Sudan, Saudi Arabia sign security agreements

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Mar 26, 2005 (PANA) — Sudan and Saudi Arabia have signed
here two security agreements under which they will jointly
combat crime, drug trafficking, terrorism, forgery, infiltration
and trans-border crime between the two countries.

The Sudanese Minister of Interior, Major General Abdul-Rahim
Mohammed Hussein and his Saudi counterpart, Prince Naif bin
Abdelaziz, signed the agreement in Khartoum on Friday.

At a joint press conference later, Hussein praised the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia for its stance towards Sudan and its assistance to
the war-affected people in the country’s war torn Darfur region.

“We and Saudi Arabia are in one trench in fighting terrorism,”
the Sudanese minister told the news conference.

He also lauded Saudi Arabia’s contribution to the rehabilitation
of the civil war-devastated south and other war-affected areas.

The minister expressed optimism that the Prince Naif’s visit
would boost further the distinguished relations between the two
countries in the political, economic, commercial and security
fields.

On his part, the Saudi Minister affirmed that his kingdom was
taking decision measures and using effective mechanisms to combat
terrorism.

However, the visiting minister cautioned the war against
terrorism requires more than military confrontation with
militants.

“Confronting terrorism requires an intellectual offensive so as
to mitigate fanaticism and fundamentalism,” added Prince Naif,
after the two sides had inked the agreements. “Thought is only
faced by thought,” affirmed the Saudi minister.

Saudi Arabia has been rocked by a series of bloody attacks over
the past two years, which mostly targeted the kingdom’s
expatriate community.

Groups linked to the Al-Qaeda network of a Saudi dissident, Osama
bin Laden, has claimed responsibility for most of the attacks
in the kingdom. The United States accused bin Laden of
masterminding the 11 September 2001 attacks on its soil.