Commentary: Political settlement, development key to restoring stability, wiping out terrorism in Mideast

When addressing the Arab League in Cairo on Thursday, visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping offered a comprehensive Chinese vision on restoring stability and uprooting terrorism in the region and beyond.

In his initiative, Xi highlighted respect for sovereignty and national realities, inclusive dialogue in settling differences, rejection of interventionism and double standards in handling regional disputes and economic development in wiping out breeding ground for terrorism.

Conflicts and terrorism have wreaked havoc in the Middle East and caused immeasurable sufferings to people in the region. Furthermore, terrorist activities have spilled over to a growing number of countries.

Xi's initiative pointed to the root causes of chronic crises in the region while offering a fair, just as well as feasible approach to haul it out of the quagmire.

Pointing out the use of force offers no solution to problems and there will be no winner out of a conflict, Xi stressed development and dialogue are integral parts of the peacemaking process in the region.

Xi also voiced opposition to imposing a solution from the outside, backing the Arab countries to solve their problems on their own.

In fact, interventionism by some Western countries and their double- standard practices in handling regional disputes have proved to be a nonviable option, which have widely been blamed for bringing the region nothing but stirring long-running social disturbances, factional conflicts, bloody sectarian clashes, unprecedented refugee flows and rampant terrorism.

In addition, global campaign to contain terror on the military front in the region has also turned out to be ineffective as the three major anti-terror camps led respectively by the United States and its European allies, Russia and Saudi Arabia are fighting isolated battles out of self-centered calculations.

Although better coordination and a united front can help raise the effectiveness of military campaign against terror activities, social and economic issues, mainly poverty, and high rates of unemployment in the Arab region have continued to spawn breeding ground for terrorism.

To clean up the soils where the seeds of terrorism sprouted, priority should be shifted to revitalizing economy in the war-torn countries of the region.

Just as President Xi put it, turmoil in the Middle East stemmed from the lack of development, and the ultimate solution would depend on development.

Xi's view is echoed by Mahmoud Allam, former Egyptian ambassador to China. The diplomat said that many of the deep-rooted problems the Arab world is grappling with have resulted from failures to achieve a successful development model, stressing that development is no doubt the most viable path of mobilizing people toward achieving their common interests and overcoming disagreements.

As President Xi said, only when young people are able to live a fulfilled life with dignity can hope prevail in their heart, and only then will they voluntarily reject violence, extremist ideologies and terrorism. Endi