NNA - The 17th meeting of the Secretaries of the Arab commissions of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) kicked off Monday at Sheraton Four Points Hotel in Verdun, under the patronage of caretaker Minister of Culture, Gaby Layyoun.



Representatives of Jordan, UAE, Tunisia, Djibouti, KSA, Sudan, Somali, Iraq, Oman, Palestine, Egypt, Kuwait, Morocco, Mauretania, and Yemen partook in the event.



In a word delivered on the occasion, Layyoun shone light on the ethnical and sectarian conflicts currently taking place in the name of democracy, freedom, and human rights.



He said the old theory of colonization was coming back under the guise of different mottos and labels, only to stamp out the national and nationalist identity of peoples.



He hence voiced fear over the Arabic language, which he deemed as a key component of the Arab identity.



"The vanishing of this language and replacing it with a globalized one would leave nothing of our cultural expression," he stressed.


==========R.A.H.