ABU DHABI // The UAE promised the world it would build a centre for countering violent extremism last September, and by October this year they will have it.
Faris Al Mazroui, the Assistant Foreign Minister for Security and Military Affairs, said the building for the International Centre of Excellence on Countering Violent Extremism (CVE) is already completed. All that remains to be done is to reach an international agreement about the staffing and administration of the centre.
The idea for the CVE was first floated a few days ahead of the launch of the Global Counterterrorism Forum (GCTF) in New York last year.
The GCTF, a group of nations brought together by the US Department of State to act in solidarity to prevent extremist violence, announced from the outset its interest in creating a multilateral training and research centre.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, told the conference that the UAE was happy to host such a centre.
In a recent speech, Daniel Benjamin of the US Department of State's office for counterterrorism, thanked the UAE for taking on the role. "Sheikh Abdullah has been a leader in global efforts to counter violent extremism," said Mr Benjamin. "The UAE government has developed creative and targeted programmes to address vulnerable populations in countries and regions such as Afghanistan, Yemen and Somalia."
"Establishing an international venue in Abu Dhabi ... is another demonstration of the UAE's leadership," he said.
Yesterday and today, the nations making up the GCTF met at Jumeirah Etihad Towers in Abu Dhabi to discuss the logistics of how the centre would operate. The GCTF is made up of about 30 members, including the European Union and United Nations.
"The CVE's administration and budget will be discussed and set by members of the GCTF steering committee," said Mr Al Mazroui.
He said the centre would have three main objectives. "It will conduct discussions and initiate cooperation between member states on issues of violent extremism, it will research and offer studies on the subject and it will train experts and stake holders as well as offer members capacity building to counter the threat," he said.
What the CVE would not be is a place for intelligence gathering or militaristic responses.
"We are not a security centre; we are a research and study centre," said Mr Al Mazroui.
The Turkish government will be co-chairing the coordinating committee alongside the US during the first few months.
Ambassador Reha Keskintepe, the director of Research and Security Affairs at the Turkish foreign ministry, explained: "The centre will study the realities behind fanatic terrorism, what leads to it and how to counter fanaticism.
"The centre is also oriented towards capacity-building in countries that provide a fertile breeding ground for extremist violence."
The extremism under consideration, Mr Al Mazroui added, was not solely related to religion. "Violent extremism is ideological, not religious," he said. "We are not talking about Islamic, Christian or Jewish extremism but we are studying the roots all kinds of violent extremism.
"This centre is dedicated to study the platforms it grows on and develop methods to counter it so we do not have issues like what happened in Oslo last July or the Sarin gas attack in Japan in 1995," he said.
Christian Lungarotti, the deputy head of the Italian Mission to the UAE, said knowledge sharing would be the key element of success for the centre. "It is a remarkable initiative," he said. "And the idea of sharing knowledge and efforts on such a topic is very important.
The GCTF conference continues today as diplomats create the final working plan CVE.
amustafa@thenational.ae
Company profile
Date started: January, 2014
Founders: Mike Dawson, Varuna Singh, and Benita Rowe
Based: Dubai
Sector: Education technology
Size: Five employees
Investment: $100,000 from the ExpoLive Innovation Grant programme in 2018 and an initial $30,000 pre-seed investment from the Turn8 Accelerator in 2014. Most of the projects are government funded.
Partners/incubators: Turn8 Accelerator; In5 Innovation Centre; Expo Live Innovation Impact Grant Programme; Dubai Future Accelerators; FHI 360; VSO and Consult and Coach for a Cause (C3)
EMIRATES'S%20REVISED%20A350%20DEPLOYMENT%20SCHEDULE
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EEdinburgh%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%204%20%3Cem%3E(unchanged)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBahrain%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2015)%3C%2Fem%3E%3B%20second%20daily%20service%20from%20January%201%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EKuwait%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20November%2015%20%3Cem%3E(from%20September%2016)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMumbai%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EAhmedabad%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20October%2027)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EColombo%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20January%202%20%3Cem%3E(from%20January%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EMuscat%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%3Cem%3E%20%3C%2Fem%3EMarch%201%3Cem%3E%20(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ELyon%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBologna%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20March%201%20%3Cem%3E(from%20December%201)%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cem%3ESource%3A%20Emirates%3C%2Fem%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
Director: Laxman Utekar
Cast: Vicky Kaushal, Akshaye Khanna, Diana Penty, Vineet Kumar Singh, Rashmika Mandanna
Rating: 1/5
If you go
The flights
Emirates and Etihad fly direct to Nairobi, with fares starting from Dh1,695. The resort can be reached from Nairobi via a 35-minute flight from Wilson Airport or Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or by road, which takes at least three hours.
The rooms
Rooms at Fairmont Mount Kenya range from Dh1,870 per night for a deluxe room to Dh11,000 per night for the William Holden Cottage.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
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UAE cricketers abroad
Sid Jhurani is not the first cricketer from the UAE to go to the UK to try his luck.
Rameez Shahzad Played alongside Ben Stokes and Liam Plunkett in Durham while he was studying there. He also played club cricket as an overseas professional, but his time in the UK stunted his UAE career. The batsman went a decade without playing for the national team.
Yodhin Punja The seam bowler was named in the UAE’s extended World Cup squad in 2015 despite being just 15 at the time. He made his senior UAE debut aged 16, and subsequently took up a scholarship at Claremont High School in the south of England.