'No book should be banned in this age of information'

Books and information should not be banned or withheld from the public, the Minister of Education said yesterday.

Shaikh Nahyan Bin Mubarak Al Nahyan, Minister of Education, said that people have the right to choose what to read and not to read. He was inaugurating the 15th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.

"We live in an age in which people should be supplied with all kinds of information through different media.

"All people have the right to choose and select information and are wise enough to make that choice. No book should be banned and no information should be withheld from the public in this day and age."

Shaikh Nahyan later received several dignitaries attending the book fair.

This year's book fair is dedicated to Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and a special exhibition showcasing the pictures of Shaikh Zayed has been set up.

More that 500 Arabic and International publishing houses are participating in the fair, featuring more than 250,000 Arabic titles and 110,000 foreign titles. Last year, 9.4 million books were sold at the fair.

This year's fair has 100 square metres more than last year's fair and hosts a number of cultural activities such as plays, symposiums, poetry recitals and lectures.

Mohammad Al Suwaidi, Secretary-General of the Cultural Foundation, said: "I name this edition [of the book fair] the Shaikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan edition in dedication and gratitude to the UAE's late president and founding father for initiating this book fair."

Al Suwaidi said that Shaikh Zayed inaugurated the first book fair in 1981 and supported it vigorously during his lifetime.

Khalida Toumi, the Algerian Minister of Culture, accompanied Shaikh Nahyan during his tour of the fair.

"The Algerian Government is very keen on forging cultural and educational ties with the UAE. My presence here is evidence of Algeria's policy in building cultural ties with UAE," she said.

While the fair has no titles from Algeria, Tunisia, Morocco or Mauritania, the minister hoped that next year's fair would feature a large representation of Algerian works.

"We are in the process of drafting an agreement between the Ministries of Information and Culture in Algeria and the UAE. This will contain a clause on cultural and educational relationships between the two counties as well," she said.

The minister extended an invitation to Shaikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Information and Culture, to visit Algeria to finalise the agreement.