Abdullah F. ANSARY

On many occasions the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has emphatically denounced and condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. The Kingdom has played an effective and active role in maintaining security and opposing the phenomenon of terrorism and has taken numerous measures and steps needed to combat terrorism at all domestic, regional and international levels and in various ways through security and ideological campaigns and the imposition of financial restrictions. The Kingdom has stressed its full readiness to cooperate with all endeavours to combat terrorism and deplores and condemns terrorism, regardless of its source and objectives, in all international forums. It is quite willing to join in the international and regional counter-terrorism efforts being made and to contribute effectively, within the framework of collective international action under the aegis of the United Nations, to the campaign against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and regardless of its objectives.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been the target of 147 acts of terrorism of various types, ranging from abduction to bombings and suicide attacks. Till date, such criminal acts claimed the lives of over 95 innocent civilians and they injured more than 569, those numbers include nationals from other countries who were visiting or working in the Kingdom. The Saudi security forces were able to foil more than 250 terrorist plots that targeted domestic and foreign interests and the lives of innocent Saudi citizens and expatriates inside Saudi Arabia, and managed to bring those involved to justice. More than 77 members of the Saudi security forces lost their lives during those counter-terrorism operations and over 657 were injured.
Despite the latest terrorist attack, the threat that these terrorist groups posed within the Kingdom was greatly reduced by virtue of the constant support that the competent security agencies received from the Kingdom’s Government, the continuous endeavours and sacrifices made by the members of the security agencies and the pre-emptive strikes directed by the counter-terrorism agencies against the terrorist networks and their hideouts.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has long been aware of the importance of taking decisive action and stern measures to combat terrorism and financial activities linked to terrorism. It has promulgated a number of legislative acts and regulations to counter this type of criminal activity and has launched an ongoing national awareness campaign to combat terrorism and extremist ideology through dialogue and elucidation of the true values of the Islamic religion based on tolerance and acceptance of others. The Kingdom has supported numerous regional and international initiatives in this regard and the Saudi experience in combating terrorism and extremist ideology, which has achieved notable success and won international acclaim, has proved of benefit to a number of globally important States. This paper aims to shed light on the principal endeavors of the Kingdom in this regard. The main issues that will be focused on are: the stand taken by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Islam on terrorism; the main steps and measures taken by the Kingdom at the domestic level to combat terrorism and financial activities associated therewith; bilateral cooperation between the Kingdom and other countries in the field of counter-terrorism; the Kingdom’s cooperation and coordination at the international level to combat terrorism, and especially money laundering and the financing of terrorism; and multilateral instruments and mechanisms in the field of counter-terrorism to which Saudi Arabia is a party.