RIYADH, Saudi Arabia (AP) -- Saudi Arabia's crown prince has called for the creation of a worldwide center to share intelligence on terrorism at a conference on fighting al Qaeda and other groups. Crown Prince Abdullah, who is the kingdom's de facto leader and has led a tough campaign against militant groups over the past year, said Saturday a global intelligence-sharing center could allow experts and officials worldwide to "exchange information instantly" to prevent attacks. Saudi Arabia is already thought to exchange information with the United States, but the kingdom has been criticized for failing to openly disclose the steps it takes internally to uproot al Qaeda's structure in the kingdom. The desert kingdom is accused by some in the West of not doing enough to stop the departure of militants from Saudi Arabia to other countries, including Iraq. Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters the conference was meant to be a Saudi contribution to the anti-terrorism fight, not a public relations effort to brighten the country's image. Saudi Arabia is the birthplace of terror mastermind Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers. "Our efforts are aimed at ending this scourge from the region, not to improve our image in any society," he said. "No one can blame Saudi Arabia, saying it didn't do its due diligence when it comes to terrorism, because (terrorism) is a danger against it, and it has sacrificed the blood of its sons," he said. The conference, attended by delegates from the United States, Britain and more than 50 countries, took place in an enormous palace hall protected by hundreds of armed security forces patrolling the perimeter. Posters were hung along the capital's streets showing images of destruction from terrorist bombings and saying: "Our religion rejects terrorism." U.S. delegation head Frances Townsend, the homeland security adviser, said state-sponsored terrorism must be eradicated and intelligence agencies saw "connections among various (terrorist) cells in the Gulf." In a speech to the conference, Townsend invoked President Bush's State of the Union speech on Wednesday, in which he called Iran "the world's primary state sponsor of terror," a charge Tehran denies. Townsend said Gulf nations were cooperating more in the fight against terrorism and Saudi authorities have made "substantial progress," adding that terrorist attacks were "increasingly less sophisticated." In a closed delegate meeting, Danny Glaser, the Deputy Assistant U.S. Secretary for the Office of Terrorist Financing, urged other countries to adopt international standards against money laundering and terror financing. Glaser also said officials would be watching the numbers of criminal prosecutions. Iran and Syria -- another country accused by the United States of supporting terror -- disputed what they called inaccurate definitions of terrorism. A member of the Iranian foreign ministry, Ali Abul Hasani, said people fighting for their freedom under occupation should be considered differently from those who kill innocent civilians. Some in the Middle East have long contended that Palestinian militant groups like Hamas are legitimately fighting against Israel and should not be termed terrorists. Syria said it will urge the international community to condemn "state terrorism practiced by Israel." Hasani said the Iranian delegation was present to show its seriousness in counterterrorism efforts and said Iran was "ready to share our experience in fighting terrorism." Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz Al Saud, the Saudi Interior Minister who heads security forces in the country, said more than 50 attacks have been prevented in the kingdom over the last two years through successful pre-emptive strikes. Nayef said that over the past two years 22 attacks by militants killed 90 victims and 39 members of the security forces and resulted in 720 injured victims, including security troops. The construction conglomerate owned by the family of suspected terror mastermind Osama bin Laden took out an ad in newspapers to coincide with the opening of the conference that said in large letters: "We strongly condemn all kinds of terror."
And on the other hand... The 9/11 Commission report said America isn't fighting a war on "some generic evil" called terrorism, but a war on Islamist terrorism. What are we to make, then, of the startling fact that some of our Saudi allies are seeding U.S. mosques with enemy propaganda? The nonpartisan Freedom House recently released a report on the spread of Saudi-sponsored hate literature. In 2003, investigators visited leading American mosques and collected written material available to congregants. The documents, originating either with the Saudi government or Saudi-funded sources, advocate Wahhabism, the extremist form of Islam that Freedom House describes as a "fanatically bigoted, xenophobic and sometimes violent ideology." According to the report (available at freedomhouse.org/religion), investigators gathered literature that teaches contempt for Jews, Christians and tolerant Muslims, as well as hatred for America. Material found in a Houston mosque even commands the faithful to establish a revolutionary fifth column. Some of these documents came from the Dallas Central Mosque in Richardson. Unfortunately, this kind of thing is not altogether alien to this mosque. Last spring, it hosted a youth quiz competition, sponsored by two national organizations closely tied to the worldwide Islamist movement. Kids were tested on the work of premier jihad ideologist Sayyid Qutb. The mosque's imam, Dr. Yusuf Kavakci, has publicly praised two of the world's foremost radical Islamists, Yusuf Qaradawi and Hasan al-Turabi, as exemplary leaders. Dr. Kavakci also sits on the board of the Saudi-backed Islamic Society of North America, described in congressional testimony as a major conduit of Wahhabist teaching. Yet Dr. Kavakci tells The Dallas Morning News he rejects Wahhabist teaching. Something doesn't add up. To be clear, Freedom House's study is not comprehensive. It examined a small number of U.S. mosques, choosing the larger and more influential ones. It would be unfair to conclude that these findings represent all American mosques, or for that matter all American Muslims. The Saudis are the real villains in this study. Still, these findings are alarming. The report identifies the spread of Wahhabist thought in this country as a national security threat. The war for the hearts and minds of Muslims is being fought here, too. The U.S. government allows the foreign enemies of freedom and tolerance to spread jihad ideology on the home front. Why? Congress should get to the bottom of this. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcon...ditorials/stories/020705dnedisaudi.9ded6.html The report concludes that the Saudi government propaganda examined reflects a “totalitarian ideology of hatred that can incite to violence,” and the fact that it is “being mainstreamed within our borders through the efforts of a foreign government, namely Saudi Arabia, demands our urgent attention.” http://www.freedomhouse.org/religion/news/bn2005/bn-2005-01-28.htm
Saudi Arabi is not singling out the good ol' USA for this special treatment. I have been told that they export their special brand of mischief to other countries as well like Pakistan, which has the eff-ing bomb least we forget.
