VIENNA – King Abdullah International Center for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) will open its headquarters in Vienna, Austria, Monday. In implementation of the initiative of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, for dialogue among followers of religions and cultures, Saudi Arabia, Austria and Spain signed an agreement for the establishment of the center in Vienna, in October 2011. Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, signed the agreement for the establishment of the Center with Austrian Vice Chancellor and Minister for European and International Affairs Michael Spindelegger, and Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Trinidad Jimenez, in the presence of representatives of international organizations. The Vatican, a strong supporter of the project, has joined as a founding observer and will be represented on the board, which according to the treaty must have three Christians, three Muslims, a Jew, a Hindu and a Buddhist. Both the three sponsoring states, which appoint the board and approve its budget and projects, and the board of directors will take decisions by majority vote. The center aims at spreading the values of tolerance, cordiality, peace, security and coexistence among followers of religions and cultures. The center plans initial work in three fields. Its “Image of the Other” program will have experts study how other faiths are portrayed in their media and education, with an eye to improving schoolbooks and public perceptions of religions. A fellowship program will bring young leaders from all religions together for three to four months in Vienna to study selected issues and learn how each faith deals with them. A program with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will involve religious leaders in Africa in efforts to support health projects for children, which militants sometimes sabotage by telling people their religion forbids them. King Abdullah started by hosting a meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Makkah in 2005 that endorsed interfaith dialogue to redress “the existing lack of mutual understanding among cultures and civilizations.” He visited Pope Benedict at the Vatican in 2007, a first for a Saudi king. The following year, he convened 500 Muslim religious leaders in Makkah to give their blessing to large-scale talks with leaders of other faiths. Saudi Arabia then arranged a major multireligious conference in Madrid in July 2008, where the King openly met Christian, Jewish, Hindu and Buddhist leaders. The King sponsored a discussion on religious tolerance at the United Nations four months later that was attended by then US president George W.Bush, British prime minister Gordon Brown and Israeli president Shimon Peres. This year, King Abdullah took a further step by proposing a dialogue center in Riyadh to promote harmony among Islam's various sects. Although launched by Riyadh and named the King Abdullah International Center for Interfaith and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID), Faisal Bin Abdulrahman Bin Muammar, a former minister, stressed it is not a Saudi entity. “This is an international institution,” he said. “About 70 percent of the world's religions are on its board. The center will be a neutral place to exchange ideas.” – Agencies
