Council of Arab Justice Ministers Urges Intensified Cooperation Against Terrorism

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit speaks during his joint news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan January 6, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit speaks during his joint news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan January 6, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
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Council of Arab Justice Ministers Urges Intensified Cooperation Against Terrorism

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit speaks during his joint news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan January 6, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit speaks during his joint news conference with Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi in Amman, Jordan January 6, 2018. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

The Council of Arab Ministers of Justice called on Arab states to intensify bilateral and collective cooperation in the field of information exchange pertaining to combating terrorism.

At the end of its 35th session at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, chaired by Bahrain, the council called for coordinating Arab efforts to face the return of terrorists and their families from conflict zones, by developing comprehensive mechanisms in line with the Arab Convention for the Suppression of Terrorism, the resolutions issued by the League Council, and the decisions of the Councils of Ministers of Justice and Interior.

The Council underlined “the need to refrain from providing any form of explicit or implicit support to entities or persons involved in terrorist acts,” and expressed “rejection of all forms of extortion by terrorist groups of threatening, killing hostages or demanding ransom.”

It also called for “intensifying Arab bilateral and collective cooperation among judicial bodies in Arab countries, in the field of investigations, follow-up, and judicial procedures relating to money laundering and terrorist financing.”

The council emphasized the necessity to “develop national measures and mechanisms to ensure the effective tracking, seizure and confiscation of laundered funds or funds directed to finance terrorism as quickly as possible, and to strengthen measures to prevent terrorism, address its causes and dry up its intellectual and financial sources.”

It also highlighted the importance of implementing programs aimed at promoting tolerance and pluralism and combating extremism.

The Council of Arab Ministers of Justice adopted during its meeting on Thursday “the final version of the internal rules of the Arab legal and judicial cooperation network in the field of combating terrorism and organized crime.”



Syrian Govt Says Fighting in Sweida Halted

19 July 2025, Syria, Sweida: Bedouin and tribal fighters gather in the city of Sweida, as smoke rises from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria. Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa
19 July 2025, Syria, Sweida: Bedouin and tribal fighters gather in the city of Sweida, as smoke rises from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria. Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa
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Syrian Govt Says Fighting in Sweida Halted

19 July 2025, Syria, Sweida: Bedouin and tribal fighters gather in the city of Sweida, as smoke rises from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria. Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa
19 July 2025, Syria, Sweida: Bedouin and tribal fighters gather in the city of Sweida, as smoke rises from burning houses amid clashes between tribal fighters and local Druze factions in southern Syria. Photo: Moawia Atrash/dpa

Fighting in Syria's Sweida "halted" on Sunday, the government said, after the southern city was recaptured by Druze fighters and state forces redeployed to the region where more than 900 people have been killed in sectarian violence.

Sweida was "evacuated of all tribal fighters, and clashes within the city's neighborhoods were halted", Syria's interior ministry spokesman Noureddine al-Baba said in a post on Telegram.

More than 900 people have been killed in Sweida since last Sunday as sectarian clashes between the Druze and Bedouin drew in the government, Israel and armed tribes from other parts of Syria.

In a statement on Saturday, the Syrian presidency announced an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire and urged all parties to commit to it and end hostilities in all areas immediately.

US envoy Tom Barrack announced on Friday that Syria and Israel had agreed to a ceasefire. Israel intervened in the conflict earlier this week, hitting government forces and the defense ministry building in Damascus as it declared support for the Druze minority.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio later urged the Syrian government to "hold accountable and bring to justice anyone guilty of atrocities including those in their own ranks".