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KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 12: The foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Conference will meet on Monday ahead of meeting of their leaders on Oct 16, to adopt the agenda and prepare a draft declaration for the 10th OIC summit.
Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri arrived here on Sunday to attend the two-day meeting being held in the Malaysia’s new administrative capital of Putrajaya, 30 kilometres south of Kuala Lumpur.
President Gen Pervez Musharraf will represent Pakistan at the summit and share his vision of “enlightened moderation” to enable the Muslim Ummah face future challenges.
The foreign ministers meeting will consider and adopt the report prepared by the senior officials during their weekend talks.
The 90-point agenda proposed by the senior officials include the post-war situation in Iraq, the long-standing Palestine and Kashmir disputes reconstruction of Afghanistan and the widening gulf between Islam and the West in the wake of Sept 11 attacks in the United States.
Three standing committees will be set up by the foreign ministers to consider the draft reports and draft resolutions.
These include political, legal, information, Muslim communities and minorities and Islamic boycott affairs committee; economic, administrative, financial and science and technology affairs committee; and culture and Islamic affairs committee.
The foreign ministers meeting will also hold a session on “knowledge and morality and unity and dignity for the progress of the Ummah” with focus on revitalization of the OIC and science and technology for industrial development in the Muslim countries.
President Musharraf had been stressing on the Islamic world to rethink the role of the OIC in the wake of new emerging challenges to the Ummah and make it an effective voice in the world.
He had also proposed a fund asking the member states to contribute to develop human resource among the Muslim countries and progress in the field of science and technology.
The foreign ministers will finalize the draft declaration, likely to be called Putrajaya Declaration and present it to the summit for approval.
On the sidelines of the FMs meeting, Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad would inaugurate the Expo OIC on Tuesday.
An OIC business conference will also be held on Oct 15 to discuss the prospects of increasing economic cooperation among the member states. President Musharraf is scheduled to address the conference the same day.
The 10th OIC summit is the first to be held in the Asia-Pacific region since its inception in 1969. The first OIC moot was held in Rabat, Morocco, and the second in Lahore.
The last OIC summit was held in Doha, Qatar.—APP
IRAQI COUNCIL: Foreign ministers arriving on Sunday at the world’s biggest meeting of Islamic nations prepared to welcome Iraq’s new government — at arm’s length — and confer another layer of legitimacy to the US-picked body, adds AP.
With the occupation of Iraq and threats to other countries reinforcing unease that the war on terrorism is turning into persecution of Muslims, officials said the ministers and leaders will discuss resolutions welcoming the Iraqi Governing Council and condemning Israel for last week’s airstrike against Syria.
The status of Iraq since Saddam Hussein was toppled six months ago had led to disagreement in the OIC, with summit host Malaysia contending that no Iraqi government should be seated with the country under US occupation, and the powerful Arab bloc saying that the Governing Council is transitional and legitimate enough, for now.
The Arab view prevailed, and Iraq will be represented by Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, a Kurd, and by Ayad Alawi, current holder of the council’s rotating leadership.
Delegates said that a resolution would likely welcome the Governing Council but be balanced with calls for Iraq’s return to full independence and sovereignty and control over its own oil.
Delegates said no resolution was likely on the issue of sending peacekeepers to Iraq, which has divided Turkey from the Governing Council and other states.
Malaysia’s Mahathir, a staunch opponent of the US invasion, said in an interview with the BBC that persistent attacks on US troops showed they were unwelcome in Iraq.”
