Cairo  - Arab information ministers on Thursday urged Arab media organizations to back Arab causes, and discussed media's role to promote progress in the region at the Arab Information Ministers Council conference.

They called on media outlets to support and stress Jerusalem's Arab identity in preparation for celebrating it as the "Capital of Arab Culture 2009".

Both Israel and the Palestinians lay claim to Jerusalem as their capital.

Participants have also called on media organizations to support Syria in its fight to regain the Golan Heights, the strategic plateau that Israel seized in the 1967 war and annexed in 1981.

Combating terrorism was also on their agenda, as they stressed media's role in fighting terrorism by carefully choosing what they present to their audience so as not to taint the Arab's image.

At the headquarters of the Cairo-based Arab League, Egyptian Minister of Information Anas al-Fiqqi, head of this year's conference, stressed the importance of establishing an Arab mechanism regulating satellite TV and radio transmission in the Arab world.

He proposed establishing an multi-lingual Arab satellite channel to change the image of Arabs throughout the world. (Dpa)