February 18, 2005

COUNTER-TERRORISM INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE: THE FINAL COMMUNIQUÉ OF THE RIYADH CONFERENCE STRESSES COMMITMENT TO THE UN INTERNATIONAL RESOLUTIONS FOR COMBATING TERRORISM. THE CONFERENCE ENDORSES CROWN PRINCE ABDULLAH'S PROPOSAL FOR AN INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR COMBATING TERRORISM. TERRORISM HAS NO RELIGION, NO NATIONALITY AND ANY ATTEMPTS TO LINK IT WITH ANY RELIGION SERVES THE TERRORISTS. THE PARTICIPANTS CALL FOR MORE INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION IN COMBATING TERRORISM, MONEY LAUNDERING, TRAFFICKING IN WEAPONS AND EXPLOSIVES AND SMUGGLING DRUGS. PRINCE NAIF IBN ABDUL AZIZ: THE CONFERENCE IS NOT THE END OF THE ROAD BUT THE BEGINNING OF ACHIEVING GOALS. The Counter-Terrorism International Conference that has been taking place in Riyadh since February 5 concluded its meetings under the chairmanship of Minister of Interior Prince Naif Ibn Abdulaziz, with the 51 countries and 11 organizations participating in the four-day event expressing great appreciation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for calling for and hosting the conference. The final communiqué, to be known as the 'Riyadh Declaration', confirms that terrorist acts are a threat to international security, encourages mass media to condemn extremism and deviant ideas, urges countries and organizations worldwide to work together, supports the resolutions of the United Nations, and endorses Crown Prince Abdullah's proposal for an international center for combating terrorism. As many as 50 countries and international, regional and Arab organizations participated in the four-day conference. The final communiqué/ Riyadh Declaration/ was read by the Conference's Secretary General Prince Khalid Ibn Saud Ibn Khalid Al Saud, the Director General of Financial and Administrative Affairs at the Foreign Ministry. The countries and organizations expressed their great appreciation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for calling for and hosting the Conference which was held under the patronage of Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard. The declaration stressed that any international efforts will be incapable of effective confrontation with the phenomenon of terrorism if they are in short of collective work and comprehensive strategic perspective to deal with it. Within this framework, the countries and organizations support and adopt the proposal of Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul Aziz, Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard, mentioned in the inaugural address to set up an International Center for Combating Terrorism. The Conference formed a task team to crystallize this proposal. The statement praised the spirit of understanding and cooperation prevailed in the conference and the agreement on visions and stands on the danger of the phenomenon of terrorism and on the inevitability of countering it through international, united, organized and lasting efforts that respect the international legitimacy principles particularly human and refugee rights and human law, and that enhance the central and comprehensive role of the United Nations and adopt a comprehensive and multilateral approach. The Conference affirmed that terrorism continually threatens peace, security and stability, adding that there is no justification for terrorist acts which are always condemned whatever might be their circumstances or alleged motives. The declaration emphasized the importance of enhancing the values of understanding, tolerance, dialogue, multilateralism, acquaintance with peoples, approach among cultures, rejection of clashes of civilizations, and the combating of every ideology that calls for hatred, instigates violence and justifies terrorist crimes rejected by all religions and laws. The Conference affirmed that terrorism has no certain religion, race, nationality or geographical area. In this context, it stressed that any attempt to link terrorism with any religion will help terrorists. The countries and organizations emphasized their commitment to the international resolutions issued by the United Nations Organization relating to combating terrorism which call on the world community to condemn terrorism, combat it by all means, and confront it by all ways in accordance with the United Nations Charter since terrorist acts threaten international peace and security. The declaration stressed that the United Nations is the basic platform for the enhancement of the international cooperation against terrorism, that the relevant United Nations Security Council's resolutions form a firm and comprehensive basis for combating terrorism internationally and that all countries should fully comply with these resolutions. It called on all countries to join, ratify and implement the 12 international treaties to combat terrorism. The declaration called for the promotion of self-efforts aiming at expanding the political participation, achieving sustainable development, meeting requirements of the social equilibrium, activating the role of civil institutions to confront the circumstances conducive to the spreading of violence and the deviant thought. It emphasized the role of mass media, civil institutions and educational systems in forging strategies to confront terrorist allegations and in promoting mass media to set guiding rules for information and press reports. The Conference demanded that the United Nations develop criteria for assisting non-profitable, charitable and human bodies to play their roles in organizing relief and humanitarian works and for preventing the exploitation of these bodies in illegitimate activities. The declaration called for cooperation at national, bilateral, and regional level among specializing