RIYADH, 7 September 2005 — Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal said here yesterday that the Kingdom was seeking UN endorsement of its proposal for an international center to combat terrorism.
“Saudi Arabia has presented a proposal to the UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and governments who participated in the international anti-terrorism conference held in Riyadh last February calling for the General Assembly to issue a resolution endorsing the Riyadh Declaration,” Prince Saud said.
The resolution would adopt the recommendations made by the conference, chiefly the proposal by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah who was then crown prince to set up an international center to combat terrorism, he said.
Prince Saud’s remarks came ahead of the annual session of the UN General Assembly in New York next week.
Crown Prince Sultan will leave for New York today at the head of a high-level Saudi delegation to attend the UN session, the Royal Court announced yesterday.
Prince Saud said Riyadh had suggested forming a working team of experts who would decide the steps needed to implement the proposal and put their plan to next year’s General Assembly session.
The conference held in Riyadh in February, with the participation of delegates from some 50 countries and international organizations, had endorsed Abdullah’s call for the establishment of a counterterrorism center.
In July, Abdullah renewed his call for setting up a global center to combat terrorism saying it would help boost international cooperation to fight the scourge.
“The creation of the international counterterrorism center which the Kingdom had called for would help open a new page of effective global cooperation to establish an international community free of terrorism,” he said while addressing a Cabinet meeting.
Prince Saud said the success of the Riyadh conference made it necessary to continue on the path of fighting terrorism. He said Saudi Arabia had promised to press ahead with its war on terror.
There is also an urgent need to combat arms smuggling, drug smuggling and money laundering to make the war on terrorism successful, said Prince Saud.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Osama Nugal said that the proposal for establishing the counterterrorism center is high on the Saudi agenda. The proposal has been endorsed by the Arab Summit, the Arab-Latin American Summit and the Islamic foreign ministers.
The statement said a resolution to establish the center will intensify the ongoing efforts for fighting terrorism and will boost the capability of international organizations, such as the UN Committee for Combating Terrorism and the Interpol. Prince Saud made it clear that the proposed international center will help evolve effective means of tackling this global problem.
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