The UAE is committed to the fight against extremism and terrorism in light of the country’s tolerant culture, openness and compassion for others, Dr Anwar Gargash has said.
The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs called for eliminating financial resources of terrorists, and preventing them from controlling territory and imposing their extremist programmes.
"This also requires a consistent focus on strengthening and in some cases, rebuilding states in the region and promoting effective, inclusive governance, so we can prevent external powers from fuelling extremism and sectarianism inside those states," he said, speaking at a symposium on tackling extremism online at the George Washington University in Washington, DC.
"To win this battle of ideas, we need to recognise the complexity of the problem and that the nature of the battle varies significantly between different communities, countries and regions," he said.
"We must use the full range of tools at our disposal and take on the prevalence of extremist ideas that provide the fertile ground for radicalisation and terrorism."
Dr Gargash, an alumnus of the university, also warned about ISIL’s online capabilities of radicalising young people.
He said there was a need to study extremists with the aim of understanding of their ideology, and to tailor messages that resonate among young people to protect them from those ideologies.

Source: The National