ISLAMABAD, Feb 24: A one-day consultative meeting of the core group of seven Muslim countries takes place here on Sunday to prepare an agenda for the proposed Makkah summit aimed at launching a new Middle East peace initiative and addressing other political issues in the Muslim world, including Afghanistan, Iraq and Lebanon.

Foreign ministers of Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey and the secretary-general of the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference are in Islamabad to work out a common strategy on the way forward along with their host Foreign Minister Khurshid Kasuri.The conference takes place two days after an Emergency Ministerial Meeting of the OIC in Jeddah to discuss recent Israeli violations against the Al Aqsa mosque.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will address the opening session of the meeting convened as part of the Middle East peace initiative launched by Pakistan’s President Gen Pervez Musharraf last month to address the political issues confronting the Muslim world.

“The meeting of seven foreign ministers and the secretary-general of the OIC will consider preparations for the summit level meeting that will be convened in Saudi Arabia at a later date, to address the deteriorating security situation in the Middle East and to make efforts to promote unity and harmony in the Muslim world,” Foreign Office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam said in a statement issued on Saturday. “The ministerial meeting aims to develop a new initiative and will present its recommendations for consideration at the summit meeting,” she said.

An important proposal likely to be considered at the ministerial meeting will be the idea of raising a peacekeeping force under the banner of the OIC. The idea recently floated by the secretary-general of the pan-Islamic body was first mooted by Pakistan in the context of Iraq at the 30th meeting of the OIC foreign ministers in Tehran in May 2003. However, at that time Pakistan failed to get an encouraging response because there were clear divisions on the matter among the key member states. While Malaysia and Turkey had supported the proposal for an OIC umbrella for a multi-nation stabilisation force in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria and other neighbouring countries of Iraq had serious reservations over it.

“The ministerial level consultations on Feb 25 follow the president’s visit to some Muslim countries for exchanging views on a new initiative to address the Middle East situation, in particular, the festering Palestinian dispute, the alarming security situation in Iraq, the political turmoil in Lebanon and the rising tensions between the US and Iran,” the Foreign Office spokesperson said, adding: “There was a convergence of views among all leaders on the need for collective efforts and a united stand to resolve the disputes in the region, to counter the rising trends of radicalism, extremism and terrorism and to promote unity, harmony and reconciliation in the Muslim world.”

At the conclusion of their consultations, the seven foreign ministers and the OIC secretary-general will jointly call on the president. They will also meet the prime minister.

The president during his recently-concluded whirlwind tour of nine Arab and influential Muslim countries repeatedly stressed the need to urgently address the Palestine issue.

Notably, on the eve of the meeting, the president talked to his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas.

According to informed sources, after the president’s consultations with the nine Muslim countries, key world powers, including China, Russia and the United States, were also briefed on Pakistan’s initiative.