Kuwait espouses collective Muslim effort against terrorism

Muslim countries should uniformly launch a public awareness campaign against terrorism, extremism, and violence, a Kuwaiti official said here on Wednesday.
In a speech by Kuwaiti Minister of Information and State Minister for Youth Affairs Sheikh Salman Sabah Al-Salem Al-Sabah, read on his behalf by the assistant undersecretary for external media at the ministry of Information Faisal Al-Mitlagim, the minister indicated that the phenomena of terrorism, extremism, and violence were posing a threat to economic growth, sustainable development, and peaceful coexistence.
The minister was addressing the Islamic conference for Ministers of Information, being held here under the theme of "Information cooperation for peace and stability in the Islamic world." He urged all media in Islamic countries to coordinate among themselves now more than ever in exposing and standing against that phenomena.
He said Kuwait saw great importance in having both diplomacy and the media work together to improve the image of Islam and Muslims worldwide, especially at a time when Islamophobia was on the rise.
He stressed that new ideas and approaches were necessary to better promote Muslim-orientated issues such as the Palestinian cause and he urged the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to foster such ideas and approaches.
The Kuwaiti minister noted in his speech that Kuwait promulgated respect for all civilizations and encouraged dialogues amongst them and among the world's religions, citing in that regard the initiative by Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud, launched in Makkah in 2005, promoting such dialogues. The minister underscored Kuwait's full support of that initiative.
Moreover, the minister asked the Muslim media everywhere to espouse great values such as openness to new ideas, democracy, socio-economic growth, acceptance of other nations and cultures, and tolerance.
He said Kuwait's espousal of these and other similar values had enabled it to protect the public from being assailed by extremism and terrorism.
Toward the conclusion of his speech, the minister mentioned the honor the UN recently bestowed on His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah as a Leader of Humanity and on Kuwait as a Center of Humanity.