(Photo from Minister of Endowments)
By Nourhan Fahmy
Egyptian Minister of Endowments Mohammad Mokhtar Gomaa and his Kuwaiti counterpart, Yacoub Al-Sanei, announced an initiative to form an Arab front to combat terrorism.
The announcement came during an international conference on “The Role of Women in Charitable Work”, which began in Kuwait City on Monday.
The Jordanian Minister of Endowments, Hayel Dawoud, declared full support for the initiative, with other conference participants also expressing approval.
The Arab Front aims to intensify and coordinate efforts to combat terrorism and overcome challenges facing the Arab world. It will also advocate a “moderate understanding” of Islam and promote the exchange of experts through formal institutional channels. It is an effort to prevent “non-expert” and “unqualified” opinions from infiltrating the religious discourse, according to state-owned newspaper Al-Ahram.
The front’s efforts are to be premised on intellectual debate, and a coordinated Arab-Muslim approach to set a plan for combating “organised terrorism”.
The Egyptian and the Kuwaiti ministers are set to prepare a preliminary document, to be later presented to the rest of the Arab Ministers of Endowment for discussion, according to Al-Ahram.
