Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy represents Muslim Filipinos to US-Islamic World Forum in Qatar
text HADER GLANG

CONVENOR of the Philippine Council for Islam and Democracy (PCID) and former presidential adviser on youth affairs Amina Rasul will represent the Muslim Filipinos to the four-day US-Islamic World Forum, which formally kicks off on Friday, February 17, in the host country Doha, Qatar.

Ms. Rasul, also columnist of the Manila Times, will speak at this global forum that will be participated by dignitaries and journalists from the United States, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Britain, France, Malaysia, Egypt, India, Palestine, Indonesia, Sudan, Syria, Pakistan, Jordan, Nigeria, Azerbaitan, Lebanon, Turkey, and the Organization of Islamic Conference.

Main topics for the four-day global forum includes the State of US-Muslim world relations and the Middle East five years after the 9-11 attacks, security relationship, women leading change, concerns of Muslim minority communities, potential space for Muslim minority communities to assist more positive relations between the US and the wider Muslim world and bridging the divide: Muslim minority leaders.

The Next Generation: Youth and the Future of U.S.-Islamic Relations; the media effect: the US-Islamic world journalism, including biases by media, and journalists role to help bridge the chasm of misunderstanding between the U.S. and the Muslim world as well as developed in partnership with the international youth foundation, and policy, faith, and change in an age of globalization are the other topics in the forum.

The speakers at this forum are Peter W. Singer, Director, Project on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World, Saban Center at Brookings, US; Mohammed Abdullah Mutib Al Rumaihi, Assistant Foreign Minister for Follow Up Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Qatar; Shibley Telhami, Professor, University of Maryland;

Senior Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, United States; David Brooks, Columnist, The New York Times, US; Daniel Yankelovich, Chairman, Public Agenda; Viewpoint Learning, Inc., US; Khalil Shikaki, Director, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research;

Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Qatar; Martin Indyk, Director, Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, US; Syed Hamid Albar, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malaysia; Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Prime Minister, Turkey;

Karen Hughes, Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, US; Abdel Ilah Khatib, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jordan; Stephen Cohen, Senior Fellow, The Brookings Institution, US; Mohamed Jawhar Hassan, Chairman and CEO, Institute of Strategic and International Studies, Malaysia;

Hassan Al Ansari, Director, Gulf Center of Strategic Studies, Qatar; Max Boot, Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; Columnist, Los Angeles Times, US; Edward Djerejian, Director, James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, US; Asad Durrani, Former Director-General, Inter-Services Intelligence;

Robert Kagan, Senior Associate, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Columnist, Washington Post, US; Rami Khouri, Editor, The Daily Star, Jordan; Carlos Pascual, Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy Studies, The Brookings Institution, US; L. Michael Hager, President Education for Employment Foundation, US;

M. Shafik Gabr, Chairman, Arab Business Council; Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Artoc Group for Investment & Development, Egypt; Awais Sufi, Director of Business Development, International Youth Foundation, US; Saleha Abedin, Vice-Dean of Academic Affairs, Dar Al-Hekma College, Saudi Arabia;

Ali Babacan, Minister of State for the Economy, Turkey Soumia Belaidi Malinbaum, CEO, Specimen, Algeria/FranceRifat Hisarciklioglu, President, The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges, Turkey; Musa Hitam, Chairman, Kumpulan Guthrie; Former Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia; Mohammed Ibrahim, Chairman, Celtel, Sudan;

Samer Salty, Partner, ZOUK Ventures, United Kingdom; Saad Eddin Ibrahim, Chairman, Ibn Khaldun Center for Development Studies, Egypt; Shibley Telhami, Professor, University of Maryland; Senior Fellow, Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, US;

Gamal Al-Banna, Fawziyya and Gamal El-Banna Foundation for Islamic Culture and Information, Egypt; Sadig al-Mahdi, President, National Umma Party; Former Prime Minister of Sudan; Khurshid Ahmad, Chairman, Insititute of Policy Studies, Pakistan; Hossam Badrawi, Former Chairman, People's Assembly Education, Scientific Research Committee, Egypt;

