|
Saudis win backing for anti terror center Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7571025http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=7571025
Saudis Win Backing for Anti-Terror Center
Tue Feb 8, 2005 12:31 PM ET
By Mark Trevelyan and Dominic Evans
RIYADH (Reuters) - Security officials from 50 countries Tuesday endorsed a Saudi Arabian plan to create an international counter-terrorism center.
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.
Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef said the agreement was the "key accomplishment" of a four-day conference attended by security and intelligence officials from around the world.
But Western delegates said the important wider message from the gathering was that the kingdom -- birthplace of Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 Sept. 11, 2001 hijackers -- was serious about fighting terror at home and cooperating internationally.
"The main thing is that Saudi Arabia, which was considered since 9/11 as perhaps the home country of a certain kind of terrorism, is not only taking measures inside the country but playing an important role internationally to fight it," a European official said.
The conference opened in a stunning palace on the outskirts of Riyadh Saturday before switching to a hotel guarded by hundreds of police, troops and balaclava-clad special forces.
Reflecting a national preoccupation with security after nearly two years of al Qaeda attacks, messages such as "No place for terrorism in the land of peace" greeted visitors on arrival at Riyadh airport and on electronic screens around the capital.
"No to Terrorism!" chanted a group of orphans presented to the international press in the conference media center.
POLITICAL WILL TO FIGHT TERROR
Behind the slogans, U.S., European and Russian officials all said they believed that Saudi Arabia was serious about measures like stopping the abuse of Islamic charities for international terrorist funding.
"One mustn't be naive, you can't cut that off at a stroke," said Anatoly Safonov, special representative on terrorism for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"But we see there is understanding, there is the political will to fight this, and there's no doubt there are already initial results."
The final conference declaration said a task force had been set up to "further crystallize" the idea of an international counter-terrorism center.
An earlier draft had said it should be "staffed by experts ... in order to share real-time information to adequately prevent attacks before they occur."
But this wording was dropped, reflecting skepticism from many delegates who said it was inconceivable that intelligence agencies would agree to pool operational information with a large number of other countries.
Prince Nayef 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," State Department official William Pope told Reuters. 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 nations, the communique 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."
|
|
