The Ministers of Information of the four Arab countries calling for the fight against terrorism held a meeting in Cairo today, ahead of the meeting of the Council of Arab Information Ministers to be held at the headquarters of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States tomorrow. Saudi Arabia was represented at the meeting by the Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awad bin Saleh Al-Awad. The meeting was attended by the President of the Supreme Council of Media Regulation of the Arab Republic of Egypt Makram Mohammed Ahmed, the Minister of State, the President of the National Information Council of the United Arab Emirates Dr. Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber and the Minister of Information Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain Dr. Ali Bin Mohammed Al Rumaihi. In their final communiqué, the ministers affirmed the importance of continuing to develop media strategies and mechanisms aimed at combating the rhetoric of hatred and extremism and exposing the countries that support, fund and embrace terrorism. They pointed to the need to confront the media spreading corruption in the region through the dissemination and continuous promotion of extremist thought, and hosting the leaders of this thought under the pretext of professionalism and opening the way for all to express their opinions contrary to the most basic ethical rules, noting that the media has been found to disseminate the values of moderation, tolerance and dialogue based on moderate intellectual principles that do not exclude others, and not to spread murder and destruction and interfere in the internal affairs of states and destabilize them. The ministers stressed their total rejection and condemnation of the actions of some media outlets, which continue the policy of undermining unity among the Arab peoples by focusing on the dissemination of topics and news aimed at destabilizing the national fabric of the Arab countries. The ministers called for supporting all media that promote the spirit of cooperation and peaceful co-existence to confront the media that heave used deviation and extremism as a method that has been reflected in all their reports and topics. In their concluding statement, the ministers agreed on the importance of continuous meetings and permanent coordination, and building on achieved successes that led to exposing the falsity of the media of strife, extremism and terrorism, as well as the development of joint action among the countries calling for combating terrorism due to the focal role of the media in enlightening the society and boosting positive ideas that ensure peaceful coexistence among different groups and segments of societies.