bodies for combating terrorism, money laundering, trafficking in weapons and explosives, smuggling drugs, and exchanging expertise and experience including training to ensure the effectiveness of fighting terrorists and their links to the organized crime. It stressed the need for strengthening the international measures aiming at preventing terrorists from possessing mass destruction weapons to support the role of the United Nations in this field including full implementation of the United Nations Security Council's resolution No. 1540. It called for supporting and assisting countries, upon their request, in the field of combating terrorism particularly equipment, training and building of their capabilities. The countries and organizations called for the development of national legislation and measures to prevent terrorists from exploiting the laws of asylum and immigration to get a safe haven or use the territories of these countries as bases for recruiting, training, planning, instigating or using them launching pads to implement terrorist acts against other countries. The declaration emphasized the importance of spreading the virtuous and human values and the spirit of tolerance and coexistence, urging the media on refraining from publication of information materials calling for extremism and violence. Then Prince Naif delivered a speech in which he expressed his happiness to meet again with the participants at the conclusion of this international and historical meeting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, noting that the Conference came at a time of a critical confrontation with an ugly crime whose perpetrators have no respect for a religion, human being, or place. Prince Naif noted that the conclusion of the meeting is not the end of the way, but it is the practical start to achieve the objectives of ensuring the safety of a human being in this era from the danger of the crime of terrorism, violence, killing and destruction. Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz, the Interior Minister, underlined the success of the International Counter-Terrorism Conference. In a press conference he held following the conclusion of the conference, Prince Naif, the chairman of the conference, said in response to questions that terrorism will be confronted with all decisiveness, strength, wisdom and courage. Prince Naif said one of the most important results of the conference is the establishment of the international anti-terrorism center. He added that journalists who wish to visit the kingdom are very welcome. Prince Naif stressed that Saudi security authorities will continue work to ensure that the kingdom is completely free from terror. He urged the media to enlighten people on their important role in maintaining security of their countries. He also urged the media to be precise and convey only the truth to the audience. Interior Minister Prince Naif Ibn Abdul Aziz said that Saudi Arabia is establishing a cultural and intellectual strategy of its own to combat all ideologies that motivate Al-Qaeda to commit acts of terrorism in the Kingdom. Addressing the press conference, Prince Naif, who is also president of the Counter-Terrorism International Conference, said the Riyadh Declaration emerging from the conference should serve as an international reference for all countries and agencies engaged in fighting terrorism. Prince Naif urged the media persons attending the conference to reflect exactly what they have seen.. The Kingdom maintains transparency and welcomes the international media to come to Saudi Arabia and report, he said. For this, the Ministry of Information and other related agencies including all Saudi embassies will make visa procedures easier for media representatives to come to the Kingdom. We are ready to relay information based on facts, he offered. The Kingdom will continue to fight terrorism until all the terrorists are eliminated from Saudi society, he said. The four-day counterterrorism conference concluded after endorsing the Saudi proposal to set up an international center to combat terror. "A task force has been established to further elaborate this proposal," said the closing "Riyadh Declaration". The communiqué, read out in Arabic at the closing session, did not say where the center would be based, but the head of one participating delegation said it would be set up in Switzerland. "Any international efforts will not be sufficient to effectively combat the terrorism phenomenon if not conducted within the framework of joint actions and an all-inclusive strategic vision," the final declaration said. Crown Prince Abdullah opened the conference with a call for the establishment of a global center to combat and pre-empt terrorism. But basic details were left to be decided later, including what exactly such a center should do, who would pay for it, and whether it should be based in Switzerland, New York or elsewhere. Interior Minister Prince Naif said the agreement was the "key accomplishment" of the conference attended by security and intelligence officials from 50 countries around the world. Prince Naif said the center could be an institute for research, training and sharing of expertise. "There are various ways. It could be more of a think-tank, doing research papers, or more of an operational real-time thing," US State Department official William Pope said. He said the United States would take part in the working group. Sources said Saudi Arabia had proposed the center be established in Switzerland which was not present at the meeting but New York, Vienna, Cairo and Riyadh itself had also been suggested. Acknowledging an issue repeatedly stressed by Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, the communiqué said that "terrorism has no specific religion, ethnic origin, nationality, or