In a step that supports the Saudi government's program towards reforming and developing state ministries and institutions and raising their efficiency; To achieve the highest and best benefit from its cadres and capabilities; The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz, ordered the establishment of an independent apparatus to preside over state security, similar to what is practiced in the most powerful and largest countries in the world.
This step did not come out of nowhere, but rather is based on the desire of the King – may God protect him – to continue the administrative development of all government sectors, in line with the best administrative practices applied in the world.
It is also considered an inevitable result of an imposing reality, and in response to international, regional and internal conditions that require special dealings with evil groups and forces of terrorism, and in a way that relieves the burden on other agencies in the Ministry of Interior. The paths and the shortest way, as the Ministry of the Interior witnessed deep and courageous radical reforms aimed primarily at strengthening national security, which is a priority for every country in light of the growing risks, whether at the level of extremist ideology, or on the path of global threats, economically and politically. And about 6 sectors of the “interior” were transferred to the new apparatus that was established under the name “Presidency of State Security” and is linked to the Prime Minister and is concerned with everything related to state security. This came by order of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz in the past Shawwal, according to the above That Prince Nayef bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (may God have mercy on him) on 4/7/1433 AH submitted a proposal to amend the organizational structure of the Ministry of Interior to ensure the separation of the security affairs sector related to state security in a new apparatus.
The order came to separate a number of security sectors from the Ministry of the Interior, given the urgent need at the present time, and the importance of continuing to develop the security sectors in the Kingdom, according to the latest administrative regulations, to be at the highest levels of readiness to keep abreast of developments and developments, and to face all security challenges with a high degree of flexibility, readiness and ability to Quick action to deal with any emergency.
The royal order stipulated the dismissal of each of the “General Directorate of Investigation”, “Special Security Forces”, “Special Emergency Forces”, “Security Aviation”, “General Administration of Technical Affairs” and “National Information Center” and all matters related to the duties of the presidency, including Combating terrorism and its financing and financial investigations, and including it in the Presidency of State Security.
Everything related to its tasks in the Agency for Security Affairs and other agencies related to the Ministry of Interior, including tasks, employees (civilian and military), budgets, items, documents and information, is also transferred to the Presidency of State Security.
One of the most important features of the establishment of the Presidency of State Security is that the Ministry of Interior devotes itself to providing better services to citizens and residents in all its sectors. The Presidency of State Security devotes itself to combating terrorism in terms of security and intelligence, and monitoring its financing financially. In addition, the apparatus will save tens of billions from the state budget by raising work efficiency and reducing and rationalizing expenditures.
Developing the security architecture
The Ministry of the Interior and its security sectors possess an advanced security infrastructure after many years of modernization and continuous work to qualify its employees in the field of comprehensive security sciences, and each security sector possesses the best mechanisms, armored vehicles, vehicles and advanced weapons.
The Ministry of the Interior is comprehensive in everything related to services for citizens and residents and the provision of internal and border security for all Saudi lands, in addition to providing electronic services to the beneficiaries of its services, and the delivery of services of those sectors, including passports and traffic to the homes or companies of beneficiaries, and the development witnessed by the Ministry of Interior has reached Services are provided in the homes of beneficiaries, including what is done by the Agency of the Ministry of Interior for Civil Status, as it provides services in the homes of beneficiaries of the elderly, people with special needs, and patients.
Combating terrorism and crime
In terms of security work to combat crime, combat drugs, secure borders and facilities, and diplomatic security, all elements of these agencies undergo intensive exercises throughout the year, whether inside or outside the Kingdom, in addition to advanced courses on modern weapons and mechanisms. And out of its keenness on joint security work and unification of procedures in confronting and combating everything that threatens the security and stability of the Kingdom, the Ministry of Interior launched a joint tactical exercise for all the internal security forces under the name (Watan), and two versions of it were released; The first was carried out in the Northern Borders region, while the second version was in the Madinah region. This exercise is held every two years, and each sector of the Ministry of Interior is responsible for implementing it each time. Security men, supported by military vehicles, armored vehicles, and security helicopters, are participating in the exercise, representing all sectors of the Internal Security Forces of the Ministry of Interior, with the aim of raising the level of coordination between them, in order to confront the remarkable growth in the activities of extremist groups and organizations to target the Kingdom with their terrorist crimes in order to undermine the security and capabilities of its citizens. The trainees are 21 days trained to apply different hypotheses and scenarios to confront all terrorist crimes and risks.
