When we recognize a very real threat like this, we cannot stand on the sidelines and watch. We must act, says Minister Nicholson.
March 5, 2015 - Amman, Jordan - Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
The Honourable Rob Nicholson, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Niagara Falls, Minister of Foreign Affairs, today concluded a visit to the United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Jordan during which he met with key allies and senior leaders to discuss efforts to counter the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and other bilateral, regional and security issues.
Minister Nicholson had constructive and wide-ranging discussions with His Highness Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates; Haider al-Abadi, Prime Minister of Iraq, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, Iraq’s Foreign Minister, and Salim al-Jabouri, Speaker of the Council of Representatives of Iraq; Masoud Barzani, President of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq; and Nasser Judeh, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs of Jordan.
As well as expressing concern over the escalation of armed conflict and the ensuing humanitarian crisis, Minister Nicholson noted that the scale and brutality of ISIL’s systematic targeting of vulnerable populations may also pose an existential threat to many religious and ethnic minority communities.
During his first international program as Minister of Foreign Affairs, Minister Nicholson toured the Great Synagogue in Paris, where he reiterated Canada’s call to confront the old hatred that is anti-Semitism in all its modern incarnations. While in the United Arab Emirates, the Minister visited the Ismaili Centre in Dubai to promote pluralism and tolerance in a region in which religious freedoms are deeply threatened by the radical ideological campaign of terrorism.
Johanna Quinney
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Foreign Affairs
343-203-1851
johanna.quinney@international.gc.ca
Media Relations Office
Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development Canada
343-203-7700
media@international.gc.ca
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