Zayed Center For Coordination And Follow-Up
The Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-Up was set up in 1999 as the think-tank of the Arab League. It was named after and principally funded by the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). His son, Sultan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the deputy prime-minister of the UAE, served as its chairman.
Based in Abu Dhabi, the center hosted lectures by notable personalities such as former U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter, former U.S. Vice-President Al Gore, former U.S. Secretary of State James Baker, and former French President Jacques Chirac. The think-tank, however, became embroiled in controversy when it became known that it also disseminated and provided a platform for anti-American, anti-Semitic, and extreme anti-Israel views. As a result of international outcry, Sheikh Zayed shut down the center in August 2003, saying that the think-tank "had engaged in a discourse that starkly contradicted the principles of interfaith tolerance."
Read more about Zayed Center For Coordination And Follow-Up: Controversy and Criticism
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