Arabs urged to counter radicals on social media

Riyadh: Arab interior ministers were advised to confront the spread of extremism through social media networks with their own cyber knowhow, as they gathered for a security meeting in Riyadh on Wednesday.

Mohammad Kuman, head of the council of Arab interior ministers, told the meeting that “extremist thought... on social networks has resulted in a major increase in terrorist acts, political assassinations and sectarian conflicts.”

“As it has become impossible to control the content of social networks, it is important to produce counter-speech,” Kuman said.

“Ideas can only be fought by ideas,” the Saudi official said in his opening speech.

Addressing the meeting, Lieutenant General Shaikh Saif Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, said that the Arab World is facing massive challenges that require greater cooperation between Arab countries.

Shaikh Saif stressed that it is only through cooperation that the region’s stability and security can be ensured, which in turn will secure a better future for coming generations. “It is important that we develop new mechanisms to face these challenges and changes in order to ensure progress and prosperity for our countries,” he added.

In a speech read out at the summit on behalf of Saudi King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz, the king called for “cooperation between the people and security services... to face the many dangerous challenges facing the Arab World and threatening its security”.

The two-day meeting will also focus on ways to intensify cooperation in criminal investigation, combatting drug-trafficking and civil defence.

— With additional inputs from WAM