Trump, Saudi King inaugurate global centre against extremism

Riyadh, May 22 (IANS) The US President and the King of Saudi Arabia on Sunday inaugurated a new Global Centre for Combating Extremist Ideology, based in the Saudi capital Riyadh, aiming to fight radical ideology, especially on the internet.

The centre will monitor the information exchanged on the internet, especially through social networks, and try to promote moderation and curb hate speech, Efe reported on Monday.

Donald Trump and King Salman bin Abdulaziz, along with other leaders such as Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, visited the modern establishment, where dozens of experts monitor digital communications, as shown by Saudi state television.

The television chain said that it is the world's first centre of its kind.

The US and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) also signed on Sunday a memorandum to create another centre to combat the financing of terrorism.

Its objectives include identifying, tracking and sharing information about terrorist financing networks, according to a statement from the US Treasury Department.

US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said: "This new Terrorist Financing Targeting Centre will enhance existing tools and cooperation with partners in the Gulf to forcefully address evolving threats."

"Treasury will offer the vast expertise of our Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence to this creative new effort."

According to the memorandum, the centre is dedicated to cut funding for terrorist groups such as the Islamic State (IS), Al Qaeda, the Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah, the Pakistani Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Afghan Taliban and its Haqqani network, among other groups.