Hammond notes gains against DAESH – Amir receives UK’s Foreign Secretary

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KUWAIT CITY, May 30, (KUNA): The visiting UK Foreign Secretary Philp Hammond said Monday that the global coalition against the socalled Islamic State (IS) has been effective in countering the terrorist group on the actual ground and within social media.

Speaking on the efforts to counter IS, Hammond told KUNA at press conference in Kuwait that the Coalition’s Strategic Communication Working Group has been “successful in doing two things: firstly, challenging DAESH (IS) in its way of using the media itself. Secondly, countering its narrative with its own media messages.” The UK Minister said that “One of DAESH’s defining features in its early phases is its’ incredibly skilled use of social media and modern communications channels.” The group’s efforts were effective because IS has lost its media dominance and it has lost fighters and ground control, Hammond added.

On Syria, the UK minister stressed that the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad will never be part of the solution to the Syrian ongoing crisis. The only solution Al-Assad could offer was to “resign from his post.” On his visit to Kuwait, Hammond said that it will entail enhancing bilateral ties on all domains, hoping that the new “successful” electronic UK visa waiver would increase the flow of Kuwaitis to UK. Hammond said that “11,000 to 13,000 Kuwaitis have traveled to the UK since the new visa waiver launched in February with no failure to the system.”

Philip Hammond is on a tour to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Doha, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman to discuss a wide range of regional and international issues, including the vital role that the Gulf countries have in countering IS.

The situations in Syria, Iraq, and Libya will also be on the agenda of Hammond’s visits. Earlier, His Highness the Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received at Bayan Palace Philip Hammond and the accompanying delegation. The audience was attended by His Highness the Crown Prince Sheikh Nawaf Al- Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Sabah Khaled Alhamad Al-Sabah, as well as Deputy Minister of the Amiri Diwan Affairs Ali Jarrah Al- Sabah.

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