Border security
The Ministry of the Interior attaches great importance to the security of the land, air and sea borders, in order to confront any attempts to penetrate those borders through the General Directorate of the Border Guard, by providing all military means and mechanisms, marine vessels and advanced modern technology to monitor the borders. The security of the land crossings in (Jdeidet Arar) with the participation of the security sectors, government agencies and security aviation, in order to raise the readiness of the border guards, security forces and government agencies operating in the port and to continue developing the capabilities of the guards in the security of the ports. The exercise aims to enhance joint security work procedures to confront terrorism in the land ports. and address the expected sources of threat.
Diplomatic security
In the aspect of diplomatic security, the Ministry of Interior has the Muhammad bin Nayef Academy for Diplomatic Security, which was inaugurated in 1435 AH and is concerned with diplomatic security work. Those enrolled in it receive advanced training in military science and diplomatic behavior, to refine them to carry out all the tasks and specializations assigned to them as special forces for diplomatic security.
The men of the Special Forces for Diplomatic Security are distinguished by their high ability to deal with security in order to confront crimes through storming and shooting with all kinds of weapons, and they have a lot of skills in the security and protection of personalities and diplomatic buildings. They also receive special training in diplomatic behavior and the English language that qualifies them to work in missions protecting the embassies of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques around the world and embassies of countries inside the Kingdom, as well as diplomatic personalities.
Building Security
Among the important security sectors is the Facilities Security Forces, which is the security agency specialized in protecting petroleum facilities and industry in Saudi Arabia. To address any tampering that prejudices the security of these achievements and the cultural gains of the homeland. The actual work of the Facilities Security Forces began after the restructuring of the sector in the eastern region in 1406 AH, as the Facilities Security Force took over the responsibility of providing security and protection for a number of petroleum and industrial facilities, and after that the other sites continued until they reached what they are now.
The work of the facility security forces is focused on participating in the preparation of security plans for vital facilities, providing security and protection for petroleum, industrial and vital facilities from outside each facility and ensuring the efficiency of their security from the inside, in addition to conducting security inspections through checkpoints, whether for vehicles or people, to ensure the security situation in general. And the level of industrial security performance in the facility.
It also supervises the arming of industrial security men in petroleum and industrial facilities, ensuring that they are trained on firearms and electric sticks, and follows up on the status of weapons and inspects them in all locations, in addition to preparing and training employees of the sector by enrolling them in specialized courses and making visits to internal and external exhibitions, which contributes to raising the level of performance. to its employees. The facility security forces conduct an analysis of the security risks around the facilities, prepare the necessary plans to avoid them, and conduct various hypotheses to ensure their effectiveness after coordination with the relevant authorities. The facilities security forces have highly qualified security men who have attended advanced courses inside and outside Saudi Arabia, in addition to modern and advanced mechanisms and devices in combating terrorism and explosives. Last November, the Ministry of Interior participated with a number of its sectors in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the first tactical exercise (Arabian Gulf Security 1), along with the sectors of the Ministry of Interior in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, including the sea, land and air sectors.
The aim of this exercise was to enhance joint security work procedures, raise the readiness of security forces, improve field coordination to the highest levels, unify security terms and concepts, and stand on the effectiveness of command and communication procedures between security operations centers in exchanging information immediately, and implementing security measures to respond to various security situations. Managing theaters of operations in confronting terrorist plots that target the security and stability of the GCC states.
Mansour Al-Shehri (Riyadh) @mansooralshehri
