BAHRAIN - The Situation In Saudi Arabia.

As part of efforts to contain Wahhabi fanaticism and militancy in Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Abdullah on April 20 opened an international conference on Islam and terrorism in Riyadh with an address reaffirming that Islam was a religion of peace and moderation. He said: "Islam condemns all forms of terrorism and we must strive to correct wrong perceptions about our religion. This is my vision". At the same time, there is now open civil war in Saudi Arabia. It is between the royal government and radical Wahhabis affiliated to Al-Qaeda of Osama Bin Laden.

The second day of the conference coincided with a suicide bombing of the Saudi security headquarters in Riyadh, in which about 10 officers were killed and many were wounded. Adjacent to the building was a children's school and some observers said had the suicide bombers detonated themselves about 30 metres within the security compound they could have killed many children as well. The Al-Qaeda was held responsible for the bombing. On the third and final day of the conference Saudi security forces killed some Qaeda fugitives after a battle.

Organised by the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University, the meeting was titled "The Stand of Islam on Terrorism, Violence and Extremism". It was attended by more than 200 experts on terrorism and academics from European, American and Asian universities and think-tanks. But it took more than two years after 9/11 for the Saudi government to allow open discussion of Islamic violence and fanaticism.

In a keynote address to the conference, Higher Education Minister Dr. Khalid Al-Anqari (married to the sister of King Fahd's favourite wife), reiterated Saudi Arabia's "resolve to combat terror". He said constant clashes between the West and the Islamic nation were "a bad omen for the future of the world". He said the conference was intended to clarify these misconceptions. He underlined the importance of "unearthing the roots of terrorism and extremism" - which the critics of Saudi Arabia say in reality lay in Wahhabism. Anqari said Islamic teachings called for dialogue, and asked the faithful to expose lies and accusations about the religion. (Later, the crown prince laid the foundation stone of Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University's SR350m women's campus and of a SR100m project for a college of languages, translation and computing. The university has been trying to shed its extremist image after it emerged that a number of terror suspects on the government's most-wanted list were IMSIU graduates. On the sidelines of the conference, the IMSIU screened a documentary highlighting the growth of the university and its contribution to curbing extremism and violence).