The peaceful religion of Islam considers terrorism as one of the greatest crimes and corruption on earth, the secretary-general of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) said here yesterday. Addressing the Counter-terrorism International Conference, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said Islam has contributed widely to the global campaign against terror. He said terrorism is a global phenomenon whose victims are different nations of different religions, beliefs and philosophies. He said Saudi Arabia's decision to host the global conference comes from its awareness of the danger of terrorism and the urgent need to fight it. The Kingdom was among the first countries to combat terrorism, he added. "What this country has observed from terrorist incidents committed by deviant groups, is that they have claimed religious reasons for their actions. This is a false claim that is not related in any way to true Islam. These people have a deviant and perverted ideology that is foreign to the principles of Islam. They have been fed by alien thoughts," he was quoted as saying by Arab News. The OIC secretary-general said that Saudi society was successful in standing united against the deviant groups and showed determination to deal with them sternly. "Terrorism is not just an act; it is the product of a perverted ideology. It is our duty to combat it... Therefore all the institutions have a responsibility to fight against it as much as possible. Just as security institutions have a duty, cultural, scientific and educational institutions also have the greatest responsibility in combating deviant thoughts and building the correct principles and morals that will deter societies from evil acts," he said.
