RIYADH, 28 September 2004 — Minister of Higher Education Dr. Khaled Al-Angari will inaugurate on Oct. 2 a four-day international forum on “Saudi Arabia’s image abroad”, it was announced here yesterday.

Dr. Ali Al-Garni, president of the Saudi Association for Media and Communication (SAMC), the organizer of the forum, said the forum is part of the Kingdom’s drive to reach out to the West to clarify misconceptions on various issues, including those about Islam and Saudi Arabia’s role in the context of Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Dr. Hamza Baitul Maal, head of the association’s research committee, and Dr. Abdullah Al-Hamoud, head of the media committee and dean of the College of Mass Communications at Imam Muhammed ibn Saud Islamic University, were also present.

More than 60 delegates will participate in the forum which will be held at the King Faisal Hall. The participants will be from the Arab countries and also from the West, including the US, Britain, Canada and Australia as well as from Japan and South Korea.

Addressing a press conference, Dr. Al-Garni said SAMC has been actively engaged in its campaign against the distorted image of Islam projected by its critics. It also puts across the Kingdom’s point of view on the 9/11 events and what followed thereafter.

So far the association had sent out over 10 million messages to various websites, search engines and millions of e-mail addresses. He said in undertaking such a massive campaign, the association was playing its role as “part of the solution and not as part of the problem.”

Besides the association’s own website, it was also providing links to the website of the Saudi embassy in Washington and other useful sites. It was not an interactive website but only a provider of information in relation to the frequently asked questions. However, another committee of the association was in charge of responding to queries.