geographic location." "In this respect, it is of paramount importance to stress that any attempt to associate terrorism with any given faith will in fact serve the interests of terrorists," it added. A proposal to set up an international fund of seized assets to help victims of terrorism was dropped by the conference, a delegate said. "That did not go through," the diplomat, who requested anonymity, said. "Countries were encouraged to set up domestic bodies" to deal with seized terrorists' money, said the communiqué. The Belgian head of a workshop on ties between terrorism and money laundering said a recommended international fund from seized terror money to help victims of terrorism had been approved. The Riyadh Declaration called for the establishment of an International Counter-Terrorism Center staffed by experts ... in order to share real-time information to adequately prevent attacks. The idea, raised on the conference's opening session by Crown Prince Abdullah, was the most prominent initiative proposed in the four days of talks. Diplomats said a special working group would be set up after the conference to work out funding for the center and whether it should be placed under UN auspices. The Saudi Gazette said Russian counter-terrorism official Anatoly Safonov said the center should be a technical, operational structure. But asked if Russia's FSB intelligence service would pass information to such a forum, he told Reuters: It's hard to imagine. It also said that one European delegate told Reuters: The proposal is not concrete enough, it is too vague. Another said it was likely such a center would be a kind of research institution for national experts to share analysis. The Declaration was endorsed by security officials from some 50 countries who adopted a unified stand on terrorism and called for joint efforts and a systematic approach to combat the terror at the international level but only under the legitimate framework of the UN. While rejecting the argument of the clash of civilizations, they called for strengthening of understanding of each other s culture, promote tolerance and bring people together. There should be no place for hatred and advocating violence and terrorism, the participants stated. Terrorism is a crime and not accepted by any religion or law in any part of the world, they said. They emphasized that any attempt to link terrorism to any religion would only encourage people to commit more acts of terrorism, which must be rejected in totality. The Declaration further said that in order to create a climate of understanding and mutual cooperation based on shared values between countries, which may have different religions, action must be taken if any attempt is made to relate terrorism with religion. They committed their resolution to the UN charter on terrorism and called on the international community to combat terrorism. They said the existing UN resolutions constitute a solid foundation for combating terrorism internationally, and all countries should adhere to such resolutions. The Declaration called for individual efforts by nations to encourage public for political participation. They called for enactment of civil establishments for the sustained development of the society, which could minimize extremism and violence. They said education systems, media and civil organizations play an important role in any strategy to confront terrorist s propaganda and their claims. The delegations said there should be firm guidelines drawn for media, aimed at preventing terrorists from taking benefit through the spread of information and communication, which usually contribute for new recruitments. They also urged the UN to develop international standards to ensure that charitable and profit-oriented humanitarian organizations conduct their operations without being harassed perceived involvement in illegal activities. The Declaration called for increased bilateral cooperation between countries on issues such as money laundering, weapons and drug smuggling. It called for exchange of expertise and expertise on terroris so as to collectively combat the scourge. The delegations want to strengthen a mechanism at the international level so as to monitor the transport of nuclear material and related technology, and support the UN in its efforts to ensure the safety of nuclear establishments. They also called for strengthening UN s General Assembly Resolution No. 48/58, that calls for preventing terrorists from owning and possessing weapons of mass destruction. Ways must be devised to stop suspected terrorists from either owning or transporting such weapons. They called for supporting the developing countries in their fight against terrorism, especially helping them with early warning devices and crises management. On the issue of immigration they called for drafting national measures including legislation, which prevent terrorists from abusing immigration laws. No country should serve as ground for recruitment, planning and training by terrorist groups to carry out terrorist acts in other countries. They urged the international mass media to disseminate information on noble human values and the spirit of co-existence among people and avoid any messages, which encourage extremism and violence. On the other hand Prince Turki Ibn Sultan Ibn Abdul Aziz, Assistant Minister of Culture and Information, highlighted Saudi efforts to fight terrorism. In a statement on the occasion of the International Anti-Terrorism Conference, he stressed that the international wide participation in the conference hosted by the kingdom reflects international support for the kingdom. He explained that the holding of the conference is a message from the heart of the Islamic world to the whole world that Islam and Muslims are innocent of terrorism.