Arab interior ministers adopt anti-terror

The 31st Session of Arab Interior Ministers Council late Wednesday concluded its meeting with the adoption of Marrakech Anti-Terror Statement to broaden cooperation in the fight against extremism and terror groups. The statement reiterated Arab countries’ rejection of terrorism regardless of its motives and tactics as well as of the sectarian discourse which fuels terror and instigates sedition and hatred. It also condemned the terror attacks against security forces in Bahrain, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya, Yemen, Iraq and other member states. Arab ministers expressed full support to the decisions taken by Arab states to protect their security and stability in face of the terrorist groups. Interior Minister, Hussein Majali headed Jordan’s delegation to the meetings ,where he delivered a speech tackling major challenges facing security in the Arab world as well as means to fight all kinds of crime and eradicate the phenomenon of terrorism, which has become a threat to security and stability. The conferees ratified the member states’ reports on the progress in the implementation of the Arab strategy for countering terror and drug activities as well as the Arab strategy for traffic and civil security. They also approved the resolutions and recommendations taken during the meetings of the Arab security officials at the level of General Secretariat in 2013. The ministers endorsed the reports on the activities of Naif Arab University for Security Sciences (NAUSS) and General Secretariat in 2013. Meanwhile, the council agreed on establishing an Arab ideological security office to be based in Riyadh. The ministers welcomed Egypt’s proposal for holding a joint meeting for Arab interior and justice ministers to discuss activating pan-Arab security and legal cooperation agreements. The ministers expressed great respect of human rights values and civil society. They called for developing a broad partnership between security agencies and citizens to increase the efficiency of anti-terror strategies and secure public support for security measures.