Elizabeth Cheney, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs and Coordinator for Broader Middle East and North Africa Initiatives, United States; Steven Cook, Douglas Dillon Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, US; Marwan Muasher, Former Deputy Prime Minister, Jordan;

Jillian Schwedler, Assistant Professor, University of Maryland; Chair, Middle East Research and Information Project, United States; Robin Wright, Diplomatic Correspondent, The Washington Post; Visiting Fellow, Saban Center at Brookings, United States; Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan’s People Party, Former Prime Minister of Pakistan;

Joan Spero, President, Doris Duke Foundation, United States; Surin Pitsuwan, Former Foreign Minister of Thailand; Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Masjid al-Farah; ASMA Society, US; Muqtedar Khan, Professor, University of Delaware; Non Resident Fellow, Saban Center at Brookings, US; Hady Amr, Co-President, Arab Western Summit of Skills, US;

Salam al-Marayati, National Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council, United States; MJ Akbar, Editor, The Asian Age, India; Hakim El Ghissassi, Founder and Director, Sezame; La M�dina, France; Iqbal Sacranie, Secretary General, Muslim Council of Britain, United Kingdom; Zafar Siddiqi, CEO, CNBC Arabiya, UAE;

Margaret Warner, Senior Correspondent, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, on PBS, United States; David Aaron, Director, RAND Center for Middle East Public Policy, US; Faisal al Kasim, Host, Al Jazeera, Qatar; Bambang Harymurti, Editor, Tempo, Indonesia; Rami Khouri, Editor, The Daily Star, Jordan;

Eric Larson, Senior Policy Analyst, RAND, US; Carol Saivetz, Research Associate, Davis Center at Harvard University, United States; Mohd Annuar Zaini, Chairman, Bernama, Malaysia; George Atkinson, Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State, US; Mohammed Ibrahim, Chairman, Celtel International, Sudan;

Michael D'Arcy, Lecturer, King's College, United Kingdom; Salman Ahmed, Junoon, Pakistan; Jane Alexander, Actress and former Director of the National Endowment for the Arts, US; Cynthia Schneider, Professor in the Practice of Diplomacy, Georgetown University, US; Bader ben Hirsi, Film Director-Felix Films, Yemen Nusrat Durrani, Senior Vice President, MTV Global;

Nasser D. Khalili, Founder, The Khalili Collections; Chairman, The Maimonides Foundation, United KingdomJoan Spero, President, Doris Duke Foundation, US; Amy Tan, Novelist, US; Muna Wassef, Actress and UN Goodwill Ambassador, Syria; Akbar Ahmed, Ibn Khaldun Professor, American University; Visiting Fellow, Saban Center at Brookings, US;

Akram Durrani, Chief Minister, Northwest Frontier Province, Pakistan; Chris Seiple, President, Institute for Global Engagement, US; H.R.H. Prince El Hassan bin Talal, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Peter W. Singer, Director, Project on U.S. Policy Towards the Islamic World, Saban Center at Brookings, US;

Muhammadu Buhari, All Nigeria People’s Party, Former Head of State of Nigeria; and Elmar Mammadayarov, Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, Secretary General, The Organization of the Islamic Conferences.

Washington-based Brookings Institution and the State of Qatar jointly sponsor the Forum, which seeks to serve as both a convening body and a catalyst for positive action.

The first meeting of the Forum was in January 2004 where over 165 leaders from the U.S. and 37 states in the Muslim world convened for three days of discussion and debate.

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Sheikh Hamad delivered the keynote addresses. The 2005 Forum sought to build upon these foundations, bringing together 160 leaders from the U.S. and thirty-five Muslim countries, from Senegal to Indonesia. (ZS)