Manama: The spread of sectarianism and extremist discourses is a major factor fueling terrorism in the Arab region, the secretary general of Arab Interior Ministers Council has warned.
Others factors feeding terrorism include the increase in the number of areas of tensions and armed conflicts as well as the absence of peaceful political solutions for crises, the proliferation of weapons, the transnational movement of foreign fighters, the growing resources to finance terror activities through trade in drugs, stolen artefacts, smuggling, illegal migration and organized crimes, Mohammad Bin Ali Koman said at the opening of 18th Arab conference on combating terrorism in the Tunisian capital Tunis.
These factors have clearly contributed to an increase in the number of acts of terrorism in the first half of this year, he added.
“However, the Arab countries were able to reduce the numbers thanks to social cohesion in confronting terrorism and to the vigilance of the security agencies and their high level of anticipation that foiled several dangerous plots,” he said.
Koman added that at a time when factors fueling terror in the Arab region are not eliminated, there is a need to adopt a unified strategy to promote cooperation among the Arab countries in the fight against terrorism, Kuwait News Agency (Kuna) reported.
Arabs need to bolster their coordination in order to counter the phenomenon and to work on finding suitable solutions for the factors that have been feeding terrorism through formulating an Arab strategy to combat the spread of illegal weapons and to uncover terrorist plots, he added.
In this regard, the ministers’ council has formed a committee to designate terrorist groups and entities and use certain criteria to blacklist perpetrators and financiers of terrorism. “Such a move will help Arabs achieve a unified stance against terrorism,” he said.
Koman condemned the “terrorist acts” committed by the Israeli forces in the occupied territories against Palestinians, saying that these acts violated international laws.
The international community should work on ending violations and double standard policies that have fed the feeling of frustration and pushed hundreds of young people to embrace the ideologies of terror groups, he said.
The conference in Tunis is scheduled to discuss experiments of the Arab countries in countering terrorism and an Arab strategy to combat the spread of illegal weapons as well as the approval of a plan to bolster the role of intelligence services in uncovering terrorist plots.
