‘We need to promote moderate Islam’, says Mohammed bin Salman

Arabian Business. Tue 06 Mar 2018 10:09 AM

The United Kingdom and other countries around the world will be safer if they work with Saudi Arabia to combat extremism, said Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud.

In an interview with the Telegraph newspaper ahead of his visit to the UK on Wednesday, the crown prince said that he believes that Saudi Arabia can play a significant role in defeating Islamist extremism by promoting a more moderate vision of Islam in the kingdom.

“The British and Saudi people, along with the rest of the world, will be much safer if you have a strong relationship with Saudi Arabia,” he said. “The extremists and the terrorists are linked through spreading their propaganda. We need to work together to promote moderate Islam.”

Prince Mohammed added that economic growth in Saudi Arabia will help promote stability throughout the region.

“We want to fight terrorism, and we want to fight extremism because we need to build stability in the Middle East,” he noted. “We want economic growth that will help the region to develop.

“Because of our dominant position, Saudi Arabia is the key to the economic success of the region,” he added.

Additionally, Prince Mohammed lauded the relationship between Saudi Arabia and the UK, which he characterised as “super”.

“The relationship between Saudi Arabia and Britain is historic and goes back to the foundation of the kingdom,” he said. “We have a common interest that goes back to the earliest days of the relationship.

“Britain is very supportive of our concerns regarding Iran and other regional security issues,” he added. “It is always trying to help us and fix things when there are issues.”