Agreement on establishment of U.N. Center for Combating Terrorism signed
September 20, 2011
An agreement was signed at United Nations headquarters in New York yesterday for the establishment of the U.N. Center for Combating Terrorism, an initiative proposed by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz at the International Conference for Combating Terrorism in Riyadh in 2005. The agreement was signed by Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal and U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the 66th session of the U.N. General Assembly. Saudi Arabia will contribute $10 million over the next three years to set up the anti-terrorism center, while working to foster international counterterrorism cooperation and capacity-building.Speaking at the signing ceremony, the U.N. Secretary General stated, “The center will go a long way in countering terrorism around the world. What I see here today is the start of a new era in counterterrorism cooperation. States recognize that they cannot go it alone.”
Afterwards, Prince Saud and Secretary General Ban attended an international symposium on ways to fight terrorism through international cooperation. The event was also attended by the foreign ministers of more than 20 countries, including France, Italy, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan, Morocco, Nigeria and Norway.
Addressing the gathering, Prince Saud said, “Terrorism has no religion. There are more than 1.5 billion Muslims in different parts of the world who represent an age-old culture that calls for peace, cooperation and tolerance.”
