"We are required to intensify efforts with the world to combat terrorism being waged by terrorist organizations," Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad Al-Sabah told attendees at a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

"We need to take a serious stand against sectarian tensions plaguing and dividing our nations... It is the most serious (threat) against the very existence of Muslim countries," the Kuwaiti emir said.

Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia are among countries attending the conference, which is expected to see the 57-member OIC approve an "effective strategy to combat terrorism, violent extremism and Islamophobia," the organization said.

The strategy, expected to be approved later Wednesday, will focus on Islamic world responses to the root causes of "terrorism", including poverty, underdevelopment, unresolved conflicts and sectarianism, the OIC said in a statement.

Sunni powerhouse Saudi Arabia was itself the scene of a suicide bombing by Sunni extremists against a Shiite mosque that killed 21 people during Friday prayers last week.