Bahrain participates in MESA Task Force meeting

Riyadh, Nov. 4 (BNA): The delegation of the Kingdom of Bahrain, led by Director of Americas and the Pacific Affairs, Shaikh Abdullah bin Ali Khalifa Al Khalifa participated in the meeting of the Middle East Strategic Alliance (MESA) Task Force on Counter-Terrorism, held in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The meeting discussed the counter-terrorism strategy, MESA plans for implementation and future steps and emphasized the importance of strengthening partnerships and multilateral cooperation in combating terrorism of all forms between the coalition member-states and other countries. Shaikh Abdullah stressed the importance of enhancing cooperation and collective action to combat terrorism and dry up its funding sources and affirmed the importance of unifying all the efforts and developing efficient mechanisms to enhance information exchange and border security. He said in order to rehabilitate members of the terrorist groups and combat extremist thought there are important rehabilitation and counter terrorism centers to benefit from, he said, citing the Mohammed bin Nayef Counseling and Care Center, the Global Center to Combat Extremist Thought (Etidal) and Sawab Center. He also affirmed the Kingdom of Bahrain's firm stance to combat terrorism and extremism of all forms and their funders and touched on the Kingdom's efforts as an active partner in this regard, pointing to the characteristic of the Bahraini society that respects different cultures and religions and rejects extremist ideas that often times lead to terrorism.