The 6th International Forum "Public Dialogue: Russia and the Arab World" started in the conference hall of the Moscow Cathedral Mosque.

The Forum organized by the Russia Muftis Council and the Public Forum of Arab Culture in cooperation with the Embassy of the Lebanese Republic in the Russian Federation is supposed to represent a new stage in the line of high-level meetings held over the last years in Lebanon, Syria, twice in Egypt, and in Russia in 2016.

The Forum is attended by representatives of academic, cultural, expert communities and non-governmental public organizations of the Russian Federation and Arab countries.

The 6th International Forum "Public Dialogue: Russia and the Arab World" is meant to declare the commitment of the forum participants to the expansion of comprehensive humanitarian cooperation and productive interfaith dialogue; to establish good relations between different peoples and religious communities; to encourage cultural exchange; to allow the representatives of the Russian and Arab communities to form an active life position based on mutual respect and justice.

The speakers expressed confidence that the achievement of these goals would help intensify and improve cooperation aimed at developing more flexible and effective forms and methods for fighting xenophobia, radicalism and terrorism.

The forum was visited by the Ambassadors Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of several Arab countries.

The event participants include:
•    Ahmed Abdulrahman Al-Saati - Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Bahrain to Russia
•    Assia El-Zahar - Chief Secretary of the Public Forum of Arab Culture
•    Atalla Nizar Hanna - Bishop of the Jerusalem Orthodox Church
•    Malik Abdul Karim Shaar - Mufti of Tripoli and Northern Lebanon
•    Priest Dimitry Safonov - Secretary of the Department of External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate for Interreligious Relations, Executive Secretary of the Interfaith Council of Russia
•    Youssef Mohammed Ahmed Taha Zeidan - Egyptian writer and poet
•    Said Kemilev - director of the Institute of Islamic civilization
•    Wedad Boushmaui - chairman of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Trade and Crafts, the Nobel Peace Prize winner (Confessional pluralism)
•    Marianna Belenkaya- columnist of the Kommersant publishing house
•    Michel Abi Abdallah - Lebanese public figure and lawyer
•    Abdullah Ahmed Abdullah Ali Al Makabi – advisor of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs and Awqaf of Bahrain
•    Sami Kleib - Lebanese journalist and author of several books and monographs on political processes in the Middle East
•    Grigoriy Lukyanov - expert of the Russian Council on Foreign Affairs
•    Hussein Aziz Shaaban - general Director of the Information Center for International and Humanitarian Law in Beirut
•    Vladimir Isaev – PhD in economic sciences, professor, chairman of the methodical council of the Economic Department, Professor of the department of International Economic Relations at the Institute of African and Asian studies of the Lomonosov State University
•    Representative of RT Arabic
•    Vasily Kuznetsov - Head of the Center for Arab and Islamic Studies of the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies
•    Representative ofthe Moscow State Pedagogical University
•    Youssef Mohammad Ahmed Taha Zeidan - Egyptian Writer and Poet
•    Representative of the RAS Institute of Oriental Studies
•    Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation