Terrorism a global issue, unrelated to specific religion, belief or group: Ambassador of Oman

Muscat: Oman has confirmed that terrorism is a global scourge that threatens the security and stability of countries.

A statement issued online by Oman News Agency (ONA), said: "Oman affirms that the terrorist acts that have been subjected to different regions of the world have shown that terrorism is a global phenomenon that is not linked to any religion or belief or to specific countries or people, but a global scourge that threatens the security and stability of countries and requires everyone to confront it and develop global solutions."

 In a speech delivered by the Permanent Representative of Oman to the United Nations, His Excellency Ambassador Dr. Mohammed bin Awad Al-Hassan, before the Second High-level Conference on Combating Terrorism in New York, the Sultanate called on the international community to deal in a spirit of collective responsibility, with one standard and one voice against terrorism.

Oman calls for changing the stereotyped image of terrorism, which was based on wrong templates, some of which are racist, which contributed to the spread of negative phenomena, no less dangerous, such as hatred of Islam (Islamophobia), hatred of Muslims and hatred of disciples of other religions and foreigners. It was stressed that religions are completely innocent of terrorism, and that terrorists only represent their extremist ideas, and that people should not be drawn to it which is promoted by some.

H.E. pointed out that ignorance, poverty, persecution, racism, hatred and foreign occupation are all factors that encourage extremism and terrorism. Therefore, spreading justice, development and community awareness is one of the ways of prevention and immunisation that the international community must support and finance through concrete cooperation programs.