A workshop titled “The Risks of Financing Terrorism through Digital Payments Methods (Digital Currencies)," organized by Naif Arab University for Security Sciences as part of its annul work program for the year 2021, began on Tuesday, 21 / 09 / 2021, at the Arab League in Cairo. –It will continue until 23 / 09 / 2021. The workshop is held in cooperation with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), the General Secretariat of the Arab Interior Ministers Council (the Arab Bureau for Combating Extremism and Terrorism), the Scientific Secretariat of the Council of Arab Justice Ministers (the Arab Center for Legal and Judicial Research), and with the participation of experts from the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), The International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) and the International Research Center on Political Violence and Terrorism (RSIS) in Singapore.
The opening session of the workshop was attended by the Vice-President of Naif Arab University for External Relations Mr. Khalid bin Abdulaziz Al-Harfash, Ambassador Abdul Rahman al-Solh, Assistant Secretary General of the Arab League and Chairman of the Research Centre for Judicial and Legal Studies in the Arab League, Dr. Hatem Ali, the Regional Director of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Office of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The workshop was also attended by Jehangir Khan, Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), and Mr. Gregory Hinds, INTERPOL's Counter-Terrorism Director, who participated in the opening session via video conferencing.
Specialists from relevant institutions also participated in the workshop, representing15 countries : the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Bahrain, the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Sudan, the Republic of Somalia, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Palestine, the State of Qatar, the State of Libya, the Lebanese Republic, the Arab Republic of Egypt, the Republic of Yemen, in addition to Singapore.
The workshop discussed a number of academic papers in the framework of its themes, most notably: (The concept of digital currencies in light of international cooperation regarding the exchange of financial information in the crime of financing terrorism), (The security implications of digital currencies from the perspective of terrorist financing), (The current status of the legal regulation of digital currencies and its relationship to money laundering), (The legislation of some countries and their position on cryptocurrencies), (The risks associated with digital currencies in money laundering), (Reducing tax evasion and supporting terrorism by applying digital currencies), (The problem of currencies and related crimes and the role of technology in treating them), (Challenges that may be encountered in the investigation to identify the sources of terrorism and track digital currencies ), (Combating the use of cryptocurrencies to fund terrorism), and (Terrorist financing and digital payments: current and emerging trends in south and southeast Asia).
The workshop, it is worth noting, aims to introduce the topic of digital currencies: what they are, how to obtain them and their security implications, reviewing the laws and legislation of some countries and their position on virtual currencies, evaluating the risks associated with digital currencies, discussing the most important challenges of investigating crimes related to digital currencies and future solutions, and exchanging experiences between Security, justice and international organizations to reduce the risks of terrorist financing.
The organization of this workshop arose from the security message of Naif Arab University for Security Sciences as it is the academic entity of the Arab Interior Ministers Council, and the body entrusted with the implementation of the academic part of the Arab strategy to combat terrorism, as this topic comes at the top of the issues that the university is keen to address in scientific methods through Its programs and academic activities; one of the most prominent efforts of the university in this field is the development and strengthening of the Arab international cooperation to combat these crimes, benefiting from its wide international partnerships with various international organizations specialized in combating terrorism and the relevant security services in various countries of the world.