An agreement was signed at the United Nations headquarters in New York today, announcing the Establishment of the UN Center for Combating Terrorism, proposed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud at the International Conference for Combating Terrorism held in Riyadh in 2005 in the presence of more than 60 countries. The agreement was signed by Prince Saud Al-Faisal, Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and leader of his country's delegation to the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly, and Ban Ki Moon, Secretary General of the United Nations. Then, Prince Saud Al-Faisal and Ban Ki Moon attended an international symposium on ways of international cooperation to fight terrorism. The event was also attended by foreign ministers of more than 20 countries, including France, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco, Nigeria and Norway. Addressing the gathering, Prince Saud Al-Faisal described the establishment of the UN Center for Combating Terrorism as the crowning for the efforts of the International Conference on Combating Terrorism during which the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud had proposed the establishment of the center under the patronage of the United Nations. Prince Saud Al-Faisal confirmed that terrorism doesn't belong to any religion and doesn't represent the religion or society to which terrorists belong. There are more than 1.5 billion Muslims all over the world who represent a deep-rooted culture which calls for peace, cooperation and tolerance, he added. He said that Saudi Arabia has, as was the case of many countries, suffered from terrorist actions against which the Kingdom's leadership and people stood fast. He donated $10 million for the establishment of the center, hoping that the center would play its role in combating terrorism. For his part, Ban Ki Moon expressed appreciation to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for its initiative of calling for the establishment of the center, and support of the facility and expressed happiness of signing the agreement between the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Nations.
