UN Authority Figures

UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), Advisory Board Chair: Saudi Arabia

The 9/11 hijackers. 15 of the 19 were citizens of Saudi Arabia.

Mission of the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT):
"Objectives of the Centre: (1)The UNCCT aims at buttressing the implementation of the pillars of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy in a comprehensive and integrated manner through the development of national and regional Counter-Terrorism Strategy implementation plans; (2)The UNCCT undertakes initiatives aimed at fostering international counter-terrorism cooperation and promote collaboration between national, regional and international counter-terrorism centres and organizations; (3)Through collaboration with CTITF working groups, the UNCCT serves a critical role in building capacity of Member States to strengthen their counter-terrorism capability... UNCCT should be built into a Centre of Excellence with subject matter expertise on issues that are not covered by other parts of the UN, such as counter-terrorism narratives, counter-radicalization, enhanced dialogue and cooperation between the development and security/counter-terrorism sectors, and terrorist use of the internet." (UNCCT Website, "UNCCT Vision")

Term of office: 2011 - (indefinite)

Saudi Arabia's Record on combating terrorism
"It would be troublesome but perhaps acceptable for the House of Saud to promote the intolerant and extremist Wahhabi creed just domestically. But, unfortunately, for decades the Saudis have also lavishly financed its propagation abroad. Exact numbers are not known, but it is thought that more than $100 billion have been spent on exporting fanatical Wahhabism to various much poorer Muslim nations worldwide over the past three decades. It might well be twice that number. By comparison, the Soviets spent about $7 billion spreading communism worldwide in the 70 years from 1921 and 1991... Calls for declassifying the redacted 28 pages of the 9/11 congressional commission have been getting stronger. And statements from the lead author of the report, former Florida Sen. Bob Graham, suggest they are being hidden because they 'point a very strong finger at Saudi Arabia as the principal financier' of the 9/11 hijackers. He has been unusually explicit, 'Saudi Arabia has not stopped its interest in spreading extreme Wahhabism. ISIS...is a product of Saudi ideals, Saudi money and Saudi organizational support, although now they are making a pretense of being very anti-ISIS.'" How Saudi Wahhabism Is the Fountainhead of Islamist Terrorism, Huffington Post, March 22, 2015

US embassy cables, December 30, 2009: Hillary Clinton says Saudi Arabia 'a critical source of terrorist funding:' "...donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide...Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for al-Qa'ida, the Taliban, LeT, and other terrorist groups, including Hamas, which probably raise millions of dollars annually from Saudi sources, often during Hajj and Ramadan. In contrast to its increasingly aggressive efforts to disrupt al-Qa'ida's access to funding from Saudi sources, Riyadh has taken only limited action to disrupt fundraising for the UN 1267-listed Taliban and LeT-groups that are also aligned with al-Qa'ida and focused on undermining stability in Afghanistan and Pakistan." The Guardian, December 5, 2010

CONVENTION OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE ISLAMIC CONFERENCE ON COMBATING INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM: "Article 2(a) Peoples struggle including armed struggle against foreign occupation, aggression, colonialism, and hegemony, aimed at liberation and self-determination in accordance with the principles of international law shall not be considered a terrorist crime" Ratified by Saudi Arabia.

Hatred's Kingdom: How Saudi Arabia Supports the New Global Terrorism, Dore Gold, Regnery Publishing; Reprint edition (June 1, 2004)