“I call on all countries to set up an international center for combating terrorism,” said Prince Abdullah. (Reuters)

RIYADH, February 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz opened here on Saturday, February 5, a four-day anti-terror conference, with a call for an international center to combat terrorism.

“I call on all countries to set up an international center for combating terrorism. Those working in it would be experts in this field,” Abdullah told participants from some 50 countries and international bodies, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

He said the goal of the proposed center would be to “exchange and pass information instantly in a manner compatible with the speed of events and prevent them (terror attacks) before they occur.”

Prince Abdullah also hoped the conference would herald a new chapter in the global fight against terror.

“I have great hope that this conference will open a new page of effective international cooperation to establish an international community free of terrorism,” he said.

Organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the rare gathering of security and intelligence officials will discuss the causes of terrorism, in addition to the relation between terror and money laundering as well as arms and drug trafficking, reported the Saudi daily Arab News.

Participants are expected to address such key issues as the roots of terrorism, money laundering, international anti-terror cooperation and countries’ experience in dealing with terrorism as well as sharing information and intelligence.

Leading international bodies, including the UN, EU, Arab League, African Union and Interpol, will be represented.

Heavyweight countries, such as the US, Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany have said they will take part. Fifteen Arab countries are also due to show up.

The US delegation is led by Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend and includes other security, treasury and state department officials.

Tight Security

The conference is held amid tight security. (Reuters)

The conference is held amid tight security at a hotel close to the Interior Ministry, the nerve centre of security services which militants targeted in a December 29 bombing.

According to Arab News, all vehicles passing by the conference venue and hotels accommodating the participants were being screened, creating traffic jams in the areas.

Security personnel, including those of the special forces, have been deployed at all strategic places.

Since May 2003, Saudi Arabia has been battling a wave of terror by presumed Al-Qaeda militants who have killed more than 100 people and wounded hundreds in a spate of bombings and shootings.

Security forces have killed or arrested most of the network's top leaders, but analysts say the movement will remain a threat in the world's biggest oil exporter for years.

Coordination

Oberwetter said the meeting demonstrates that the US and Riyadh “are engaging seriously to identify practical ways to fight terrorism”.

Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa said the conference “deals with the dangerous phenomenon that threatens societies and people all over the world,” said the Arab News.

Moussa, who will participate in the meeting, said it would be “a chance for security officials in Saudi Arabia and their Arab and Western counterparts to discuss ways to reinforce regional and international cooperation to combat this phenomenon.”

Some productive meetings between representatives of counter-terrorism departments might take place on the sidelines of the conference, a Western diplomat recently told AFP on condition of anonymity.

He said the Saudi government “is looking seriously into ways of tackling terrorism.”

Participants will pool experience in tackling terror, its causes and its links to organized crime, and propose practical joint steps to curb militant violence, organizers say.

US ambassador James Oberwetter said the conference “will demonstrate, once again, that the United States and Saudi Arabia are engaging seriously to identify practical ways to fight terrorism, along with other nations”.

A publication released by the Saudi Embassy in Washington said a Saudi-US task force has been organized from across law enforcement and intelligence agencies to work side by side to share “real time” intelligence and conduct joint operations in the fight against terror, according to Arab News.

A recent report by the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies said Saudi Arabia's counter-terrorism efforts were being hampered by the weakness of its main foreign intelligence service.

Saudi Arabia has tightened financial regulations to stem the flow of money from wealthy Saudis to militants -- although Western officials say more could still be done.

However, Saudi charities suffered the brunt of the new measures.

Al-Haramain Charity, the largest among Saudi charities, was dissolved on October 5, 2004, after Washington accused it of financing “terrorism”.