Leaders of the Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) believe that it might be the best hub to fight global terror.
IMCTC General Secretary Lt. Gen. Abdul Ilah bin Othman Al-Saleh revealed the nature of the work of the alliance, a platform that aims to open areas of cooperation between member states, taking into consideration integration with supporting states outside the alliance and the relevant organizations interested in fighting terrorism.
Al-Saleh said in a news conference he held on Saturday with retired Gen. Raheel Sharif, the coalition’s military commander, and Dr. Mohammed bin Abdul Karim Al-Issa, secretary-general of the Muslim World League, that the defense ministers of the IMCTC, in their first meeting in Riyadh, exchanged information and initiatives which will be presented soon, noting that there are institutional plans and strategies aimed at drying up the sources of terrorism and its finances.
Al-Saleh also stated that participation in the implementation of initiatives would be voluntary for IMCTC member states. He stressed that each plan would be subject to continuous monitoring, follow-up and evaluation to measure the extent of its success and the possibility of developing it to get better results.
Al-Saleh said that working with international organizations is considered to be the bedrock of the coalition. He said there is a project underway to be presented to the ministers, which would monitor open sources all over the world in search of extremist and hate rhetoric.
Al-Issa defined “terrorism” as an organized act which causes fear, concern and property destruction and is operated by organizations and groups with an ideological background. He also stressed that military confrontation is important but does not uproot terrorism because the more important strategy is the intellectual confrontation.