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ISLAMABAD, Feb 17: Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) Secretary-General Prof Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu will arrive here on Monday to work out a common strategy against the publication of sacrilegious cartoons.
He is scheduled to discuss with Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz the situation arising out in the wake of blasphemous caricatures. Pakistan’s envoy to Denmark Javed Qureshi will also participate in the meeting.—Online
FIVE-POINT AGENDA: Earlier, the Jeddah-based OIC adopted a five-point agenda presented by Mr Ihsanoglu to European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana during his visit to the OIC headquarters recently, adds Syed Rashid Husain from Jeddah.
The agenda, adopted at an extraordinary meeting of the permanent representatives of the member states in Jeddah, aims to defuse the row over blasphemous cartoons and prevent recurrence of similar crisis in future.
The representatives called upon the EU to adopt necessary legislative measures against Islamophobia and make efforts in consultation with the OIC to adopt a UN resolution on the lines of the existing UN Resolution 60/150 (combating defamation of religions) aimed at prohibiting defamation of prophets and faiths.
They called for adhering to a code of ethics by the European media and adoption of an ‘international communication media order’ by the UN covering the definition of freedom of speech in case of religions.
The representatives of the OIC demanded inclusion of an operative paragraph prohibiting blasphemy, defamation of religions and incitement to hatred in the text of the Human Rights Council resolution which is being currently negotiated. During the debate, the representatives regretted that Danish authorities’ reaction to the issue did not match the reaction by other European states which condemned the publication of the cartoons.
