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Minister of Foreign Affairs Prince Saud Al-Faisal address to
Britain�s Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) conference
�Transnational Terrorism: A Global Approach,� London, United
Kingdom, January 16, 2006
Ladies and Gentlemen: I thank the Royal United Service Institute
for organizing this timely and significant event. We have come
here today because together we face a global threat. There is not
only the physical threat of indiscriminate terrorist attacks, but,
more importantly, their insidious aim of dividing us, and creating
anger and hatred among our people, our religions, and our
cultures. To overcome this threat, we must do more than simply
defeat today's terrorists; we must remove the conditions that
allow them to thrive. We must subdue and neutralize the voices of
hatred and intolerance.
In this first decade of our new millennium, we are witnessing
globalization and such rapid information dissemination heralding a
new age of cooperation, economic interdependence, and increased
cultural interaction. Yet optimistic expectations for a new era of
global cooperation were shattered by the ugly specter of terrorism
and the resulting acts of violence and mayhem. Instead of goodwill
and understanding among the cultures of the world, violent
extremism came close to destroying the bonds of harmony and
tolerance that globalization had promised.
The gruesome crimes that were committed in Europe are no different
from those perpetrated in Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
Extremism neither recognizes national borders, nor does it
differentiate among people on the basis of their religion, creed,
or color.
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. Bilateral and multilateral cooperation among
security and intelligence services must be the backbone of efforts
to combat terrorism. The sharing and exchanging of information is
necessary to deter and prevent terrorist acts, and to stay ahead
of our mutual enemy at all times.
We all recognize that there is no single model or example that
represents all acts of terrorism. Misguided people perform violent
acts. Some do so in quest of glory and salvation based on
religious fanaticism; others commit violent acts as a result of
frustration and despair caused by circumstances and conditions
beyond their control. There are also violent acts that are
motivated by opportunistic politics � domestic and
international.
During the past three years, Saudi Arabia has witnessed more than
25 incidents of terror � including explosions, murders, and
kidnappings � causing the death of nearly 144 citizens, security
personnel and foreign nationals, while injuring more than 500
people. 120 terrorists were killed and 17 wounded, and over 52
terrorist operations were foiled. And the fight goes on.
The government and people of Saudi Arabia are united in the fight
against the terrorists, those who support them, and those who
condone or incite their actions. Since September 11, 2001, Saudi
Arabia has arrested more than 800 suspected terrorists of various
nationalities. We have broken up numerous Al-Qaeda cells and
seized their arms caches. We have introduced new regulations and
mechanisms to ensure that our financial system and charities
cannot be exploited by evildoers.
We have frozen the financial assets of suspected financiers of
terror. Joint Saudi-American Task Forces were established to go
after the terrorists, as well as suspected financiers of terror.
We believe that the new Saudi regulations are among the most
effective in the world: This has been confirmed by independent
international bodies such as the Financial Action Task Force of
the G-8 (FATF).
Due to the unique position of Saudi Arabia in the Islamic World as
the cradle of Islam, we have a moral responsibility to defend our
religion against those who would subvert and usurp it. We have
accomplished a great deal. But, in spite of those gains, our
national efforts alone are not enough. International cooperation
is a must.
In February of last year, Saudi Arabia hosted an international
counterterrorism conference in Riyadh. The conference brought
together some 60 nations and international organizations from all
over the world. Participating counterterrorism experts represented
a wide range of cultures, religions, and political systems. They
were immediately able to agree that terrorism has become the
primary threat to international security in the 21st century. They
worked together to draft common and practical recommendations to
fight terrorism and its causes.
The resulting Riyadh Declaration called for fostering the values
of tolerance, dialogue, coexistence, and understanding among
cultures and rejecting the logic of the inevitability of conflict
(the so-called clash of civilizations). It also called for
harmonization between cultures by bringing them together, and
rejecting any form of ideology that promotes hatred, incites to
violence, or condones terrorist acts.
In addition to challenging terrorism forcefully, and denying it
the means for obtaining financial support, it is also important to
prevent terrorists and their supporters from establishing safe
havens in certain countries, or allowing them to use or abuse the
asylum and immigration laws in others. The extremists who condone,
support, incite, or legitimize terrorism should be held
accountable for the criminal consequences of their message of
hatred and intolerance. People who abuse the Internet and other
means of communication for propaganda, recruitment, or incitement
should be criminalized and punished.
We have been fighting terrorism in Saudi Arabia since the Olayya
and Al-Khobar incidents in 1995 and 1996 respectively. As a result
of the tragedy of 9/11, we discovered that terrorism was global in
its intent, working towards fostering hate, intolerance, and anger
that create misconceptions between East and West in order to
cleave an unbridgeable chasm between them.
We are taking measures to uproot the source of this evil at home,
but if we are to eradicate this threat totally � we find it
necessary to engage the international community.
We must keep in mind that terrorists are cynically exploiting
legitimate causes and desperate conditions to foster hatred and
fill their ranks with recruits. We must prevent these
exploitations by treating these conditions and resolving such
legitimate causes.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict singularly stands out in its
enormous potential for encouraging violence in the region and
beyond. The illegal and unjust policy of Israel in the occupied
territories, which has resulted in constant humiliation and
suffering for the Palestinian people, is breeding anger and hatred
in the Arab and Islamic world. This conflict must be addressed and
resolved justly in the interest of a peaceful world. We must
strive to dissipate the feelings of anger and frustration.
The quest for peace in the Middle East is imperative. In April of
2002, King Abdullah introduced his proposal for a comprehensive
Arab-Israeli peace at the Arab Summit in Beirut. This historic
proposal, which offered Israel peace with all Arab countries and
an end to the conflict in exchange for its withdrawal from all
Arab territories occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem, was
unanimously adopted. Israel has yet to respond to this historic
gesture.
Ladies and Gentlemen: The effort of preaching understanding and
tolerance is required not only in the Arab and Islamic countries,
it is also needed in the rest of the world. The whole world must
do so without overlooking the sensitivity of the moral issues and
with full respect for the diversities of values and traditions of
all cultures.
Unfortunately, the conflicting nature of the issues contributes to
the polarization of views. In this regard, media in all their
forms and all educational institutions have a great responsibility
to promote sound human values and to immunize societies against
delinquent ideas. They must bring people together instead of
separating them.
Finally, let me reiterate that we face a common threat that goes
far beyond today's terrorist leaders and terrorist organizations.
We can defeat that threat, but only if we unite, and create new
bonds of understanding between our different religions and
cultures. In my country we are doing our best to deal with a
variety of issues: ideological, social and economic, but our
efforts alone are not enough.
The fight must be global in order to succeed, because terrorists
flee where they face strength and attack where they perceive
weakness. The world is in the midst of a hard, tough, and long
fight. In the process of conducting it, we should not allow fear
to drive us into isolation, or close the door on the
human-to-human contact that is so essential for understanding and
interchange between cultures.
As your great poet once said in his Meditations, and I need not
name him to this audience: �....No man is an island, entire of
itself...any man�s death diminishes me, because I am involved in
mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
it tolls for thee.�1 These words of wisdom apply to nations as
well as to individuals. For no nation is an island unto itself.
Thank you for listening.
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