Security officials from some 50 countries endorsed a Saudi proposal for an international counter-terrorism centre on Tuesday but its exact role, location and funding remained unclear. A draft declaration from a conference in Riyadh called for the establishment of "an International Counter-Terrorism Centre staffed by experts ... in order to share real-time information to adequately prevent attacks".
But some delegates said it was inconceivable that intelligence agencies would really agree to pool operational information with a large number of other countries.
Russian counter-terrorism official Anatoly Safonov said the centre should be a "technical, operational structure". But asked if Russia's FSB intelligence service would pass information to such a forum, he told Reuters: "It's hard to imagine."
One European delegate told Reuters: "The proposal is not concrete enough, it's too vague." Another said it was likely such a centre would be "a kind of research institution" for national experts to share analysis.
Security officials said Saudi Arabia had proposed the centre be established in Switzerland - which was not present at the meeting - but New York, Vienna, Cairo and Riyadh itself had also been suggested.
It was also unclear how the centre would be funded and whether it should be placed under UN auspices. Diplomats said a special working group would be set up after the conference to thrash out all these issues.
The idea, raised on the conference's opening session on Saturday by Saudi Arabia's de facto leader Crown Prince Abdullah, was the most prominent initiative proposed in the four days of talks.
Despite the confusion, delegates praised the conference as a powerful signal that Saudi Arabia, birthplace of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and 15 of the 19 September 11 hijackers, was seriously committed to fighting terror at home and co-operating with allies abroad.
"The main thing is that Saudi Arabia, which was considered since 9/11 as perhaps the home country of a certain kind of terrorism, is not only taking measures inside the country but playing an important role world-wide to fight it," a European official said.
The draft declaration, obtained by Reuters, said the proposed international centre could help provide "strategic vision" in the war on terror.
Acknowledging an issue repeatedly stressed by Saudi Arabia and other Muslim nations, it said that "terrorism has no specific religion, ethnic origin, nationality, or geographic location."
It urged the United Nations to develop guidelines for regulating the work of charities to ensure that they are not exploited for illegal activities.
At Russia's request, it called for stronger international measures to monitor the movement of nuclear material.
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