LONDON: Saudi Arabia has reiterated its firm commitment and keen interest in combating terrorism, and its strong engagement with the UN, based on the Kingdom’s pioneering and continuous partnership with the world body in global efforts to combat terrorism. The comments were made by Saudi deputy representative to the UN Mohammed Al-Ateeq during an annual ambassadorial briefing for member states of the UN Office of Counter-Terrorism on Friday, Saudi Press Agency reported on Saturday. Al-Ateeq said the fact that the Kingdom was the largest financial contributor to the establishment of the UN Counter-Terrorism Center (UNCCT) in 2011, is testament to his country’s partnership with the UN in counter-terrorism efforts, as well as its leading role in chairing the center’s advisory board. Saudi Arabia has also provided support to member countries to develop their capabilities in combating terrorism, and helped implement the UN’s global strategy in this field, he added. At the 2022 Annual Briefing to Member States, USG Voronkov thanked @UN Global CT Compact entities for their strong collaboration The 35 donors for their continued support to @UN_OCT , in particular #SaudiArabia , #Qatar , the #EU , as well as #France as a new donor in 2022 pic.twitter.com/1lrZ9RgrRL — United Nations Office of Counter-Terrorism (@UN_OCT) February 4, 2022 Al-Ateeq said the Kingdom is constantly working to strengthen multilateral cooperation to combat terrorism with the UN, adding that UNCCT, Etidal (global center for combating extremist ideology) and Naif Arab University for Security Sciences signed a memorandum of understanding last year to strengthen this partnership, and further develop comprehensive action plans for regional priorities. “These priorities focus on exchanging information and best practices, implementing action plans by holding international workshops, and discussing important topics that Saudi Arabia considers crucial in combating terrorism, such as establishing partnerships that focus on developing joint projects and activities related to capacity building, border security and cybersecurity, and combating cyberterrorism and terrorism financing,” Al-Ateeq added. He also said that the Kingdom supports the soft approach in combating terrorism, through awareness campaigns, youth engagement, promoting tolerance and caring for victims of terrorism. "The principle of human fraternity is what binds us all, and the importance of making our differences a source of strength instead of weakness." - H.E. Mohamed Alateek, Deputy Permanent Representative of @ksamissionunf #HumanFraternityDay https://t.co/tNC7eVBJcY pic.twitter.com/NlEXwzat7q — UNAOC (@UNAOC) February 4, 2022 Saudi Arabia also “attaches great importance to promoting a culture of peace and dialogue,” and a new phase of cooperation has began between the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue and the UN Alliance of Civilizations to promote peace and dialogue among different religions and cultures, and support the UN’s initiative to formulate an action plan to protect places of worship all over the world. Al-Ateeq also attended an event to mark International Day of Human Fraternity at the UN’s Alliance of Civilizations’ office on Friday, organized in partnership with the permanent missions of the UAE and Egypt. He said the Kingdom has gladly participated, along with the Emirates, Egypt, and Bahrain, in submitting a proposal to the UN General Assembly to adopt Feb. 4th a global day of human brotherhood.