Okaz/Saudi Gazette
TUNIS — The 41st session of the Council of Arab Interior Ministers has awarded the Prince Naif Arab Security Medal of the Excellent Class to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman in appreciation of his great services to the security of the Arab community. On behalf of the King, Minister of Interior Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud bin Naif received the medal at the council session held under the patronage of Tunisian President Kais Saied in Tunis on Monday.
Addressing the session, Prince Abdulaziz bin Saud, who headed the Saudi delegation to the council session, stressed the importance of strengthening joint Arab security work, and successfully dealing with the developments and challenges facing the security services in the Arab world.
He noted that the 41st session of the council is being held at a time when the Palestinians are going through painful humanitarian conditions and an unstable security situation, which caused the suffering of thousands of children, women and the elderly. He stressed the council’s keenness since its inception on the security of Arabs. “Our Arab countries consolidate the system of security and stability, and enhance the opportunities for development and prosperity with God’s help, which actually contributed to the culmination of these efforts by protecting the Arab peoples from the scourge of terrorism, the spread of drugs, and various forms of other crimes,” he said.
Prince Abdulaziz also drew attention to the new forms of crimes in the technologically advanced world. “Today the world is witnessing developments in crime patterns, especially those related to cyber threats, the risks of misuse of artificial intelligence, and the development of drug promotion methods. These transformations have created fertile ground for the spread of multiple types of organized crime and their collusion with armed organizations and terrorist groups to achieve mutual benefits,” he said while emphasizing the need to develop national and Arab plans to invest in infrastructure and support development, education and capacity building plans to confront this.
The minister highlighted the importance of Arab coordination to deal with these threats in order to support the prevention and protection system and mitigate its possible negative repercussions. “In this context, Saudi Arabia implemented a comprehensive security campaign in line with the leadership’s directives to combat drugs by implementing plans in which the efforts of all relevant parties were combined, and it was crowned with unprecedented successes in confronting this scourge and the crimes associated with it.”
Prince Abdulaziz also conveyed the greetings of King Salman and Crown Prince and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Salman to the council session and their aspiration that the meeting would contribute to strengthening common Arab security in the present and future of the Arab countries.
Earlier, the session was inaugurated, on behalf of Tunisian President Kais Saied, by Tunisian Minister of Interior Kamel Feki. In his speech, Feki called for strengthening the bonds of solidarity and cooperation between the Arab security services to unify and coordinate efforts, exchange visions, and crystallize positions on current issues in a way that serves the interests of Arab peoples, and guarantees their security, stability and territorial integrity.
Mohammad bin Ali Kuman, secretary general of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, also addressed the session. He expressed firm condemnation of the brutal massacres committed by the Israeli occupation forces in Palestine, rejecting the displacement policy of Israel and expressing full solidarity with Palestine.
