Al-Arabiya TV debate
Posted Monday, 06 December, 18:12
By Alexander Nicoll, Director of Editorial
When the Al-Arabiya debate is shown on the network’s Arabic news channel in a week or so, look out for a lively discussion. Top of the agenda in the panel discussion, held at the IISS Manama Dialogue, were the problems of Yemen, the need to combat al-Qaeda and the recent Wikileaks disclosures of American diplomatic traffic. Prince Turki al Faisal bin Abdulaziz al Saud, chairman of the board of the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, called strongly for a centre to coordinate international action against al-Qaeda. Asked why there had not been sufficient coordination, he said he didn’t know. But the centre was an absolute necessity. Liam Fox, UK Secretary of State for defence, agreed that governments needed to work together, but said it was very difficult to do. In a globalised world, problems of security and economic wellbeing were inextricably linked. Dr Abu Bakr al Qirbi, Yemen’s foreign minister, said Yemen wanted to shed its perceived status as a ‘failed state’ and that people who spoke of it as such should visit the country and understand it before doing so.
Edit: Perspectives from the Manama Dialogue' will air on Al Arabiya this Thursday at 08:05pm GMT.
