Global cooperation needed to combat terror: officials at Riyadh meet

Saudi Arabia on Sunday hosted the second day of an international counter-terrorism conference alongside the United Nations in a bid to examine ways to combat terrorism.

Saudi Arabia's deputy foreign minister, Prince Turki bin Mohammed al-Kabeer, said during the conference that terrorism requires substantial and consistent efforts to combat it.

“We have to encourage cooperation among relevant countries and institutions," he said, insisting that Saudi Arabia is willing to share its expertise in the field with other countries including rehabilitation programs.

The U.N. envoy attending the meet said the United Nations is interested in implementing plans and cooperation between countries to combat terrorism.

On Saturday, Prince Turki of the foreign ministry told delegates at the opening of the two-day event that the “terrorist” threat remains and urged global cooperation to combat it.

“We must face up to it using all means and at all levels, local, regional and international.

“Terrorism threatens us all, without exception,” Prince Turki said, calling for global action to “eradicate terrorist plans through coordination between specialized centers in the struggle against terrorism.”

Some 50 countries are represented at the gathering in Riyadh, which has been organized in conjunction with the United Nations.

In 2005, Saudi Arabia proposed creating in its capital an international anti-terrorism center, a proposal that was approved in September 2011 by the U.N. General Assembly.

Riyadh has pledged to finance the center for three years at a cost of $10 million (7.5 million euros).

Between 2003 and 2006, the ultra-conservative Gulf kingdom was targeted by a wave of attacks claimed by the extremist Al-Qaeda network, prompting a harsh crackdown by security forces.

Al-Qaeda franchises remain active in the region, especially in Iraq and Yemen where the Saudi and Yemeni branches of the network have united to form Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

In August 2009, a suicide bomber from Yemen failed in an attempt to kill Saudi security chief Prince Mohammed bin Nayef al-Saud.

The two-day conference held four sessions aimed to tackle the essential strategies to combat terrorism and measures needed to prevent it.