War on extremism: Saudi Arabia joins White House talks

The Kingdom is at the forefront of global efforts to eradicate terrorism, senior Saudi officials told a recent meeting at the White House on countering extremism.
Deputy Foreign Minister Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah led the Kingdom’s delegation at the talks.
Addressing US and international officials, he said that Saudi Arabia is determined to fight extremism in all its forms.
He highlighted Saudi Arabia’s keenness and commitment to supporting global efforts against extremism and terrorism, and fight whatever party standing behind it in the name of religion, said Prince Abdul Aziz bin Abdullah. The Kingdom has always deplored extremism, which distorts the image of Islam.
The prince stressed that Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman upholds the Kingdom's longstanding campaign against extremism and terrorism.
The US summit has gained special significance as it comes within a series of international and regional meetings that analyze the phenomena of extremism from all aspects, its roots and causes.
Participants hope to come out with a unified vision on ways of countering extremist violence on political, military, security, intelligence, economic and social levels.
“We must seriously move to fight such thoughts and their funding channels,” the prince said.
According to Prince Abdul Aziz, Saudi Arabia has taken several measures to fight and enacted a number of regulations to counter extremist thoughts.
He pointed out that the first international summit to fight terrorism was held in Riyadh in 2005, where the Kingdom called for the setting up of a UN center to fight extremism.
In September 2011, Saudi Arabia signed an agreement to set up the center under the auspices of the UN and supported it with $110 million.
The Kingdom also supported the establishment of The King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Inter-religious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna.