Kuwait Talks to Counter Militants' Online Campaign
Kuwait will host international talks next week aimed at finding ways to undermine the slick online campaign attracting foreign fighters to the ranks of Islamic militants battling in Iraq and Syria.
"The conference will present an opportunity for an in-depth exchange of ideas for increasing cooperation among coalition partners," U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Thursday.
The U.S. delegation to Monday's talks is being led by Undersecretary of State for public affairs Rick Stengel, and special U.S. envoy, the retired general John Allen, will give an address.
They will join counterparts from Bahrain, Britain, Egypt, France, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
"I think every country coming will be asked to do more," Psaki said, as the U.S. leads efforts to build a coalition against the Islamic State (IS) group.
"Some have started to take steps. There are muftis in many of these countries who have spoken out. There are governments that have taken steps," she said.
"There are media outlets that have done a little bit. But this is a nascent effort and there’s a lot more that needs to happen to effectively communicate with the public in these countries."
Religious leaders and governments all have a role in trying to counter the militants' messages, stressing "that ISIL is not Islam," she said.
Western governments have been increasingly alarmed by the numbers of European and American fighters sneaking into Syria to fight with IS.
At the weekend three teenage girls from Colorado, of Sudanese and Somali origin, were caught heading for Turkey by German authorities at Frankfurt airport, CNN television said.
A law enforcement official told ABC News the girls were trying "to fulfill what they believe is some vision that has been put out on a slick media campaign" by radical groups in Syria.
Canadian police also said that a gunman who rampaged through the Canadian parliament in Ottawa was applying for a passport to travel to war-torn Syria.
