Saturday, Dec 03, 2005
Riyadh: A 10-year crisis management plan for the Islamic world will be announced at an extraordinary summit of Islamic countries on December 7 in Makkah, a spokesman has said.
The strategy will be salient feature of the Makkah Declaration to be announced at the summit.
The plan, initiated by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz of Saudi Arabia, will be the first long-term crisis management programme agreed upon by the 57 nations from Africa, Asia and Europe that make up the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC).
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"There is genuine desire that this summit will be the turning point in the history of Islamic common work," OIC spokesman Atta Mannan told Gulf News. The agenda of the summit was agreed upon during the final meeting of the scholars in Makkah last month.
"This summit will coordinate policies in order to come to a common vision about our issues in the international arena," he said.
"The Islamic countries should have one voice in international organisations like the United Nations and, ideally, a representative seat for that collective voice."
The extraordinary summit is in response to an appeal made in Mina during the Haj early this year by the then Crown Prince Abdullah, who urged OIC member countries to meet and review the situation of the Muslim world (Ummah) and arrive at a comprehensive solution to their common problems.
Mannan said the Makkah Summit would be different from other OIC summits in that its preparation involved several conferences by senior scholars (ulema) and thinkers from across the Islamic world.
Among other concerns, the scholars have examined the possibility of setting up a high Islamic referential framework for dispensing fatwas, which would have the last word on important issues.
"The Makkah Declaration will mark the adoption by member states of a moderate Islamic approach so as to project the true image of Islam, which has nothing to do with terrorism," Mannan said. "The emphasis will be on giving Islam a good image by condemning terrorism and stressing on modernisation and peaceful coexistence," he said.
Mannan, who is also director of OIC's political wing, said the Palestinian issue would remain the core issue for the Ummah.
Mannan said three committees would be formed to follow up on the Makkah Declaration and, especially, the 10-year plan for the political, economic and cultural revival of the Ummah.
The summit will also mark the launch of a comprehensive reform programme for the organisation, which was established in 1969, drawn up by Dr Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary-general.
EfficiencyEfficiency
Dr Ihsanoglu had said that his reform programme was aimed at energising the organisation, enhancing its efficacy and promoting joint Islamic action so as to better project the religion, better serve the causes of the Ummah and boost Islamic solidarity among the member states.
Another change will include a new name for the group, the Organisation of Islamic States, Mannan said.
OIC foreign ministers, led by Foreign Minister Prince Saudi Al Faisal, will meet on December 6 in Jeddah to finalise the Makkah Declaration and also the summit's joint communiqué.
All 57 heads of OIC states have confirmed participation in the two-day Makkah Summit, as well as several international, Islamic, Arab and regional governmental organisations, Mannan said.
King Abdullah will inaugurate the conference in the newly-built convention centre in Makkah. In the presence of heads of state King Abdullah will also lay the foundation for the new OIC headquarters in Jeddah.
King Abdullah will inaugurate the conference in the newly-built convention centre in Makkah. In the presence of heads of state King Abdullah will also lay the foundation for the new OIC headquarters in Jeddah.Gulfnews 2005. All rights reserved.
