On behalf of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz, Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz, the Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard, welcomed participants of the Counter-terrorism International Conference and said the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is the cradle of Islam which advocates equality and friendship.
In his inaugural address here today, Crown Prince Abdullah pointed out that Islam is the religion of wisdom, adding that false slogans raised by deviant groups run counter to the teachings of Islam.
"Mohammed, the Prophet of Islam (Peace be upon him) is the prophet of mercy, and Islam is the religion of mercy, and it is impossible to link Islam with terrorism."
The convening of the conference, which includes countries of different civilizations, religions and systems provides a clear evidence that victims of terrorism are from various countries irrespective of their civilizations or religions.
"Terrorism does not belong to a certain religion or system. It is perpetrated by evil and spiteful persons who are fond of killing and destruction," the Crown Prince noted.
"The conference embodies the determination of the international community to confront criminal gangs in all places, as well as combating false ideas, and facing extremist rhetoric with moderation and tolerance."
Crown Prince Abdullah noted that the terrorist network is closely linked to three criminal international networks, namely the networks of arms smuggling, drug smuggling and money laundering. "It will be difficult to attain victory in our battle against terrorism unless we decisively confront these three criminal networks', he said.
The Crown Prince said: "The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was one of the countries which had suffered from terrorism, and subsequently it had earlier warned against its menace at the local, regional and international arenas. We are now involved in a war against terrorism and those who back it or try to justify it. However, we are determined on uprooting this dangerous phenomenon. We will present our experience in combating terrorism before you, and at the same time, we are looking forward to benefiting from your experiences in this respect.
Undoubtedly, our joint experiences will help us, with the grace of Almighty God, in our battle against terrorism. I am hopeful that we will open a new page for effective international cooperation, for creation of an international society which is free from terrorism, and I would like to call all countries to establish an international center for combating terrorism that helps in exchanging information about terrorism so as to avoid terror acts.
I know that the danger of terrorism will never disappear in a very short time, and our battle against terrorism will take a long time, but at the end, the forces of love, tolerance and peace will triumph."
