Saudi Arabia Calls on Muslims to Denounce Terrorists

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, December 31, 2001

Saudi Arabia Calls on Muslims to Denounce Terrorists

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz Sunday called on all Muslims to denounce terrorists and their supporters, while urging them to take a united stance against Israel.

Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Abdullah Ibn Abdul-Aziz Sunday called on all Muslims to denounce terrorists and their supporters, while urging them to take a united stance against Israel.

The crown prince, who is also the first deputy prime minister of the oil-rich kingdom, made the appeal at the 22nd summit of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which opened Sunday afternoon in the Omani capital.

"It is the duty of all Muslims to unequivocally condemn terrorist acts and all of those who support them by words or by deeds, " said Abdullah.

"Our Arab nation and the Islamic world have suffered huge prejudice caused by the irresponsible behavior of assassins hiding behind Islamic slogans, while Islam rejects them," he said, referring to the September 11 terror attacks on the United States.

Meanwhile, the prince urged Arab and Muslim countries to unite against Israel, which has been adopting aggressive policies against Palestinian people.

Topics on anti-terror efforts are included on the agenda of the two-day summit, which is set to make a number of important decisions to secure a bright future for the six GCC nations -- Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The summit comes at a crucial stage of history which highlight the need for even closer cohesion and mutual support among the GCC states.

The summit, the fourth of its kind held in Oman since the regional alliance was set up in 1981, aims to further push forward GCC's integration process by seeking to make more flexible the GCC joint economic agreement and to approve the establishment of a customs union in 2003 instead of 2005 and the launch of a single currency by 2010.