News Analysis |
In a bid to shed the image of Saudi state harboring extremists, Minister of Saudi Foreign Affairs Adel al-Jubeir said that Saudi Arabia has fired thousands of extremist imams on charges of spreading extremism.
He made this statement to Russian journalists while he was accompanying Saudi King Salman bin Abdul-Aziz on his official trip to Moscow.
Al-Jubeir also said that “We will not let anyone spread the ideology of hatred, to finance that kind of ideology or terrorism”.
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He also mentioned that Saudi Arabia owing to its strict approach is revolutionizing its educational system to mitigate the risks of misinterpretation of religious texts.
Minister concluded his stance with Saudi Arabia’s earnest desire to collaborate with Moscow in every way possible to fight against terrorism.
Minister also stressed that strict policy should be followed by countries against terrorism. “Other countries too should adopt the policies of saying no to stop the spread and propagation of hatred and extremist narratives in their countries.”
Minister concluded his stance with Saudi Arabia’s earnest desire to collaborate with Moscow in every way possible to fight terrorism.
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Minister, however, did not mention the exact numbers but according to one report by the US State Department, Ministry of Religious Affairs fired around 3500 extremist Imams since 2013.
The official statement made at this time to publicise Saudi efforts against terrorism is perhaps beneficial for the Saudi Arabia which is venturing on its revolutionary project of ‘Vision 2030’.
The statement made by the Minister at this moment would help Saudi Arabia to neutralize the negative perception against the Kingdom since this unfriendly projection may cast an undesirable impact on the progress of the various economic projects.
The success of Vision 2030 largely depends upon the international support since one of the endeavors pursued in the economic diversification plan is to open the gates for the international tourist and investors in the real estate of Saudi Arabia.
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Hence the state needs immense international support for the successful transformations planned under the diversity program. The statement made by the Minister at this moment would help Saudi Arabia to neutralize the negative perception against the Kingdom since this unfriendly projection may cast an undesirable impact on the progress of the various economic projects.
The country is making cautious attempts at various avenues to rebrand itself as a progressive state. Reducing the gender disparity; uplift of the ban on female driving and legitimizing female clerics to issue fatwas are such bold steps that have been taken to steer towards reducing its oil-dependency.