Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday vowed to "chase terrorism until it disappears" at the launch of a military coalition of 41 countries aimed at fighting extremism.
Addressing defence ministers from the Muslim-majority nations, including the UAE, Prince Mohammed condemned the attack on an Egyptian mosque at the weekend which killed more than 300 people.
He said the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition aimed to fight terrorism both in its “ideology and in its violence".
“Today, we will chase it until terrorism has disappeared from the face of the earth,” Prince Salman, who is also the Saudi defence minister, told the meeting in Riyadh. “We haven’t had good co-ordination between each other, today that lack of communication ends because of this coalition.”
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Prince Mohammed said terrorism and extremism were not only the region’s biggest dangers because of the “killing of innocent people and rampant dissemination of hatred”, but because of the way they had “sullied the reputation of our religion and our ideology”.
“That’s why we won’t allow it to go further than today,” he said.
The coalition's new website said its main purpose “is to increase co-operation between Islamic countries on the combatting the financing of terrorism and to counter radical Islamic ideology”.
The countries involved, which span from West Africa to East Asia, will create a military coalition that will require co-operation of troops across the countries and joint financing. Several observers have referred to the coalition is an "Islamic Nato".
The website also provides information on what the coalition’s military commander, General Raheel Sharif, said are the “four key domains of ideology, communications, counter-terrorism financing and military, in order to fight all forms of terrorism and extremism”.
The countries involved in the coalition are among the worst effected by terror attacks and extremist insurgencies globally. Seven of the ten countries suffering from the most terrorist deaths each year are members of the coalition.
General Sharif, a retired former chief of army staff in Pakistan appointed to lead the coalition earlier this year, said there should be a global reaction against terrorism that is willing to eradicate it from the region.
He said that 70 per cent of terrorist attacks have happened in the Islamic world, making the coalition an important source of countering the attacks within their own countries.
According to the Institute for Economics and Peace, Afghanistan, Nigeria, Syria, Pakistan and Iraq accounted for three quarters of all deaths from terrorism in 2016. Both Syria and Iraq, the two countries who experienced the heaviest ISIL insurgency, are not part of the coalition.
According to the Global Terrorism Index, deaths from terrorism decreased by 13 per cent globally with most countries reporting a reduction in terrorist-related fatalities. Iraq, however, witnessed a 40 per cent increase in deaths in 2016 following the battle between the Iraqi Armed Forces and ISIL.
Qatar, which signed up to the coalition in December 2015, did not attend the meeting. The country has since been boycotted by Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries overs its links to extremist groups.
Mohammed Al Bawardi, UAE Minister of State for Defence Affairs, said the ideological battle against terrorism will be further enforced through cooperation.
“Our countries are able to fight together, worthy that we command the drive in all earnest so that we can guarantee a future for generations to come,” Mr Al Bawardi said.
“We must fight it ideologically, such that we can spread the concept of tolerance, peace and the acceptance of others, and a religious outlook that welcomes all, and one that fights terrorism and extremism.”
Egypt and Turkey, both members of the coalition, saw the largest increase in terrorism with Cairo reporting a nine-fold increase in terrorist attacks in the country.
The conference comes just days after what was believed to be the deadliest attack in Egypt, when a bomb exploded in a mosque in north Sinai killing 305 people.
"The attack in Sinai will not deter us, it will drive us forward as we look to fight terrorism, and I thank all who have supported us during this time," Major General Tawhid Tawfiq, head of the Egyptian delegation to the coalition said.
The meeting looks to conclude with proposals and a mechanism in place to help all the countries involved improve their counter-terrorism capacity.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
How to get there
Emirates (www.emirates.com) flies directly to Hanoi, Vietnam, with fares starting from around Dh2,725 return, while Etihad (www.etihad.com) fares cost about Dh2,213 return with a stop. Chuong is 25 kilometres south of Hanoi.
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Various Artists
Habibi Funk: An Eclectic Selection Of Music From The Arab World (Habibi Funk)
The%20specs
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Emiratisation at work
Emiratisation was introduced in the UAE more than 10 years ago
It aims to boost the number of citizens in the workforce particularly in the private sector.
Growing the number of Emiratis in the workplace will help the UAE reduce dependence on overseas workers
The Cabinet in December last year, approved a national fund for Emirati jobseekers and guaranteed citizens working in the private sector a comparable pension
President Sheikh Khalifa has described Emiratisation as “a true measure for success”.
During the UAE’s 48th National Day, Sheikh Khalifa named education, entrepreneurship, Emiratisation and space travel among cornerstones of national development
More than 80 per cent of Emiratis work in the federal or local government as per 2017 statistics
The Emiratisation programme includes the creation of 20,000 new jobs for UAE citizens
UAE citizens will be given priority in managerial positions in the government sphere
The purpose is to raise the contribution of UAE nationals in the job market and create a diverse workforce of citizens
500 People from Gaza enter France
115 Special programme for artists
25 Evacuation of injured and sick
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
Brief scoreline:
Liverpool 2
Mane 51', Salah 53'
Chelsea 0
Man of the Match: Mohamed Salah (Liverpool)
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
What are the main cyber security threats?
Cyber crime - This includes fraud, impersonation, scams and deepfake technology, tactics that are increasingly targeting infrastructure and exploiting human vulnerabilities.
Cyber terrorism - Social media platforms are used to spread radical ideologies, misinformation and disinformation, often with the aim of disrupting critical infrastructure such as power grids.
Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
