RIYADH, 24 June — Dr. Nizar Obaid Madani, assistant foreign minister, will head the Saudi delegation to the foreign ministers’ meeting of the Organization of Islamic Conference in Bomako, Mali. The Middle East peace process in the backdrop of the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli conflict will top the agenda of the five-day ministerial meeting which will begin tomorrow.
The ministers will discuss the Palestinian question with special emphasis on the intifada, said Traore Ametine, charge d’affaires at the Mali Embassy here, yesterday. They will also discuss a range of regional and international topics including Afghanistan, Kashmir and other issues of concern to the Muslim world.
Ametine said the 22-member Saudi delegation would be composed of high-ranking officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This will be the first OIC foreign ministers’ meeting to be attended by OIC Secretary-General Dr. Abdelouahed Belkziz since his appointment to the post at Kuala Lumpur last year.
Delegates from the 56 OIC member states would attend the meeting. In addition, representatives of a number of international and regional organizations such as the United Nations, the Organization of African Unity, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Arab League and the OIC-affiliate Islamic Parliamentary Union will be in Bamako as observers.
Islamic organizations like the Moro National Liberation Front and Bosnia which have observer status at the OIC will also take part.
Ametine said Mali President Alpha Oumar Konare would host a dinner in honor of visiting heads of delegations on the inaugural day of the conference.
