Shoura OKs Abdullah center for dialogue

By MD RASOOLDEEN - ARAB NEWS - RIYADH: The Shoura Council approved a draft proposal on Monday to set up the King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz International Center for Interreligious and Intercultural Dialogue in Vienna.

The approval was given at the eighth regular session of the council chaired by Abdullah Al-Asheikh on Monday.

Shoura Council Secretary-General Muhammed Al-Ghamdi said the paper, which was presented by the council's committee on foreign affairs, was passed in the house with a majority of votes. The proposal contained 19 articles that outlined the aims, objectives and activities of the proposed center.

He said the house felt dialogue was the best way to resolve international issues through peaceful means. Proper understanding among all religious faiths could bring the people together for a common cause. Such a center will be a global platform for people to understand one another, he added. The Kingdom, he said, would promote this concept at all international and regional forums in the future.

He said the idea would be put forward by the Kingdom to the parliamentary heads of the G20 nations when they meet in Riyadh on Friday to discuss a range of regional and international issues within the framework of a parliamentary consultation process started by the G20 member nations in Canada in 2010.

The center will bring world religions under one roof and hopes to foster peace through dialogue. It is to be located at Schottenring in the heart of the Austrian capital and due to open its doors in mid-2012.

The center is an international legal entity, empowered to conclude agreements and take whatever decisions it sees important for carrying out its tasks and message.

The approved proposal defines the goals of the center, which include supporting dialogue between the followers of religions and cultures, to enhance dialogue, respect and cooperation between nations, to encourage peace, justice and reconciliation, and to counter justification for violence and conflicts under religious cover. It also defines the financing mechanism needed for running the center’s activities.

The council also agreed to expedite the preparation of a regulation enabling divorced women to retain their rights as well as their children’s as stipulated in Islamic law.

According to Al-Ghamdi, the council completed consideration of the additional recommendations made by the members on the annual report of the Ministry of Justice for the fiscal year 1430/1431H.

The house recommended more staff should be provided to facilitate the work of judges in courts. It was also suggested women should be given more opportunities to work in accordance with Islamic law.