More than 200 prominent personalities from 54 countries have agreed to take part in the international interfaith conference, to be opened by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah in Madrid on Wednesday.

Abdullah Al-Turki, secretary-general of the Muslim World League (MWL), the main organizer, said the conference would not discuss controversial religious and political issues. “It will focus on common human values,” he said.

Al-Turki said King Abdullah had called for the conference in order to solve the problems facing humanity, such as the destruction of the family system, the disappearance of moral values and conflicts between nations.

A preparatory conference held in Makkah last month ahead of the Madrid meeting was attended by 800 experts from different parts of the Islamic world.

“We have received confirmation of attendance from 43 individuals from the United States alone,” an official statement issued by the MWL said.

Shoura Council President Saleh Bin-Humaid said the conference was called at the right time as the world is replete with conflicts. “Dialogue is the best way to reach an amicable settlement, and the world is badly in need for such forums to avert wars and conflicts that obstruct progress and harmony,” he said.

Bin-Humaid urged the participants to work for positive results that would serve the humanity at large.

“The whole world is eagerly looking forward to the conference’s outcome and proposals,” he said while praising King Abdullah for taking the initiative to hold the interfaith dialogue.

The participants from the US include Muzammil Siddiqui, former president of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA); Nihad Awad, director general of Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR); John Esposito, director of the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding; and William Baker, president of Christians and Muslims for Peace.

Other confirmed participants are: Jean-Louis Pierre Tauran, president of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican; Federico Mayor Zaragoza, president of Cultural Foundation for Peace in Spain; Thomas Lemmen, president of the Christian-Islamic Relations Center in Germany; Francis Lamand, president of the Organization of Islam and the West in France; Zhang Jiyu, vice president of the China Taoism Association; and M. M. Verma, director of Interfaith Foundation in India.

Buddhists in Japan will be represented by Nichiko Niwano, president of the International Buddhist Congregation, while Protestant Christians in Egypt by Safwat Nageeb El-Biady, president of the Protestant Churches Center.

Prominent personalities from Islamic countries include Saleh Bin-Humaid, Abdullah Omar Naseef, secretary-general of the World Islamic Council for Dawa and Relief; Muhammad Tantawi, head of Al-Azhar in Egypt; Abdul Rahman Suwar Dahab, president of Islamic Dawa Organization in Sudan; and Mohammad Basyuni, minister of religious affairs in Indonesia.

Rahmatullah Ahmed, director of studies and conferences at the MWL, said King Abdullah had called for the conference in order to bring about a new era of dialogue among leaders of different religions and to stop bloodshed, hatred, injustice and extremism.

“The MWL believes that dialogue is the best way to promote understanding between nations and exchange views on various matters,” Ahmed said.

During the conference, the MWL will emphasize the importance of religion in society. The pan-Islamic body said it will also confront the perception of an imminent clash of civilizations.