The Ministers of Culture and Information of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states yesterday agreed to implement measures to guarantee that Hezbollah is not promoted in the media in GCC countries. The agreement was made during their 24th meeting in Riyadh yesterday and comes days after GCC countries classified the Lebanese organisation as a terrorist one.

The Saudi Minister of Information and Culture Adel Al-Toraifi said at the meeting that such measures will apply to all forms of media- from social networking sites to television programmes. Al-Toraifi added that one of the ways of combating channels that broadcast division and sectarianism is to block them and prosecute those trying to promote dividing discourses. In his speech, Al-Toraifi also requested that the Gulf media work together in order to uncover the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, reveal who is behind it and deal firmly with Hezbollah’s media trumpets and everyone associated to it in the media.

In his speech at the meeting, the Bahraini Information Affairs Minister Ali bin Mohammed Al-Rumaihi stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation and partnership between all arms of the media in order to protect all dimensions of national security in accordance with a unified vision. Al-Rumaihi added that his country recognises the importance of strengthening media in the Gulf and endorsing joint programs and projects to promote the unified media message and its pivotal role in developing the citizens of the Gulf. He also called for the stage of cooperation to progress to the establishment of a strong and cohesive Gulf unification.

The Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf Dr Abdul Latif Al Zayani said that the meeting comes at a time when there are challenges at all levels and that these necessitate the development of media in the Gulf because its enemies are seeking to exploit the current circumstances to distort the facts and transmit lies, allegations and delusions.