The US State Department has valued Saudi Arabia's efforts to combat terrorism, pointing out that the Kingdom is an important key member and an active participant in the global coalition for Daesh defeat. "Saudi Arabia has continued to maintain a strong anti-terrorism relationship with the United States and has supported the strengthening of bilateral cooperation between the two countries," it said in its annual report on the state of terrorism in the world. It mentioned the joint strategic vision between the two countries and a number of new initiatives to combat terrorist messages and to disrupt the financing of terrorism issued last year during the US president's visit to the Kingdom. The report said that the Kingdom has implemented a system to follow UN Security Council sanctions on groups and individuals of Daesh and Al Qaeda organizations and has expanded existing counterterrorism programs and means to rehabilitate terrorist fighters returning from extremist groups and has also benefited from the inclusion of laws and legislations on terrorism finance in the new anti-terrorism law to counter the financing of terrorist groups. It pointed out that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has a high level of accuracy in the counterterrorism operations. It carried out a number of arrests, which received wide coverage of suspects and members of terrorist organizations, and disrupted active terrorist cells throughout the Kingdom. The report referred to the terrorist incidents thwarted in the Kingdom, noting its efforts in legislation, law enforcement and border security, as well as its positive efforts as a member of the Financial Action Task Force for the Middle East and North Africa, a regional body along the lines of the Financial Action Task Force on financial measures as well as the imposition of financial sanctions on terrorist individuals and entities. "The Kingdom has maintained strict control over the banking sector and tightened sanctions on the financing of terrorism," the report said. The report also pointed out that the Center for Intellectual Warfare, as well as the World Center for the Fight against Extremist Ideology, have begun to reduce ideological appeals and expand efforts to combat terrorist messages. The Kingdom also continued in the fields of international and regional cooperation to encourage more international coordination on counterterrorism issues. The report added that the Kingdom provided 100 million Euros to fight terrorism in the Sahel countries as the Kingdom is a founding member of the Global Counter-Terrorism Forum.
