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Central role

Dec 03,2017 - Last updated at Dec 03,2017

The Aqaba Meetings to bolster the regional and international efforts to fight terrorism and radicalism is a living testimony to the central role of Jordan in these campaigns. 

World leaders, including presidents of several African nations, high-ranking officials from Asia, Europe, the US and Canada also attend the high-profile conference to cement the existing cooperation and coordination between like-minded countries to combat radicalism, extremism and terrorism in all their forms and build on them additional mechanisms. 

In essence, the meetings are part of His Majesty King Abdullah's initiative, who also met on the sidelines of the two-day Aqaba gathering with President of Nigeria Mohammadu Buhari, President of Niger Mohamadou Issoufou, President of Guinea Alpha Conde and President of Mali Ibrahim Boubacar Keita. The focus is understandably on Africa, where the ongoing global campaign against visible and invisible radicalisation is less concerted. 

The King also met with US Secretary of Defence Jim Mattis and other high-ranking defence officials from the UK, France, Italy and Brazil. The King has long maintained that in order to defeat terrorism and extremism, the effort must be global, transnational and comprehensive.  

In other words, it must be multifaceted and multidimensional. It is never enough to deal a deathblow to Daesh elements in Syria and Iraq militarily as their threats are deeper and trans-border. 

The world must remain vigilant and united and invest heavily in the security and stability of countries that bear the brunt of the war against these evils. Jordan cannot over emphasise more its own contributions to the regional and international struggles against terrorism and radicalism despite its meagre resources and the high price it bears for support for about one-and-a-half million Syrian refugees, something Jordan has proudly but stoically  undertaken on behalf of the international  community. 

By maintaining its profile as a bastion of moderation and coexistence, Jordan has demonstrated that its model can be an example for other countries facing the dangers of terrorism and extremism to follow. 

There is every hope that the Aqaba process will continue the determination to uproot radicalism and extremism in a holistic manner in order to bear lasting fruit and prevent their spread to other parts of the world. 

 

The stakes are high and the rewards of a successful global war on these evils can be also high once the international community understands better the nature and scope of the dangers it is facing.

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