SAUDI ARABIA:  Thank you, Madame Chair.  At the outset I would like to address to you and your friendly country our deepest congratulations for your election as Chairman of the Sixth Committee and would like to express our appreciation and our full trust of your successful and capable leadership of our proceedings.  
One of the most important challenges facing the international community at the current time is that of terrorism.  Who is combating terrorism is no longer a local issue that is within the borders of one country, rather it is a goal of the entire international community.  
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia out of its creed and culture has and an in all international fora repeated its condemnation of terrorism regardless of its sources and goals.  It also declared its full readiness to join international efforts exerted against terrorism as well as contribute effectively within a collective international effort under the umbrella of the United Nations to define the terrorism without selectivity or double standards and to deal with its reasons as well as ... [?] [02:14:24] its causes.  It has called on the entire world to combat terrorism strictly and in order to support international peace and security which expresses its firm policy against international terrorism and its perpetrators.  
Madame Chair, it is not right to accuse any certain religion or society or race of being behind terrorism because it is known that terrorism has no religion or society or ethnicity.  There are many terrorists that come from different religions and different ethnicities and different races.  And if there are those who are deceived into doing such heinous acts, then these acts do not reflect the religion and the values and the societies where these people grew up.  
Moreover, Saudi Arabia would like to affirm that it supports counterterrorism but it would not agree for this counterterrorism efforts to become a war against Islam or innocent Muslims who have nothing to do with terrorism.  Islam has nothing to do with those who committed criminal acts that are considered a violent -- a blatant violation of the principles of Islam.
Moreover, we are deeply concerned about the attempt to tie Islam and other negative aspects and manifestations such as terrorism and religious extremism which Islam rejects because Islam calls for dialogue and tolerance and cooperation.  The Kingdom does not want the combating of terrorism in any way to become a clash of civilizations and religions.
Madame Chair, the Kingdom has confirmed in its condemnation of terrorism, confirmed the importance of distinguishing between that and the -- between terrorism and the killing of innocents and aggressing the properties on the one hand and between the people -- the rights of people for self-determination and to struggle for sovereignty and to struggle against foreign occupation which are legitimate rights guaranteed by the United Nations Charter International Law.  
Terrorism and all its forms and manifestations is condemned.  But this condemnation must also include official terrorism at the state level such as the terrorism that is being continuously practiced by Israel against the Palestinians.  GA resolution #40/61 issued in its 40th Session of 1985 had noted that official terrorism practiced by some states had recognized that there is official terrorism practiced by states and it also made a distinction between terrorism as a criminal act and a legitimate form of war, on the one hand, and between armed resistance against colonization and racism and foreign occupation, which is a legitimate right that is based on the right to self-determination of peoples.  And this has been established and enshrined in the UN Charter and international legislation.  Moreover, it has also stressed -- sent a call on all states, single and collective to focus on the gradual elimination of all reasons behind international terrorism.
Saudi Arabia confirms and has confirmed repeatedly the need to settle the Palestinian-Israel conflict which is the reason for instability and lack of security in the region.  
Madame Chair, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been the victim of terrorism in the past and continues to adopt many necessary measures to combat this dangerous phenomenon on all levels -- national, regional, and international.  It also continues to implement international legal provisions and relevant international resolutions that prohibit the perpetration of terrorist actions as well as financing them or instigating them or participating in them or protecting the perpetrators.  It also confirms the importance of adopting studied measures in this framework and would like to confirm all the efforts exerted by the international community through the different instruments and resolutions that have been issued.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia believes that joining and exceeding to counterterrorism conventions must also be accompanied by true and real intentions to combat this dangerous phenomenon.  We call on all members states to condemn all acts of terrorism which are a dangerous breach of the purposes and objectives of the UN and a serious threat to international peace and security, and which is a threat as well to the amicable ties between states.
My country has hosted an international conference to combat terrorism in Riyadh, February '05, with the participation of almost 60 states and many international and regional organizations.  The declaration and the recommendations issued by the conference and document, S/2005/430, dated the first of July '05, it entrenched and stressed the international and national efforts in order to combat this phenomenon and eliminate it.  
It also supported the proposal by the Custodian of the Two Holy Shrines, King Abdullah Bin-Abd al-Aziz, to find or establish an international counterterrorism center under the United Nations umbrella which was supported by many organizations be they regional or subregional or international as the NAM movement, the OIC, the Arab League, the GCC, as well as the Arab-Latin Summit and the Asia-Middle East Dialogue Organization (AMED) and the United Nations Global Counterterrorism Strategy.  
My country's delegation has supported the discussion of the United Nations Global Counterterrorism Strategy, Resolution A and Resolution A/Res/64/297 was issued supporting the Kingdom's idea to form the Center under aegis of the United Nations.  The adoption of all these organization of such a proposal is proof that terrorism requires enhanced cooperation and coordination and the immediate exchange of information between different states, which is something embodied in the initiative of the King of Saudi Arabia through his call to the international community to form the International Counterterrorism Center under the UN auspices which will help in bolstering the United Nations role in combating terrorism and will not replace the role of the United Nations Committees concerned with combating terrorism.  Rather, it will increase their effectivity and coordination with them, especially since the exchange of information between states will remain voluntary and will maintain every country's security independence and their right to determine which information to exchange and how to use it.  
Madame Chair, terrorism is an international phenomenon that is not limited to a society, ethnicity or religion and it requires a international effort to contain it and to effectively combat it.  In the spirit of seriousness, responsibility and fairness and through concerted international action within the framework of the United Nations in a manner that guarantees the elimination of terrorism and saves the lives of innocents and maintains the sovereignty of peoples and countries, and maintains the safety and security of the world.  I thank you.  








Sixth Committee
Agenda Item: Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism
October 5, 2010 (AM)		7