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Saudis tout campaign to combat terrorism
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-03-08 09:09
Saudi Arabia touted its anti-terrorism efforts Monday, saying it has arrested
700 terrorist suspects and started some of the strictest controls in the world
against terror financing.
The statements came in a news conference laying out the kingdom's new
campaign of billboards, television spots and school programs aimed at combating
Islamic extremism in Saudi society.
"The bottom line is that no Saudi citizen will be able to escape the clear
message that intolerance, violence and extremism are not part of our Islamic
faith or Saudi culture or traditions," said Adel al-Jubeir, a foreign affairs
adviser to Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz.
Adel
Al-Jubeir, foreign affairs advisor to the Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin
Abdulaziz, speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Saudi
embassy, March 7, 2005, in Washington. Al-Jubeir announced a national
public awareness and education campaign in Saudi Arabia as part of its
strategy to combat extremism. [AP] | The kingdom has been blamed by some in the West for exporting terrorism and
failing to openly disclose the steps it takes internally to uproot the al-Qaida
terrorist network's structure there.
"We are using different forms of communication to send a clear and powerful
message, and we are taking serious actions to undermine the strength of those
that try to misguide our young people," al-Jubeir said.
The campaign begun several weeks ago is part of a larger effort to try to
eradicate the roots of terrorism, he told reporters at the Saudi Arabian
Embassy. Among the 700 terror suspects detained so far are 18 of the 26
most-wanted in Saudi Arabia, al-Jubeir said.
He said Saudi Arabia has implemented recommendations on terror financing and
money laundering made by a task for of the G-8 economic group.
"Perhaps most importantly, Saudi Arabia has taken steps to combat the
mind-set that instills and justifies acts of terror, hatred and violence,"
al-Jubeir said.
"We will not allow deviants to corrupt our faith," he said. "We are
revitalizing our educational system to instill the true values of our faith:
compassion, moderation, love and peace, while improving critical thinking. In
our mosques, imams who have preached hatred and violence have been taken to
task."
Saudi Arabia's image was battered within the United States after the
terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, when 15 of the 19 airplane hijackers were
Saudi nationals.
For nearly two years, Saudi Arabia has been waging a crackdown to root out
terrorism after militants attacked three residential compounds in Riyadh in May
2003.
A report released early this year by the Washington-based Center for
Strategic and International Studies said despite the successes and decreasing
support for al-Qaida in Saudi Arabia, "the terror threat is unlikely to
disappear for years to come."
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