On Sunday, Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman vowed to “pursue terrorists until they are wiped from the face of the earth.” He said this in front of officials of 40 Muslim countries gathered in Riyadh for an Islamic Counter Terrorism alliance.
The 41 member Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) was formed by Prince Mohammad, two years ago. Only Qatar, which denies supporting extremism, was not invited to the meeting.
The IMCTC’s Secretary General Abdulelah al-Saleh said this was done to “avoid confrontations.” He also added this meeting was meant to build consensus about operations. He hopes many countries would join in time.
Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman told the delegates Friday’s attack in Egypt was a very painful occurrence and everyone must contemplate in an international and powerful way.
He also added that beyond innocent people losing their lives and the spread of hatred, terrorism and extremism damaged the image of the religion.
The terrorist attack on Friday in a Mosque in Egypt resulted in 300 people losing their lives.
“The enemy is terrorism. It’s not sects or religions or races, its terrorism,” Secretary General Saleh told reporters.
Dr. Mohammad al-Issa, Secretary General of the Muslim World League, stated terrorism was an “ideological problem,” not just a security issue.
He added terrorists from more than 100 countries joined ISIS, explaining, “the Europeans in ISIS make up 50 percent of the elements of the organization.”
Despite agreement on principles, members voiced different priorities at the meeting. Yemen’s delegation said the focus should be Iran, al Qaeda and Islamic State, while Turkey called for “support from our friends” against Kurdish separatists.
The IMCTC, largely drawn from the Sunni led states, with Shia dominated powers such as Iran and Iraq left out. The alliance stated their goal was to fight terrorism, denying that it was opposed to any sect or country.
