New York, May 23, 2020, SPA -- Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Nations, Ambassador Abdullah bin Yahya Al-Muallami, stressed the need to protect human rights, especially in the circumstances the world is currently going through due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, expressing his concern about the growing phenomenon of Islamophobia and the escalation of hate speech against Muslims in some regions of the world, and stressing the need to address practices of discrimination and racism against Muslims and the persecution they face for unreasonable and unacceptable reasons. This came in a speech during the recently held virtual meeting of the ambassadors of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in New York. The ambassador praised the Kingdom’s stances in promoting a culture of dialogue among followers of religions, and rejecting all manifestations of violence, saying that the Kingdom supports the positions of Islamic countries within the framework of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation to reject discrimination and racism practiced against Muslims in some countries of the world, and that their human rights must be safeguarded. The meeting was attended by the head of the Special Political Issues Committee, and the head of the International Organizations Department of the Kingdom’s delegation, First Secretary Faisal bin Nasser Al-Haqbani. --SPA 03:02 LOCAL TIME 00:02 GMT 0033 www.spa.gov.sa/w1335964