MWL Asserts Role of Shared Values in Promoting Communication Among Civilizations

Muslim World League Secretary-General Mohammed al-Issa during a lecture (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Muslim World League Secretary-General Mohammed al-Issa during a lecture (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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MWL Asserts Role of Shared Values in Promoting Communication Among Civilizations

Muslim World League Secretary-General Mohammed al-Issa during a lecture (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Muslim World League Secretary-General Mohammed al-Issa during a lecture (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Muslim World League Secretary-General Mohammed al-Issa arrived in London to chair the Conference of Leaders of Muslims European Communities in the presence of more than 300 religious leaders and jurists.

Issa attended several diplomatic meetings during his visit, holding talks with several British officials and executive bodies.

The British Parliament held a reception for the Secretary-General in Westminster Palace, hosted by the Chairman of the Parliament's Environment Committee, Stephen Thames.

During his meetings, Issa asserted the vital role of shared values in promoting communication and cooperation among civilizations in facing their confrontational theories.

He addressed the role of religious leaders in urging their followers to show communication, dialogue, and positive openness to the other to reach the required level of understanding and achieve the great goal of attaining peace and harmony among communities.

The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office also hosted Issa at its headquarters, where he delivered a lecture in the presence of several political and diplomatic leaders, students of the Diplomatic Academy of the British Foreign Office, and a group of young European influencers hosted by the UK Foreign Office to participate in the discussions that followed the lecture.

He also lectured at the Defense Academy with elite military leaders from the British army and international forces.

The meetings of the Sec-Gen addressed the "Religions for Our Planet" initiative, which presents qualitative mechanisms and an unconventional Islamic vision to raise the level of international awareness about environmental protection and the confrontation of climate change.

Issa reiterated the importance of the faith motive, the role of religious values in strengthening man's relationship with his surroundings, and his sense of the importance of protecting the planet in which humanity shares life and the necessity of preserving its resources.

During his speech, Issa cited the "Middle East Green Initiative" and the "Saudi Green Initiative" related to reducing carbon emissions, which Saudi Arabia launched to designate the region's approach to protecting the earth and nature and confronting climate change.

The lectures also reviewed the most important methods of intellectual confrontation of the roots of extremist ideology, stressing the importance of integrating roles to confront extremist forces, militarily and intellectually, and activating the part of the family and educational, media, and dialogue platforms.

It also emphasized the pivotal role of the efforts of Muslim scholars and Imams in this confrontation.



Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Taiwan’s Representative to Saudi Arabia: 260,000 Pagers Exported in Two Years

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Taiwan is investigating who is responsible for modifying the pagers that were turned into explosives in the hands of the Lebanese people, including members of Hezbollah.

Taiwan’s representative to Saudi Arabia Samee Chang told Asharq Al-Awsat that 260,000 pagers were exported from his country between 2022 and 2024, and 16 percent of them were sent to the United States and Europe.

He expressed his regret that the pagers were planted with explosives that were used in the attack in Lebanon last month, clarifying that the devices were not directly exported from Taiwan to Lebanon.

He explained that the components of the device are made of material that is not liable to explode.

Apollo Gold, the Taiwanese company that exported the pagers between 2022 and 2024, has never received any complaints that its devices have caused harm or exploded.

The attack in Lebanon has raised several questions and they are being probed by authorities in Taiwan, he went on to say.

One thing is for certain, the devices were not harmful in the shape they were exported from the country, stressed Chang.

Asked about whether the attack may harm Taiwan’s economy, he replied that his country’s industry sector has a strong reputation that will be difficult to undermine given the trust it has from clients.

The size of the sector and Taiwan’s investments cannot be measured by a small number of pagers, as they only make up a mere fraction in the country’s trade relations with countries all over the world, he stressed.

Separately, Chang revealed that Taiwan was considering cooperation with Saudi Arabia in the chip industry, saying he was optimistic over the broad potential for cooperation in the technology sector.

There are no limits to the cooperation between them, he added.

Taiwan constantly wants to maintain the relations and discuss opportunities for joint investments, he stated.

Taiwan was among the first countries to leap to cooperate with Saudi Arabia in all fields to help the Kingdom achieve its Vision 2030 that is spearheaded by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, Chang said.