Jehangir Khan, Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Implementation Task Force (CTITF) and the UN Counter-Terrorism Centre (UNCCT), said the Arab region has borne many of the burdens of extremism and terrorism, adding that the international community and the United Nations were required to help resolve conflicts that constitute a fertile environment for the growth of extremist ideas.
Khan described terrorism as a global pandemic, affecting countries and societies alike, stressing that it was not linked to any specific religion or culture.
His comments came during a joint news conference on Wednesday in Riyadh with the Secretary-General of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (Etidal), Dr. Mansour Al-Shammari.
The UN official stressed that Saudi Arabia provided an important model for countering terrorism, underlining the continuous efforts backed by the Kingdom to achieve peace in both Syria and Iraq.
He added that the United Nations was looking forward to establishing justice and achieving a settlement that would end the suffering of the two countries, which have been severely affected by extremism for years.
Khan said that during his visit to Riyadh, he held a series of important meetings with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidency of State Security, the Islamic Alliance, the Etidal Center and the National Dialogue, in an effort to provide a future framework that would consolidate cooperation and joint efforts to confront the global terrorism threat.
Khan warned against the danger posed by video games, which he said could constitute a window to spread extremism and violence among the young generation.
The UN official visited on Wednesday the headquarters of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology (Etidal), where he discussed means to develop joint cooperation in preventing and combating terrorism and violent extremism.
He praised Etidal’s research work in the areas of combating terrorism, calling for developing cooperation with the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Center, and praising the Gether2 initiative launched by the center to raise awareness of people with hearing disabilities about the dangers of extremism.
