OIC summit to seek moderate Islam image
Dec 5, 2005 (MECCA, Saudi Arabia) — Leaders of the 57-nation Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) meet later this week in Saudi Arabia to restore a moderate image of Islam, harmed by terror attacks carried out by extremists.
The aim of the two-day summit starting on Wednesday “is to restore the image of Islam, harmed by terrorist attacks carried out in the name of this righteous religion,” Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal said Sunday.
Two documents reinforcing Islam’s moderate image will be submitted to the summit to be held in the Muslim holy city of Mecca, said OIC spokesman Atta al-Mannan.
Leaders will receive a report drafted by a committee of top Islamic figures set up in 2003 as well as a report from a meeting of Muslim scholars and intellectuals held in Mecca in September.
The two documents are to lay the foundations for “a moderate and enlightened Islamic line of conduct in order to confront extremism in and against Islam,” said Mannan.
The summit will then agree on two documents: the “Mecca Declaration” which contains “the “true principles and common vision of a moderate Islam,” and the “Programme of action to modernize the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.”
Leaders will “examine two main issues: the challenges facing the Islamic world in the 21st century and the Palestinian issue,” said Mannan.
The challenges concern politics, media, economics, technology, as well as Islamic thought and culture, he added.
“The summit will also undoubtedly tackle the Iraqi issue in order to provide help to the Iraqi government,” said the Saudi foreign minister, who confirmed that Iraqi President Jalal Talabani would take part in the event.
Faisal also said the summit will see “a proposal to create a fund within the Islamic Bank for catastrophes and humanitarian issues in the Islamic world.”
Attendees will also confirm a name change for the body to become the Organisation of Islamic Countries.
The organisation, founded in 1969, is currently facing a financial crisis as several member states have not paid their annual contributions.
The OIC’s Turkish secretary general, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has announced a project for the modernisation and development of the organisation in order to increase its political, economic and cultural role, said Mannan.
At the 21st annual session of the OIC’s permanent committee for economic and commercial cooperation (COMCEC) in Istanbul on November 24, Ihsanoglu called for a free trade zone among Islamic nations “in the near future”.
Turkey also proposed that OIC member countries collectively design and build a passenger plane.
The OIC is also seeking a Muslim permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council as part of efforts to secure a greater role for Muslim countries in world affairs.
OIC foreign ministers were expected to meet on Tuesday in the Red Sea city of Jeddah in western Saudi Arabia to draft the summit agenda.
Presidents of Iran, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates as well as the kings of Morocco and Bahrain have already confirmed their attendance.
Non-Muslim leaders of OIC member states will only participate in the summit via video-conference equipment from the Red Sea city of Jeddah, about 80 kilometers away from Mecca.
Non-Muslims are forbiden entry to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina which hold Islam’s holiest shrines.
“Preparations have been made to allow the (non-Muslim) leaders to participate from Jeddah through a video-conference system for their speeches and interventions,” Faisal was quoted as saying Monday in Asharq Al-Awsat newspaper.
(AFP/ST)