrorism Centers.
Prince Prince Turki was speaking on behalf of Foreign Affairs Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal.
"We must face up to it using all means and at all levels, local, regional and international. Terrorism threatens us all, without exception," he said, calling for global action to "eradicate terrorist plans through coordination between specialized centers in the struggle against terrorism."
"Terrorism and terrorists still exist and extend to many countries. We need to combat it at a local, regional and international level,” he added.
“We would also like to affirm the significance of capacity-building of states that need it, to improve their practices, to supply them with assistance in combating terror, to provide them with training and support and to strengthen cooperation and coordination with the proper authorities in such states to confront the different illegal and security activities such as arms smuggling, drug peddling, money laundering and the pursuit of terrorists,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, his Undersecretary-General Derek Plumbly said: “We seek to strengthen the capabilities of all partners of various parties and centers that attended this meeting.”
The conference comes at a time when several African nations, most notably Algeria, Mali and Somalia have been hard hit in recent months by terrorist activity.
Saudi Arabia has had few problems with terrorist cells since rooting out militants affiliated with Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula between 2003 and 2006.
The conference hosts representatives from 21 member states of the UNCCT Advisory Board, in addition to other participants from the United Nations, the European Union, the Saudi government and 28 global centers active in combating terrorism.
It aims at encouraging participants to take part in the UNCCT project and will tackle the essential strategies to combat terrorism and measures needed to prevent it in four sessions.
These would include measures to prevent the spread of terrorism, actions to combat terrorism, and also to strengthen the role of the United Nations in the fight against terror.
“UN member states’ adoption of the global strategy to combat terrorism shows that this requires a strengthening of coordination, cooperation and the exchange of experiences between countries and relevant centers in all aspects of the fight against terrorism,” Prince Turki said.
The prince said this matter was embodied in the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who called for the establishment of an international center to combat terrorism under the umbrella of the United Nations.
In 2005, Saudi Arabia proposed creating in Riyadh an international anti-terrorism center, a proposal that was approved in September 2011 by the UN General Assembly. The kingdom contributed $ 10 million (SR 37.5 million) to promote the activities of the center for the first three years.
Many states and international and regional organizations supported the initiative, which contributed to the signing of the Convention on the establishment of the UNCCT and its inauguration by the United Nations Secretary-General during the high-level meeting on Sept. 19, 2011.