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QNA
Dushanbe
The fight against terrorism and extremism was and will remain a top priority for Qatar despite the unjust blockade imposed on the country, said Special Envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for Combating Terrorism and Mediation in Conflict Resolution HE Dr Mutlaq bin Majed al Qahtani.
Qahtani made the remarks at the high-level International Conference on Countering Terrorism and Preventing Violent Extremism, organised by Tajikistan and Qatar in cooperation with the United Nations, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the European Union, which concluded in Dushanbe on Saturday.
He reiterated Qatar's commitment to cooperate with all countries, international and regional organisations and with various United Nations bodies to combat terrorism and violent extremism.
He added that the financial, technical and logistical contributions made by Qatar in this regard bear testimony to its conviction of combating terrorism and its financing and preventing violent extremism in all its forms.
The conference was attended by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sirodjidin Aslov.
Qahtani reminded the participants that member states of the United Nations adopted in September 2006 a global counter-terrorism strategy as a unique global instrument for strengthening national, regional and international efforts to combat terrorism.
He noted that since the adoption of the United Nations strategy, Qatar has been keen to fully implement this strategy by addressing conditions conducive to the spread of terrorism such as human rights violations, discrimination based on ethnicity, national and religious affiliation, political exclusion, social and economic marginalisation, lack of good governance and unemployment.
The envoy reminded the participants that Qatar is under an unjust blockade that violates all values, international law, and international and humanitarian norms and obligations.
The envoy, however, highlighted how the blockade could not prevent Qatar from playing its active role in maintaining regional and international peace and security and combating terrorism and extremism in all its forms.
He stressed that terrorism and extremism are one of the most serious challenges facing the international community today, requiring cooperation of all regional and international efforts to address this phenomenon.
On the sidelines of the conference, Qahtani bilateral meetings with a number of officials.
He met with President of Tajikistan Dr Emomali Rahmon, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tajikistan Sirodjidin Aslov, Deputy Foreign Minister of Afghanistan Hekmat Khalil Karzai, Under-Secretary-General of the newly created United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office Vladimir Ivanovich Voronkov and United Nations Secretary-General's Special Representative for Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto.
