Saudi conference abandons attempts to define terrorism

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We don't know what it is, but we're going to "battle" it anyway.

RIYADH: A counter-terrorism conference organized by the Saudi government held a series of workshops on Monday focusing on finding practical ways to combat terrorism rather than seeking to define it.

"The solution is in trying to detailed proposals to counter terrorism, while dismissing things that might stir controversies and which are related to the definition of terrorism," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal was quoted as saying by local newspapers.

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"They also called for an international strategy to combat terror through a unified and comprehensive system for exchanging information," he said, adding: "The crown princes call for establishing an international center for combating terrorism has been commended and welcomed by various countries."

A senior member of the British delegation gave a guarded welcome to the Saudi proposal, insisting that the center "would be a tool against terrorism," but that fighting the scourge would be better done through cooperation between security agencies on a bilateral basis.

Daily Star

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1. Iran and US in 'heated exchange' at Saudi anti-terror meet: report

Background, previous story.

RIYADH, Feb 7 (AFP) - Delegates from the United States and archfoe Iran engaged in a "heated" exchange at a counter-terrorism conference in Saudi Arabia, the local media reported Monday, but a US official insisted the encounter was "professional."

"The exchange that took place in the first general assembly was a professional one reflecting differences in views between the US and Iranian delegations," a US embassy spokesperson in Riyadh told AFP.

But the English-daily Saudi Gazette said the Iranian and US delegations at the closed-door conference were reportedly "locked in a heated exchange... when the issue of what constitutes terrorism arose."

Diplomatic sources told AFP that Saturday's address by US Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend had prompted the head of the Iranian delegation to give a speech in response. There were no details on the content of his speech.

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?ID=36960

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2. Have you discovered anything further about what was actually said?

Arab News has been useless. The story I saw in Saudi Gazette quoted a bbc radio report. It was just a blurb.

[bemildred]

3. No, I'd be surprised if we get that.

The public admission that they had a spat is surprising in itself.

[bemildred]

4. A bit more from an LBN post:

Ignoring an earlier Saudi announcement that a special conference, held in the birthplace of al-Qa'eda and attended by more than 50 countries, would not get bogged down in semantics, both Syria and Iran repeatedly stole the show by arguing over terrorism's definition.

Syria, and to a lesser extent Iran and Lebanon, interrupted discussion over and over again, trying to name "state terrorism" – by which they meant Israel – as a source of conflict.

The Syrians and Iranians at the conference also clashed with the American delegation, led by Frances Townsend, a homeland security adviser, over the meaning of the word "terrorism".

The Syrian delegation insisted that acts of violence committed in defence of an "occupied" country, such as Iraq, could not be considered "terrorism".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/02/09/wsaudi09.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/02/09/ixworld.html

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1218254