| Saudi Arabia has launched an
aggressive, comprehensive, and unprecedented
campaign to hunt down terrorists, uncover
their plots, and cut off their sources of
funding.
- Ambassador Cofer Black
Coordinator for Counterterrorism
Introduction to
2004 State Department Report
|
Background:
U.S. law requires the Secretary of State to provide Congress, by
April 30 of each year, a full and complete report on terrorism
with regard to those countries and groups meeting criteria set
forth in the legislation. This annual report is entitled Country
Reports on Terrorism. Beginning with the report for 2004, it
replaced the previously published Patterns of Global
Terrorism.
The report covers developments in countries in which acts of
terrorism occurred, countries that are state sponsors of
terrorism, and countries determined by the Secretary to be of
particular interest in the global war on terror. As provided in
the legislation, the report reviews major developments in
bilateral and multilateral counterterrorism cooperation as well.
The report also provides information on terrorist groups
responsible for the death, kidnapping, or injury of Americans,
any umbrella groups to which they might belong, groups financed
by state sponsors of terrorism, reports on all terrorist
organizations on the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) list,
and other terrorist groups determined by the Secretary to be
relevant to the report.
Beginning with the report for 2005, Country Reports on
Terrorism will also address terrorist sanctuaries and
terrorist attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction. It
will also include statistical information provided by the
National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) on the number of
individuals killed, injured, or kidnapped by terrorist groups.
Source:
US
State Department
Country Reports on Terrorism
Released by the Office of the Coordinator for
Counterterrorism [US State Department]
April 30, 2007
Chapter 2 -- Country Reports: Middle East and North
Africa Overview
"In Saudi Arabia, we strongly believe that international
cooperation is crucial for fighting terrorism. It also
goes without saying that the will and resolve to fight
terrorism must begin at home; the national will then
must be extended to a universal collective resolve, for
no country can afford to stay on the sidelines."
Prince Saud Al-Faisal
Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia
Address to Britain's Royal United Services Institute
London; January 16, 2006
[Excerpt]
Saudi Arabia
The Government of Saudi Arabia continued to experience a mix of
successes and setbacks in its efforts to combat terrorism.
Government security forces conducted successful operations
against terrorist cells, capturing or killing large numbers of
wanted terrorist suspects, as well as members of their support
networks. The government has made some progress in other aspects
of its counterterrorism effort, such as financing and education,
but it still has significant ground to cover to address these
issues.
Saudi efforts suffered setbacks with prison breaks and an attack
that led to the discovery of extensive support networks in the
Kingdom. Prison escapes occurred in March at the al-Kharj prison
and in July from al-Malaz jail in Riyadh. On February 24, a
Saudi-based AQ cell conducted a suicide attack utilizing
vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices on Saudi Aramco's
Abqaiq oil stabilization and processing facility near Dammam,
which resulted in the death of two security guards and several
of the bombers.
Saudi security forces achieved several successes, both in
response to these attacks and independently of them. Saudi
security forces killed or captured all of the members of the
Abqaiq cell and all but three of the Maraz prison escapees. On
August 21, five wanted terrorists surrendered in response to
government assurances in the media that they would receive
mitigated sentences. In December, the government announced the
capture during the previous three months of 136 suspected
terrorists who were involved in terrorist support networks in
the Kingdom.
The Saudi government initiated several programs to support its
counterterrorism efforts and bolster its campaign against
extremists. King Abdullah created a special security court, the
Court of the Divergent, to prosecute terrorist suspects.
Interior Minister Prince Nayif gave public assurances that the
Court would not be a military tribunal, but would conform to
existing judicial practices and law. Additionally, the
government began planning a border security system, including
fences and sensors, to prevent infiltration of terrorists or
terrorist funding into the kingdom. In December, the Gulf
Cooperation Council (GCC) summit reiterated its calls to
criminalize terrorism, and called for a comprehensive effort
against terrorism to include intellectual, social, and
educational efforts.
The Saudi government moved to monitor and enforce its anti-money
laundering and terrorist finance laws, regulations, and
guidelines. However, it still had not established a High
Commission for Charities. As in many countries in the Middle
East, there was still an over-reliance on suspicious transaction
reporting to generate money laundering investigations. Saudi
Arabia's unwillingness to publicly disseminate statistics
regarding money laundering prosecutions impeded the evaluation
and design of enhancements to the judicial aspects of its
anti-money laundering system. The Saudi government did not
subject Saudi international charities to the same government
oversight as domestic charities. In August, the UN 1267
Sanctions Committee designated the International Islamic Relief
Organization's (IIRO) branches in Indonesia and the Philippines,
and the Kingdom's Eastern Province Branch Director, Abdulhamid
Al-Mujil.
In late 2005, the government enacted stricter regulations on the
cross-border movement of money and precious metals. Money and
gold in excess of $16,000 must be declared upon entry and exit
from the country. While the regulations were effective
immediately, Customs has not issued new cash declaration forms,
and therefore has not yet been able to enforce the current
regulation.
In the cultural arena, official visits by a number of U.S.
officials, including Ambassador-at-Large for International
Religious Freedom John Hanford, highlighted the government's
efforts to remove references in textbooks that called for
violence against non-Muslims and Muslims of different sects. The
government also initiated the National Campaign to Counter
Terrorism, which included publications, lectures, and workshops
intended to educate school-age girls and boys about the evils of
terrorism. To promote tolerance, the government began revising
curricula and teaching methods, screening and reevaluating
existing teachers, improving selection of future teachers, and
better monitoring of teachers.
The government continued to require religious leaders to attend
courses designed to eradicate extremist ideology in the mosques
and monitor mosque sermons to promote tolerance and eliminate
extremism. Several religious leaders were fired or subjected to
punitive actions for failure to abide by government instructions
to avoid provocative speeches against non-Muslims and non-Sunni
Muslims. In previous years in some mosques, a second preacher
would appear after the main preacher during the Friday prayer
and speak provocatively against Jews, Americans, or non-orthodox
Muslims. This practice is less prevalent now, due in large part
to the government's efforts to combat extremism in the mosques.
The Saudi government remained engaged in its efforts to root out
terrorists and their support networks in the Kingdom, but
continued to face difficulties in combating the appeal of AQ
ideology. Despite significant efforts and successes in the
counterterrorism realm, Saudi security forces continued to
discover new terrorist networks in the Kingdom. The Saudi
government will need to further address the social and religious
underpinnings that sustain the Saudi form of Islamic extremism.
Source:
US
State Department
