Saudi Arabia backs terror center establishment

Saudi Arabia reminds UN of a proposal to set up an international centre to fight terrorism agreed at a terror conference held in the kingdom earlier this year.

"Saudi Arabia has presented a proposal to the UN secretary-general Kofi Annan and governments who participated in the international anti-terrorism conference held in Riyadh last February calling for the General Assembly to issue a resolution endorsing the Riyadh Declaration, the Saudi newspaper Arab News quoted foreign minister Prince Saud as saying.

The declaration states that the centre - which was initially proposed by the then Crown Prince Abdullah - "would exchange and pass information instantly in a manner compatible with the speed of events and prevent them [terror attacks] before they occur." However, despite being warmly welcomed by many of the countries taking part in the conference, it was greeted with caution by the US and British officials, who said it could not replace the bilateral exchange of intelligence and security cooperation, AKI reports.