Sheikh Hamdan Bin Al-nahayan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said Monday in Abu Dhabi that he would discuss with Chinese leaders the international and regional issues of common concern during his forthcoming visit to China.

In an interview with Xinhua, Hamdan, who will visit China from Tuesday to Wednesday, said anti-terrorim, the Iraqi issue, the Mideast conflict and other international and regional issues would top his agenda.

Hamdan said the two sides would assess their efforts already made in the cooperation in these fields and explore new ways for further cooperation.

He noted that his country and China have reached wide consensus on fight against terrorism.

Stressing that the UAE believes terrorism is indiscriminate as to nationality or religion, he said it is wrong to link terrorism to Islam.

He said Islam values tolerance and peace and the religion has nothing to do with the actions of a handful of aberrants.

The UAE had condemned terrorism of all forms before the Sept. 11 terror attacks and has called for dialogue between different religions to seek common ground while reserving differences, he said, adding that his country has provided the international community with all kinds of cooperation in fight terrorism.

Taking decisive actions are necessary to fight terrorism and it is also important to have dialogue among different civilizations, conduct cooperation among countries to take common actions, abide by international laws and let the United Nations play a key role, he said.

On the Iraqi issue, Hamdan said the UAE hopes the Iraqi people would unite and work together to realize national reconciliation, safeguard territorial integrity and national unity and restore security and stability as soon as possible.

The UAE also hopes that the Coalition Provisional Authority would hand over sovereignty to the Iraqi people as scheduled, he added.

Hamdan said the UAE would continue to provide humanitarian assistance to Iraq and play an active role in its reconstruction.

He said the UAE appreciated China's stand on the Iraqi issue.

On the Mideast conflict, Hamdan said that it is impossible for Israel to achieve security by resorting to cannons and assassinations and it instead should continue the political dialogue and coexist peacefully with Palestinians and guarantee the right of Palestinian refugees to return and the legitimate right of Palestinians to establish their own state.

Hamdan also expressed the hope that Asian countries, including China, would play a bigger role in the solution of the Mideast conflict.

Source: Xinhua