ABHA: Deputizing for Education Minister Ahmad Al-Isa, King Khalid University rector Dr. Faleh bin Ra’allah Al-Sulami opened the Second International Conference on Media and Terrorism, Methods and Strategies, in Abha.

The conference was attended by the Vienna-based King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue (KAICIID) Secretary-General Faisal bin Abdulrahman bin Mo’ammar, and Bisha University Director Ahmad bin Hamid Naqadi.

Al-Sulami said King Khalid University was honored to organize the conference which is part of its contribution to serving national issues through academic work. “We all know that media sources witness great development and increased activities, and universities play an important role in employing the media in a manner that aims to serve national issues,” he said.

“We hope that specialized departments in universities will deal with modern issues and activate the role of the media in protecting the youth from deviant thoughts and destructive attitudes,” he added.

“It is time for these specialized departments to prepare experts who are capable of bearing the responsibility, especially since terrorism has become an international phenomenon with terrorists surfing many sites on the internet.

“The world has, through the media, become a global village and universities should exert greater efforts to study the phenomenon and make that study an integral part of their duty to serving the community,” said Al-Sulami.

Al-Sulami confirmed that the world suffered, and is still suffering from, terrorism, with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia being no exception.

“But thanks to our wise government, under the leadership of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman, the Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Prince Mohammed bin Naif, and Deputy Crown Prince, Second Deputy to the Minister of Interior and Minister of Defense Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and the unity of all children of the nation, as well as the sacrifice of the police in various security and military sectors, the Kingdom has been able to overcome the phenomenon, and to become a role model for many countries around the world in standing up to terrorism.”

The Dean of the Humanities Department and deputy chairman of the organizing committee, Dr. Yahya Al-Sharif, said the subject of the conference touched on an international issue that had occupied the world for a long time.

Terrorism has cost the lives of many innocent people and terrorized civilians in addition to harming the image of Islam and its core values. The problem starts with intellectual practices and ends with violence that causes destruction to nations, communities and individuals.

The general supervisor of the media center and Afaq newspaper, and chairman of the scientific committee, Dr. Ali Shweil Al-Qarni, said that members of the scientific committee worked as a team for more than a year in order to work out the scientific details of this international conference. They began with deciding upon goals and aims, and ended with making an agenda for the sessions of the conference.

“We received more than 1,200 applications to participate in the conference, and were forced to reduce them gradually until we accepted 80 research papers. Today we have more than 100 individuals, ranging from speakers and participants from inside and outside the Kingdom. We are happy with the external participation which includes more than 30 nationalities from Europe, Canada, the United States, Africa and the Arab world.”