Jordan urges joint Islamic action against terror

KUWAIT — Jordan on Wednesday renewed its call for cooperation among Muslim countries to fight terrorism, address regional crises and achieve development.

Addressing the 42nd annual meeting of foreign ministers of member countries of Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), titled “Joint Vision to Strengthen Tolerance and Reject Terrorism”, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh highlighted the mounting threat of terrorist groups, stressing Jordan’s continued efforts to confront terror gangs and radical groups and ideologies. 

He said terror gangs are targeting young people, in particular, to disseminate their “dark and deadly messages”, stressing the importance of protecting young people from the influence of these groups.

There are more than 780 million young men in the Islamic nation below the age of 25, representing 11 per cent of the world’s population, Judeh noted.

“We owe jobs, protection and much more,” he told foreign ministers and representatives from the 57-member OIC at its annual meeting. 

Judeh also called for finding a solution to the Palestinian issue. 

“Each day that the international community falls behind on carrying out its duties towards the Palestinian issue is in favour of radical forces…which feed on the loss of confidence in international resolutions,” he said. 

Judeh stressed the importance of establishing a fully independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the two-state solution. 

Regarding the Syrian crisis, which has entered its fifth year, Judeh highlighted the ongoing violence, killing and devastation there, adding that confronting the radical groups there and isolating them cannot be materialised except through arriving t a political solution for the crisis. 

Judeh reiterated Jordan’s stand that a political solution is the sole means to end people’s suffering and displacement, noting that this position has been clear from the beginning of the crisis. 

Speaking at the opening session of the OIC meeting, the Kuwaiti emir, Sheikh Sabah Al Ahmed Al Sabah, said Muslim countries must work together to confront terrorism.

“We must take a serious stand on the sectarian malady that has been shaking the structure of our nation and fragments it,” the emir said at the meeting.

“This fanaticism is the most dangerous to the existence of our nation... We are all losers in this conflict, and the winner is the one who wants to inflame this destructive strife for their own objectives...”