'If you don't have extremism you will not have terrorism': UAE businessman

The Chairman of the Hedayah board, Dr Ali Rashid Al Nuaimi has asserted that if there is no extremism there will be no terrorism.

"We felt earlier that threat of terrorism is not only to us as a nation, but also to the world, to all nations, to the international community and in the beginning, we developed a strategy that terrorism is a threat to all human beings and we as a nation, should be responsible towards this," Nuaimi told ANI.

He said the UAE is willing to be a part of any international effort to counter terrorism. "From our experience and research, we found that you can't counter terrorism unless you go to the root of terrorism which is extremism," he added.

 

Nuaimi said his country does not allow extremists to spread their ideas and counters such things immediately as the UAE wants to maintain peace, harmony and stability.

He added that the administration does not hesitate to take action against extremists.

"We have been fighting terrorism for last 15 years and we know that we were targeted as a country but we are fortunate to have a very strong security system," he said.

Nuaimi said they have a unified community to counter and fight terrorism.

He said terrorists have always failed whenever they have tried to target the UAE.

He said it is important to understand the terror groups in order to counter them.

Nuaimi believed that what had happened in Kandahar in Afghanistan would make them more committed to continue what they are doing.

He said children who are being recruited by terror groups need to be convinced and brought to the right path.

He added that the organisation was working in schools and madarsas as children might be radicalized there.

Nuaimi said that there main role is to promote peace and encourage dialogue between different terror groups and the religious leaders.

"We try to stay away from politics as politicians have their own agenda and it is different from our agenda," he said.

Nuaimi said that it is very hard to protect a country unless they have a firm strategy, a leadership which is willing to take hard decisions and act immediately.

He said that UAE was not not a democratic country according the western criteria but they feel that they enjoy a system that western people don't enjoy.

He said that they trust their leader and cited an example that his highness Sheikh Mohammad never said something which he has not done for them.

"There is believe and trust in this leadership that whatever he will say he will do," Nuaimi said.

He said may be UAE is the only Arab country to sent its troops to fight Al- Qaeda in Afghanistan.

"When ISIS evolve d we were the first to engage in countering and fighting them in Syria and other countries," he said.

Nuaimi asserted that his country engages in action in fighting against terrorism.

He said a symposium on role of education on countering the terrorism was organised by them which ended in having Abu Dhabi memorandum in education which is related to protection of education system from extremism and it was also the part recommendations adopted by the UN.

On killing of five UAE diplomats in Afghanistan, he said that all of them were engaged in building hospitals, schools and social service center there.

Nuaimi said Afghan people knew them very well for their humanitarian cause.

He suggested for international community to come hand in hand and fight terrorist groups.

He also emphasized on the need to get involve all religious leaders in countering the ideology which is creating such terror groups.