ISLAMABAD, 22 February 2006 — Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz inaugurated the 12 General Assembly of the OIC’s COMSTECH here yesterday.
The COMSTECH General Assembly during its three-day session will review the progress of the program and consider reports of different institutions set up by the COMSTECH.
In his opening speech Aziz said, “the Islamic world instead of depending on other nations should depend on its own resources to change its destiny and create inter-dependence, mainly using the strength of each other in order to promote the overall strength of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
Aziz asked the OIC to convene extraordinary foreign ministers meeting for a collective response in the aftermath of the publication of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) cartoons. “We have requested the OIC secretary general for an extraordinary foreign ministerial meeting to discuss the issue,” Aziz told media in Islamabad after meeting Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu in Islamabad.
The call for such a session came against the backdrop of continued protests in Pakistan over publication of the cartoons in the European media. At least five people have been killed so far in the violent protests.
“Islam is a religion of peace, harmony,” Aziz said and added “ we condemn and regret use of force or violence during demonstrations.” Ihsanoglu, who also later held talks with Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri, condemned violence as “weakness,” saying it is not helpful in advancing the cause of the Muslim World, which has been hurt by “uncivilized and ugly” caricatures.
“It is really outrageous to torch buildings, kill people and resort of other means of violence,” the OIC secretary general told reporters after meeting Kasuri.
The OIC, he said is also in touch with the European Union and the United Nations on the issue, adding that he will meet UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana next week for further discussions on the issue.
