JEDDAH: Mansour Al-Shammari, the secretary-general of the Global Center for Combating Extremist Ideology, also known as Etidal, welcomed a delegation led by Olivier Cadic, the French senator and president of the France-Gulf States Friendship Group, to the center’s headquarters in Riyadh on Monday.

Al-Shammari began the meeting by welcoming his guests and commending the role played by France in supporting international stability. He also highlighted the continued cooperation between Etidal and the France in efforts to counter extremist ideology.

Cadic, who is on an official visit to the Kingdom, and his delegation were briefed about the center’s strategies, its monitoring and analysis mechanisms, the technologies it employs, and the models it has developed to dismantle extremist discourse.

Cadic congratulated Etidal for the work it is doing, saying: “I was impressed by the vision on understanding and combating extremism using objective means such as artificial intelligence, which is a very reassuring medium.

“In this regard, my work within the France-Gulf States Friendship Group and with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia will focus on finding a connection through which we can seek to build a bridge of cooperation, particularly in this area, given that we share the same objective, which consists of having a world where people can live, a modern world of moderation.

“This is what you are trying to build and what we are also trying to build. We have the same objectives and I am certain that we will join forces thanks to you.”