The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, Dr Yousef Al-Othaimeen, has said that the OIC has been working to issue a document that calls on the media in Islamic countries to confront extremism. “We have been drafting a document that urges media outlets in Islamic countries to confront extremist policies,” he told Asharq Al-Awsat in an interview published Friday. “It’s time” for the adoption of such a text, Othaimeen said in response to a question. He said the OIC has backed a resolution proposed by Saudi Arabia on the role of the media in combating terrorism. The organization is now working in partnership with member countries and its affiliated media outlets to implement its decisions, Othaimeen added. He urged all countries to criminalize and condemn any media outlet that promotes terrorism, and persons who use social media to back terror. The resolution calls on the media and intellectuals to shed light on terrorism being a social and not a religious phenomenon, he told Asharq Al-Awsat. On other measures taken to confront terrorism caused by extremist ideologies, he stressed that extremism can only be wiped out through the intensification of a “thoughtful confrontation.” The annihilation of extremist thinking can succeed through the spread of moderate thoughts, he said. “Some Islamic countries, mainly Saudi Arabia have excelled in that regard,” he told his interviewer. Riyadh has established several centers, including Etidal, to confront extremist thought, he said. The OIC will soon announce additional steps to combat such a phenomenon, Othaimeen added. The General Secretariat of the OIC has been established for the purpose of uniting Islamic countries against different challenges and crises through a series of mechanisms that have been amended over time to keep up with developments, he told Asharq Al-Awsat when asked how the Islamic world could stand against the worlds current dangers. On the campaign launched by the so-called political Islam against Riyadh, he said Saudi Arabia is a strong and influential country in the region and the world. The OIC believes in the steps taken by the Kingdom to confront the false information spread about it, Othaimeen added.