Ambassador visits London centre, offers condolences

London, June 23 (BNA): Bahrain’s Ambassador to the United Kingdom Shaikh Fawaz bin Mohammed Al Khalifa visited the Muslim Cultural Heritage Centre (Al Manar) in North Kensington, London, to offer his condolences over the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire. Shaikh Fawaz also wanted to gain insights into the efforts exerted by the centre to assist the families hit by the blaze that had ravaged the tower and left at least 79 people dead or missing, feared dead. The ambassador extended his condolences to the families and his wishes of speedy recovery for the injured, expressing praise for the centre for its humanitarian efforts to alleviate critical conditions. The centre’s distinguished endavours in such trying times are a vivid indication of the genuine Islamic values of compassion and humanitarian support, he said. The centre, set up in 2001 with support from the United Arab Emirates, says that its mission is “to inspire, empower and enable local Muslim peoples from all backgrounds, to reach their true and full potential and hence play an active, positive and participatory role in building stable, cohesive and successful communities at a spiritual, social, economic and cultural level.” The aims of the centre include providing the community in and around North Kensington with a focal point for a range of spiritual, social, cultural, economic, educational and training activities and enabling the community to develop a greater self-confidence through a sense of belonging, to affirm its cultural identity and plurality and to renew its zest for self-reliance; The centre also aims to help the community to be at one with itself in order to participate pro-actively in enhancing the vibrant, successful, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic community in North Kensington, to advance public knowledge and understanding of Islam and to reach out and act as a resource for the Muslim communities, voluntary and statutory agencies and the wider community as a whole.