The high-ranking official was speaking to KUNA and Kuwait Television Tuesday evening following a meeting that brought His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
The Kuwaiti Amir is here to participate in of the UN General Assembly’s high-level meeting on Culture and Dialogue between Religions and Cultures.
Sheikh Mohammad added that the visit derives further importance from coming at a time when the world was tackling an economic crisis of grave dimensions, adding that this was an opportunity to achieve conciliation between people of the world and reach a solution "instead of cursing darkness." He said the high-level meeting aimed at standing up to all those who claimed that clashes between civilizations were inevitable and that it was not possible for people of different faiths to co-exist.
This is also an opportunity for us as Muslims to prove our ability to engage in dialogue and highlight the greatness of Islam as the religion of peace, he said.
Moreover, the Kuwait foreign minister said this meeting was a chance to discuss just Arab causes, primarily the Palestinian crisis, and to explain that the conflict was not a religious one as some tried to portray it, but a political clash arising from the occupation of a nation.
"All we demand is the implementation of UN resolutions pertaining to the withdrawal of Israel and the establishment of a Palestinian state," he said.
As for the meeting between His Highness the Amir and the UN secretary general, he said that they discussed the UN’s role in bringing people together, adding that the Kuwaiti leader briefed Ban on the role that his country played in alleviating some of the suffering of the impoverished countries of the Muslim and developing worlds.
Ban was also briefed on His Highness Sheikh Sabah’s initiative for establishing the "decent living fund" for assisting Muslim countries in facing food shortage and price hikes.
Moreover, he said the two sides discussed the UN’s role in the Middle East peace process and the outcomes of the recent Quartet meeting in Sharm El-Sheikh, stressing that the conditions under which the Palestinian people lived "are not acceptable for anyone, and should not be accepted by any order seeking to instill stability in the most important place on earth – the Middle East, and specifically Jerusalem." Sheikh Mohammad said the two officials also spoke of the UN’s role in the Arabian Gulf region and selecting Kuwait as the UN operations’ center, noting that the "UN House" would be inaugurated in Kuwait early next year.
Furthermore, His Highness Sheikh Sabah and Ban discussed the importance of the upcoming Arab Economic Summit that Kuwait will host in January of next year, adding that Ban expressed his personal interest and that of the UN in this gathering.
They also discussed measures being taken to tackle the global economic situation and the role of such international institutions at the International Monetary Bank and the World Bank in such affairs.
Ban expressed his appreciation and great pride in the role that Kuwait was playing in alleviating the suffering of people around the world, while welcoming the invitations extended to him to attend the Arab Economic Summit on January 19-20 and the inauguration of the UN House, which he said he would try to respond to.
