Sheikh Abdullah bin Bayyah, President of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies, has hailed UAE and its leadership's unrelenting efforts to spread peace across the globe.

Speaking to reporters following the opening of the fourth conference of the Forum for Promoting Peace in Muslim Societies this morning in Abu Dhabi, Sheikh bin Bayyah said: "The UAE is an abode of peace that seeks to spread the message of tolerance to the whole world."

He said the conference brought together a galaxy of scholars and intellectuals to relay the message of peace and tolerance from the UAE to the entire world and to map out an approach to eliminate extremism.

He noted that the forum is concerned with promoting peace within Muslim societies, albeit, Muslims' relations with other communities come at the core of its mandate.

"The Forum seeks to lay the foundation for world peace, believing that religious scholars have a vital role to play in promoting peace."

For his part, Dr. Mohammed Matar Al Kaabi, Chairman of the General Authority of Islamic Affairs and Endowments, told reporters that the UAE adopts an approach that promotes moderation, love, tolerance, peace and respect for other beliefs.

Speaking at the conference today, he added that this moderate approach is coupled with an active role in combating terrorism and confronting sectarian groups that commit crimes and sow seeds of sedition in the name of Islam.

"Our leadership has adopted a prudent vision to dispel Islamophobia and pinpoint the quintessential concepts of tolerance and moderation inherent in the Islamic Sharia by spreading the true teachings of our moderate religion through our mosques, religious centres, school curricula, and religious Fatwas (opinions) issued by the country's Official Fatwa Centre."

The UAE has always been quick and efficient in its response to those plagued by Islamophobia, he said, citing on this score the fact that there are more than 200 nationalities living in the country in peaceful co-existence and religious diversity, with all of them collaborating together to achieve the common interest of the homeland and the higher good of its people