Bahrain participates in MESA task force meeting

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, Saudi Arabia.

The meeting discussed the counter-terrorism strategy, MESA plans for implementation and future steps and emphasised the importance of strengthening partnerships and multilateral co-operation in combating terrorism of all forms between the coalition member-states and other countries.

Shaikh Abdullah stressed the importance of enhancing co-operation 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 centres to benefit from, he said, citing the Mohammed bin Nayef Counselling and Care Centre, the Global Centre to Combat Extremist Thought (Etidal) and Sawab Centre.

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.