Fixation on negativity must change - Mousa

Dubai: The media is crucial but needs to play its role responsibly, said Amr Mousa, secretary general of the Arab League yesterday, criticising coverage of Dubai and the regional media's fixation on negative stories.

The secretary general was speaking at the eighth edition of the Arab Media Forum which was inaugurated by His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai. Government officials and media personalities from the Arab region and other countries were in attendance.

"I see and feel positivity in this city despite what has been reported in the press," Mousa said, in seeming criticism of the barrage of bad press the city has received in the Western press recently.

Mousa also criticised Arab media for concentrating on divisive news in the Arab world instead of focusing on cooperation between states.

"Recently Arab foreign ministers held an emergency meeting to discuss the Israeli occupation... At the same time, transport ministers were discussing a rail link that joins Arab states. Although there was [more than one] issue being discussed simultaneously, Arab media was only interested in discussing the peace plan& They did not give any importance to how we are trying to link Arabs to each other," he said.

He also criticised what he called the 'arms race' in the Middle East and called for a nuclear weapons free Middle East.