Media should defend Arab causes, counter campaigns

Manama, June 12 (BNA): His Royal Highness Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa has called for adopting "creative" initiatives to foster the spirit of initiative in the Arab media and strengthen the ability of the Arab media discourse to defend Arab issues, and respond to fallacy and smear campaigns staged by some world media outlets against several Arab countries. HRH Premier made the statements while receiving at the Gudaibiya Palace today a number of senior state officials, as well as intellectual and cultural personalities. HRH the Prime Minister asserted that the Arab region is going through extraordinary circumstances that require the relevant organisations and entities to assume a greater role in unifying Arab stances and enhancing Arab solidarity and cooperation in order to be able to counter policies that target the region’s security and stability. In this context, HRH Premier praised the "crucial and pivotal" role played by the national media and press which, he said, have adopted a unified approach and robust patriotic stances towards everything related to the country, whether domestic or external. He voiced pride in the Bahrain journalists’ accurate and in-depth anlyses of the world developments, and their impacts on national security and development, which, he asserted, reflects their maturity, awareness and strong sense of responsibility. Tackling regional and global issues, HRH Premier lauded the key role played by sisterly Saudi Arabia in serving the entire humanity, citing its widely-appraised stances at the humanitarian and developmental levels. The Prime Minister also hailed the efforts exerted by Saudi Arabia to serve pilgrims, citing the development projects and the regulatory procedures it has launched to ensure the safety and security of worshippers.