JEDDAH/NEW YORK: World leaders have started arriving in New York for the landmark UN General Assembly meeting on the Culture of Peace, which will emphasize the need to respect all cultures and reject the exploitation of religious faiths to kill innocent people.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, who initiated the interfaith dialogue by organizing a major conference in July in the Spanish capital Madrid, will address the UN meeting tomorrow. According to one UN source, about 50 world leaders and heads of state have confirmed their participation in the meeting.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will hold a news conference today in order to highlight the significance of the Culture of Peace Conference in strengthening cooperation between member countries, ending disputes and promoting the peaceful coexistence of nations. “The New York Declaration will commend Saudi Arabia’s initiative in holding the conference. It will reject the use of religious faith to justify the killing of innocent people and emphasize the need to respect various religious faiths and cultures and their leaders,” one source said.
The participants are expected to call for promoting a culture of tolerance and mutual understanding through dialogue. They will also support the proposals of religious leaders, civil societies and UN member countries to deepen a culture of dialogue among different faiths.
King Abdullah, who was the first world leader to arrive in New York for the conference, yesterday met Kuwaiti Emir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Sabah and discussed major regional and global developments as well as the agenda of the UN peace and interfaith conference.
US President George W. Bush, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, Lebanese President Michel Suleiman, Israeli President Shimon Peres, King Abdallah of Jordan, Philippine President Gloria Arroyo, UAE President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan and Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary-general of the 57-member Organization of the Islamic Conference, are expected at the conference.
Saleh Bin-Humaid, president of the Shoura Council, yesterday praised the Saudi king for taking the initiative to promote interfaith dialogue at global level. “This reflects King Abdullah’s desire to achieve world peace and stability and spread Islamic culture that calls for dialogue, tolerance and respect for other cultures,” he said during an address to a regular Shoura meeting in Riyadh.
Saudi officials highlighted the importance of the UN conference and said it would promote peaceful coexistence and condemn extremism. “This hits at the extremists, who we say are wrong in terms of Islam,” said Mohammed Al-Zulfa, a member of the Shoura. He described King Abdullah as an advocate of interfaith dialogue. “Our king has a good vision of world peace.” Al-Zulfa said Islam was the first religion to call for dialogue.
Pakistan announced yesterday that President Asif Ali Zardari would attend the conference. “Pakistan fully supports the initiative of King Abdullah for interfaith and intercultural dialogue to promote peace, understanding, and tolerance among human beings as well as respect for all their diverse religious, cultural and linguistic identities,” said the Foreign Office in Islamabad.
