Saudi official sees UN faith dialogue as key to peace

Riyadh King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia will be delivering a key address on Wednesday at the United Nations Interfaith Dialogue Conference in New York to encourage a "culture of peace".

The conference aims at promoting tolerance among various religions and comes after a request by the King, after the World Conference on Dialogue held in Madrid.

His Highness Shaikh Hamad Bin Mohammad Al Sharqi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Fujairah, will deliver the UAE's address before the delegates.

Prince Khalid Bin Saud, undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry, said the UN-sponsored religious dialogue conference is the outcome of the World Conference on Dialogue held in Madrid at the initiative of King Abdullah.

"We hope that the conference would foster peace, coexistence and closer relations among the followers of different faiths. It is essential for all people to live in a peaceful and cordial atmosphere in all parts of the world irrespective of their religious differences," he said earlier this week.

Participation

It is expected that some 20 to 30 heads of state and leaders of various nations will attend the UN General Assembly's Culture for Peace Conference, to be held on the fringes of the 63rd Session of the General Assembly.

UN General Assembly President Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann has sent invitations to 192 member countries and observers to attend the conference, which it called a "useful preparatory step" toward an interfaith and intercultural meeting to be held in 2010.

The session has been convened, following a request by King Abdullah, under agenda item 45 "Culture of peace" in order to inform the General Assembly of the process initiated at the Madrid Dialogue Conference held in July.

King Abdullah will address the session following the UN Secretary-General's keynote speech.

Meanwhile, Prince Khalid Bin Saud also highlighted the significance of the economic summit to be held in Washington next week to tackle with the global financial crisis.

Criticism: 'Public relations ploy'

The interfaith dialogue is hailed by some as a triumph for Saudi Arabia, but critics dismissed the meeting as a public relations (PR) exercise.

The kingdom has aimed to boost its global image after the September 11, 2001 attacks in which 15 of the 19 Al Qaida militants who destroyed New York's Twin Towers were Saudi Arabians.

King Abdullah, promoted by Saudi Arabia as a moderate who can deal with the rest of the world, met Pope Benedict in the Vatican last year, brought Sunni and Shiite clerics to Makkah in March and religious leaders to Madrid in June.

Saudi clerics have shown scant support for the initiatives and three prominent figures declined to comment on them.

The Grand Mufti, who represents the state's official views on religious affairs, did not attend the gathering in Spain, which was attended by US Jewish rabbis.

The conference was timed to take place after the US presidential election and offers Saudi leaders a chance to make contacts with the incoming Democratic administration, whose possible policies on Saudi Arabia and the region have caused nervousness in Riyadh.

Liberals in Saudi Arabia praise the king's initiative. They say such high-profile events pressure the conservatives at home who created the ideological environment that feeds militancy.