Leaders of the gulf states increased their information warfare operations against IS. In his first-ever interview as the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani defended his country against allegations of funding terrorism and pledged support to fight IS for the long haul. “We don’t fund extremists,” the emir told CNN during the United Nations General Assembly. “If you talk about certain movements, especially in Syria and Iraq, we all consider them terrorist movement. “I know that in America and some countries they look at some movements as terrorist movements. ... But there are differences. Some countries and some people [believe] that any group which comes from Islamic background are terrorists. And we don’t accept that.” Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, UAE vice president, prime minister and ruler of Dubai, released an op-ed to major newspapers around the world stating that an intellectual fight has to be fought against Islamic extremists. “We must acknowledge that we cannot extinguish the fires of fanaticism by force alone. The world must unite behind a holistic drive to discredit the ideology that gives extremists their power, and to restore hope and dignity to those whom they would recruit,” he wrote. Former Saudi Arabian ambassador to the US, Prince Turki al-Faisal, appearing on US television, stated that Saudi Arabia would commit ground troops in Syria to defeat the Islamic State and even remove President Bashar al-Assad. He told CBS that he hopes the airstrikes, which include Saudi planes, are the first step in ultimately removing Assad. “You can’t simply deal with ISIS and not deal with Assad,” Faisal said. “We do not consider ISIS to be Muslim because they brought more harm to Islam,” he added. Habiba I. Butt
Posted on: Sun, 05 Oct 2014 08:13:33 +0000
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