Cairo - The Minister of Culture and Information Dr. Awwad bin Saleh Al-Awwad of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia chaired here today (Tuesday) the 9th regular session of the Executive Bureau of the Council of Arab Information Ministers.
Dr. Al-Awwad conveyed, in his opening speech, the greetings of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince, Vice President of the Council of Ministers and Minister of Defense, and their wishes of success for this session to reach resolutions that contribute to the promotion of joint Arab media work within the framework of the Arab League.
He said, «We are meeting today to discuss several issues aimed at achieving the common interest of the Arab media, which in turn is based on several bases and pillars, the most important of which is the unification and intensification of our efforts to convey the word and achieve the vision through an approach that integrates traditional media with modernity,» The Minister of Culture and Information added, «There is no doubt that the crisis in the Arab region confirms the need not to be negligent in doing everything that would serve our Arab nation's internal and external issues.»
Dr. Al-Awwad also indicated in his speech to what the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques referred to in his speech before the 29th Arab Summit entitled «Al-Quds Summit» held in Dhahran, where the King affirmed that «the Palestinian issue is still our first issue and will be as so until the Palestinian people gain all their legitimate rights, foremost of which is the establishment of an independent State with East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) as its capital.» «From this perspective, it is our duty to promote joint Arab media work to shed light on the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people and the suffering of Jerusalem (Al-Quds) and its people,» he said.
Minister Dr. Al-Awwad drew attention that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia supports all efforts aimed at reaching a political solution to the crisis in Yemen in a manner that ensures its unity, independence and territorial integrity in accordance with the Gulf Initiative and its executive mechanism and the decisions of the comprehensive national dialogue conference in implementation of Security Council resolution 2216.
He further said that «The Kingdom also welcomes the statement issued by the Security Council, which strongly condemned the launching of more than 132 Iranian-made ballistic missiles by Al-Houthi militias against Saudi cities and the Kingdom affirms its commitment to provide humanitarian assistance to the Yemeni people through the comprehensive plan of humanitarian operations in Yemen,» He added that «The role of the Arab media in countering the phenomenon of terrorism is one of the most important items before the Council, confirming our awareness of the importance of addressing this phenomenon and the pivotal role of media in confronting a global phenomenon that has left no corner of our world without harming it and the past years have witnessed several terrorist attacks in many countries of the world, including our Arab countries which resulted in thousands of innocent victims.»
Moreover, the Saudi Minister of Culture and Information stressed, in his speech, that the Arab media nowadays has a key role and a great responsibility to play in saving lives and preserving property through the implementation of specific programs that identify, educate and disseminate awareness about this dangerous and destructive phenomenon and how to prevent it from spreading its poison. He believed that the success of Arab efforts to combat the phenomenon of terrorism requires all members coordination and concerted efforts for combating radical misguided ideas. Dr. Al-Awwad concluded by stressing the need to consider addressing the media issues in effective ways in line with the Council's goals and visions, expressing his hope that the Council's meeting will come out with effective decisions that have an impact on the Arab media and realize the aspirations of our Arab people.