Sudan’s Bashir heads the opening session of Islamic summit
March 6, 2016 (KHARTOUM)- The Sudanese President, Omer Hassan al-Bashir will chair the opening session of the 5th Extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), that kicked off in Jakarta, on Sunday, after his arrival to Indonesia on Saturday evening.
Sudan OIC Permanent Representative and the Sudanese ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Abdel Hafiz Ibrahim, said that the opening session of the Islamic Summit in Indonesia on Monday will be chaired by President al-Bashir because Sudan is chosen as the deputy chairman of the Islamic organization for this session.
Following the opening session, Bashir shall hand over the chairmanship of the meeting to the Indonesian President Joko Widodo.
The move is perceived by the diplomats in Khartoum as an important step for the country which was regionally and internationally isolated for the regime’s alleged support to terrorism followed by the ICC arrest warrant against the Sudanese president over Darfur war crimes.
Ambassador Ibrahim told the official news agency (SUNA), on Sunday, that the importance of Sudan’s participation at the summit emanates from its commitment to the Palestinian cause, and its “firm stance calling to provide protection and to stop the Israeli aggression and arrogance on the Palestinian people.”
The Islamic meeting started on Sunday in Jakarta with the participation of more than 500 delegates from the 49 OIC member states, four representatives of the Quartet on the Middle East (United States, Russia, United Nations and European Union), five UN Security Council representatives, as well as three observer countries confirmed they would attend the summit.
“This high-level summit is expected to push international forums to prioritize the issue of Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif as the situation is worrying,” said the Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi on Sunday.
The summit will discuss the recent violence in Israel and the occupied territories and the restriction of access to Al -Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which is the third-holiest site in Islam.
On a related development, the Sudanese diplomat announced that the Islamic Organization for Food Security (IOFS) will hold its first meeting in Kazakhstan during the last week of April.
He further underscored that the establishment of this new Islamic body was initiated by the Sudanese President within the OIC meetings.
Khartoum expects to benefit from the economic projects the new Islamic organization will fund in the east African country.
(ST)