UAE- 34 nation anti terror tie up a historic move: paper
Date
12/17/2015 1:11:40 AM
(MENAFN- Emirates News Agency (WAM))
ABU DHABI 17th December 2015 (WAM) -- A UAE newspaper has said that the formation of an Islamic military alliance comprising 34 countries is a historic move that will help eradicate terrorism and lay the foundations of peace in the entire world.
Already organisations like the Muslim Council of Elders chaired by the Grand Imam of Al Azhar Dr. Sheikh Ahmad Al Tayyeb and the Muslim World League have welcomed the initiative.
As is known by now the alliance will be led by Kingdom of Saudi Arabia with the participation of the UAE. The other countries participating in the alliance will include Jordan Pakistan Bahrain Bangladesh Benin Turkey Chad Togo Tunisia Djibouti Senegal Sudan Sierra Leone Somalia Gabon Guinea Palestine Comoros Qatar Cote d'Ivoire Kuwait Lebanon Libya Maldives Mali Malaysia Egypt Morocco Mauritania Niger Nigeria and Yemen.
"The strength of the group can be gauged by the fact that more than ten other Islamic countries including Indonesia have expressed their support for the alliance" said The Gulf Today in an editorial on Thursday.
"It is also encouraging to note that a joint operations centre will be established in Riyadh to coordinate and support military operations to fight terrorism and to develop the necessary mechanisms for supporting these efforts.
"While the Islamic countries deserve all praise for taking such major initiatives the world needs to take a note of another serious aspect. The outpouring of intolerance and hate speech in public discourse and in the media in recent weeks which focused particularly on Muslims is highly disturbing.
"We are sickened by blatant manifestations of hatred and intolerance including by public figures in response to terrorist attacks by violent extremists particularly the deliberate and dangerous spread of misinformation and the manipulation of people's fears and concerns for political gain" the UN Special Adviser on the Prevention of Genocide Adama Dieng and the Special Adviser on the Responsibility to Protect Jennifer Welsh have stated.
"The special advisers have specifically noted that in recent weeks there have been numerous acts of intimidation and violence against Muslims and Muslim sites including vandalism of mosques as well as discriminatory xenophobic and racist statements.
"They have also referred to calls by politicians for Muslims to be prevented from entering the United States to be registered in a national database or to be forced to carry identification that would highlight their religion and other calls for governments to refrain from accepting refugees from Syria and Iraq.
"While the formation of an Islamic military alliance brings hope to the world it is now reasonable to expect all countries to take serious measures to curb such hate speech and intolerance" concluded the Sharjah-based daily.
WAM/Esraa