Zayed center officially closed
United Arab Emirates-Regional, Politics, 8/28/2003

The United Arab Emirates UAE announced officially yesterday the closure of the Arab League associated center named "Sheikh Zayed center for co-ordination and follow up " which takes Abu Dhabi as a headquarters "for reasons of taking part in a dialogue that clearly contradicts the principles of tolerance among religions," according to a statement issued by the office of the UAE President Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan al-Nahyan.

The statement added that when Sheikh Zayed know that " a dialogue as a such" in the center took place, "instructions were issued to close the center immediately," adding that Sheikh Zayed continues to support the policy of open dialogue and cultural exchange.

The UAE has been financing the activities of the center since its foundation in 1999. UAE officials announced recently that the UAE intends to close the center because of American accusations addressed to it on hosting writers and politicians who made "anti-Semitic" statements. It was evident that the center which used to organize weekly lectures and meetings stopped its activities since the end of July.

On April 15, an official in the center said that, the latter has been exposed to a "campaign for Middle East research institute and the Jewish institutions in the world, because of hosting figures they consider as anti Semitic." The official stressed that the center received for example a message from the said research institute "criticizing the center's hosting, especially Dr. Omeima al-Jalaheima, professor of the Islamic studies at King Faisal University in Riyadh (Saudi Arabia)."

She ( al- Jalaheima) delivered a lecture on April 9th on "the status of the Jewish woman in Israel." The official added that she was exposed to criticism over an article she had published in a Saudi daily and was accused of anti Semitism.

Previous Stories:
  Arab League: accusations against Zayed Center are groundless   (8/19/2003)
  Zayed Center publishes New Study   (7/22/2003)
  US protests; Saudi Arabia fires writer for article on Jews   (3/22/2002)

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