Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Minister of Foreign Affairs, said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia hosted in 2005 in Riyadh the first international conference to combat terrorism in which many countries at the level of experts and specialists in security matters participated. Consistent with the objectives of the conference and coinciding with the escalation of terrorism in the world, claiming guiltless innocent lives, without mercy or respite, terrorism threatens international peace and security. In a joint press conference with Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon after the opening of the 2nd Meeting of Advisory Board of U.N. Counter Terrorism Center, Prince Saud said holding the 2nd meeting of the council is one of the results of the first conference held in Riyadh, which came in response to the initiative of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud for establishing an international center to combat terrorism under the umbrella of the United Nations. “The efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the fight against terrorism are not only by denouncing and condemning it in all its forms and manifestations, whatever its source; this policy is accompanied by a number of procedures and internal measures to counter this malicious scourge and to address it through security and intellectual responses and to target the sources of funding terrorism. The Kingdom has been able to take important steps reflecting significantly on the security of the country, citizens and residents," Prince Saud said. "This success is achieved by the aid of Allah and then by the unified stand of the society with its leadership in the fight against this extraneous and alien phenomenon to their culture and Islamic religion which promotes the common good of mankind and lays the foundations of love, peace and harmony. The government and the people of the Kingdom will continue in the fight against this phenomenon with determination and resoluteness for as long as it takes to have it eliminated, as the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques has said," Prince Saud said. Prince Saud pointed out the importance of taking into consideration that these efforts, no matter how huge or far-ranging, remain individual efforts requiring a wider international effort on the grounds that terrorist acts exceed geographical boundaries and limits of values, principles, beliefs and cultures. Combating terrorism is a common responsibility for all members of the international family. --More
