RIYADH, April 25 (KUNA) -- The Saudi-led Islamic Military Counter Terrorism Coalition (IMCTC) has announced that thirteen member states have sent permanent delegates to commence operations at the IMCTC HQ in Riyadh.
"We look forward to working together with all the appointed delegates to achieve the aspirations of their Highnesses and Excellencies the IMCTC's Member Countries Ministers of Defense as well as IMCTC's overall objectives and goals," IMCTC Secretary-General Major General Mohammad bin Saeed Al-Moghedi said.
"Today we have 13 member countries physically present in IMCTC and we are expecting that number to double by end of this year." The countries that sent delegates to IMCTC premises include Bahrain, Bangladesh, Comoros Islands, Jordan, Lebanon, Mali, Niger, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, United Arab Emirates and Yemen, the IMCTC said in a press statement Thursday. It noted that the IMCTC Center's mission is to establish strategic partnerships between member countries, supporting nations and international organizations to build capacity, exchange global best practice and to share counter terrorism information and expertise.
Member countries delegates will be coordinating all efforts to develop initiatives that they can then start implementing across the four IMCTC domains; ideology, communications, counter terrorism financing, and military.
"I am confident that the delegates will do an exceptional job working together in this Coalition which is unique in its nature, principles and strategic goals. They are defending not just the Islamic Nation, but humanity as a whole against the dangers of terrorism and extremism," added Maj. Gen. Al-Moghedi.
Meanwhile, IMCTC Military Commander Gen. Raheel Sharif emphasized that the vision of IMCTC is to have a collective response against terrorism that is capable of coordinating and leading the efforts of member countries with high efficiency and effectiveness.
"I am positive that the collective energies of the delegates and their continuous collaboration will result in the development of highly effective initiatives that will support all our efforts in the fight against terrorism," he said.
IMCTC is a Pan-Islamic coalition of 41 countries, including Kuwait, that came together to coordinate and multiply their individual efforts in the global fight against terrorism and violent extremism and to effectively join other international security and peacekeeping efforts. (end) mdm.ibi