RIYADH, December 9 (IslamOnline.net) – The relations between the youth and society and roots of extremism and violence are taking central stage at the fourth round of the Saudi national dialogue.

More than 62 young Saudis, both males and females, and 40 experts are taking part in the three-day forum, which will wrap up later Thursday, December 9.

The young Saudis participated in several workshops over the past two months to prepare for national dialogue forum.

Saudi authorities have been according increasing attention to the youth, estimated to make up 60 per cent of the kingdom’s population, following a series of deadly attacks.

Deputy chairman of the King Abdel Aziz Al-Saud Center for National Dialogue, Abdullah bin Omar Naseif, underlined the need to talk to the young people.

“We should set down and train them to respect the different arguments and viewpoints,” he told IslamOnline.net.

He expected the dialogue to be “positive, realistic and effective.”

Nasief urged young people to show willingness to engage in dialogue and be more realistic in addressing their aspirations.

“Only a small group of young people seek personal demands while others seek more public demands.”

Discussions will be focused on youth’s relations with the society and institutions, the main reasons for extremist trends among the young people, and education problems facing the Saudi youth.

The Western countries, especially the US, have been criticizing the Saudi educational system for allegedly fueling up extremism that led to the 9/11 attacks, in which 15 of the 19 presumed planes hijackers were Saudi.

Participants will also exchange notes on the raising rate of unemployment, seen by most observers as the main cause of extremism.

The Saudi authorities have taken a number of steps to address the economic and social problems encountering the youth, chiefly unemployment.

Although official figures put the unemployment rate at 9.6 peer cent in 2003, unofficial statistics estimate it between 10 and 35 per cent.

In a recent published research, professor Mohamed Al-Bakr established a clear link between unemployment and raising crime rates in the past ten years.

“Unemployment dissociate people from the official institutions and the prevailing social values,” he concluded.

Abu Bakr Bakadr, a Saudi intellectual, told IOL in June that the current situation in the kingdom requires more attention to youth-related issues, citing spiraling violence in the kingdom.

Saudi Arabia has been witnessing a spate of killings and kidnapping of foreigners in the kingdom, blamed on extremists.

There have been frequent shootouts in which both security men and militants have been killed or wounded.