Ben Ali: Arab and Moslems' image abused after 9/11

Arabs and Moslems' image was affected a lot by misunderstanding their civilization and culture, resulting in behavior and stances that hurt their feelings, Tunisian President Zine al-Abidin Ben Ali underscored Monday.

President Ben Ali called upon all influential circles in the world to contribute in enhancing the international institutions and activating their role in order to exert more efforts in dealing with tension reasons and decreasing aspects of poverty and diseases across the world as well as filling up the gap among all nations.

The Tunisian President was speaking in the opening session of the "International Symposium on Civilizations and Human Cultures" in the Tunisian capital titled "From Dialogue to Alliance" and organized by The Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESECO) in cooperation with the Tunisian government.

For his part, General Director of the ISESCO Abdulaziz al-Tweijari expressed sorrow over provoking Moslems' feelings throw cartoons that insulted the Prophet Mohammed in Danish and Norwegian newspapers.

"Such acts contradict all civilization values" Twijari said, underlining that such behaviors require gearing efforts to spread values of tolerance.

The symposium was attended by Syrian Minister of Culture Mahmoud al-Sayed, Malaysian ex-Premier Mahatir Mohammed and Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa.