12 June 2003
Saudi Official Says Saudi Arabia is "Mobilized" to Fight Terrorism
(Says religious, financial and education reforms are underway) (860) By Charles Hays Burchfield Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- The foreign affairs advisor to Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, Adel Al-Jubeir, said Saudi Arabia is doing "everything possible" to fight terrorism. "The attacks in Saudi Arabia represented a major jolt, and they've brought out the determination by Saudis to ensure that we can do everything possible to prevent such murders from happening in our country again," Al-Jubeir said at a news conference in the Saudi Arabian embassy in Washington June 12. The news conference was held exactly one month after four suicide car bombings by al-Qaeda terrorists killed 35 people and injured about 200 at housing compounds for Westerners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Al-Jubeir said the attacks have "galvanized" and "mobilized" the government of Saudi Arabia to "go after the terrorists and bring them to justice." He said the Saudi government has detained over 25 people in connection with the bombing and has questioned "scores of people." He also said the Saudi government has sought help from a number of countries including the United States, has started to root out extremism in Saudi mosques, is moving to close the door on terrorist financing and money laundering and has taken steps to improve the Saudi educational system. Al-Jubeir said Saudi authorities have questioned over 1,000 people since the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001 and have detained about 300 Al-Qaeda members, approximately 100 of whom are awaiting court trials in the country. In addition to arresting Al-Qaeda members, Saudi Arabian officials have arrested three clerics who preached hatred and intolerance, according to Al-Jubeir. "We have looked more intensely in terms of what is being said in our mosques and trying to curb incitement," Al-Jubeir said. He said over the last few months Saudi Arabia has dismissed several hundred imams for "straying out of the bounds of religion and/or engaging in political activity." Al-Jubeir said the government has referred over 1,000 imams to educational programs in order to teach them "about their role and what is permissible and what is not permissible so that we can eliminate extremism, intolerance and radicalism from our mosques." Al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia has started implementing economic reforms to know where money from Saudi banks and charities is going. "We have put in reservations and rules to ensure that the funds of those charities are accounted for and that they do not go to any evil purposes," Al-Jubeir said. He said last month Saudi Arabia asked the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation to suspend its activities outside Saudi Arabia until a security clearance mechanism to screen all personnel is implemented. According to Al-Jubeir, the foundation closed its offices in Croatia, Albania and Ethiopia, and moves are under way to close others in Kenya, Tanzania, Indonesia and Pakistan. "It is now not legal for a Saudi charity to have offices outside of Saudi Arabia," Al-Jubeir said. He said government officials are drafting a law to create "one private entity set up through which all charitable activity outside Saudi Arabia flows and until such time, our charities cannot operate outside Saudi Arabia." Al-Jubeir said the Saudi government has already closed down one small "money exchange house" for not following the new financial rules dealing with money exchanges. "In this case, it's one strike and you're out," Al-Jubeir said. Regarding educational reform, Al-Jubeir said the Saudi government has brought in experts from around the world to write proposals on what needs to be changed. "We are looking at our textbooks...we are looking at how to bring the Saudi education system up to speed," Al-Jubeir said. He said the most important issue was for Saudi Arabia to "provide our students who graduate from our public schools with a world-class education that will allow them to succeed in the modern world." A question asked repeatedly by reporters was if Saudi money was going to Hamas, a Palestinian group that is on the State Department's list of foreign terrorist organizations. Al-Jubeir said Saudi money goes to help Palestinian families in need, but does not go directly to Hamas. "Our funding to the Palestinians goes through international organizations, the UN High Commission for Refugees, the International Red Cross, International Red Crescent and through the Palestinian Authority," Al-Jubeir said. "A lot of the institutions may be run or managed by the political wing of Hamas; that may be the case. I'm not an expert on this, but we do not fund terrorists." Al-Jubeir said Saudi Arabia has a long way to go in the fight against terrorism, but he stressed that his country has made great progress. He also said Saudi Arabia is listening to advice from the United States and other countries on ways to improve its counter-terrorism methods. "We are open to suggestions," Al-Jubeir said. "If anyone has any ideas on what else we can do, we are certainly open to that." (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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