RIYADH, 15 February 2007 — Foreign ministers of seven Muslim countries and key officials from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) will meet in Islamabad on Feb. 25 to prepare for a summit in Makkah to be hosted by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, said Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri here yesterday.
The schedule for the summit, “The Challenges Facing the Muslim World” is to be announced soon.
Speaking at a press conference, Kasuri stressed the need for consultations among Muslim countries and said King Abdullah and President Pervez Musharraf had been exchanging views on the need for a new initiative to Middle East problems, particularly the Palestinian issue. He pointed out that his country had been saying all along that the root causes of the disputes must be addressed.
“The Palestinian problem is not the only one. Iraq, Lebanon, the growing instability in Afghanistan, the US-Iran standoff and the Shiite-Sunni strife in Iraq all threaten to spill over to neighboring states. In this situation, Pakistan cannot remain a silent spectator,” Kasuri said. He emphasized that extremism could not be defeated without addressing its root causes.
Kasuri briefed Foreign Minister Saud Al-Faisal on the outcome of President Musharraf’s recent visit to the proposed contact group countries in order to build a consensus on the framework and modalities of a new Middle East peace initiative.
The minister said the Kingdom and Pakistan had agreed on the holding of the proposed meeting to be attended by Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Indonesia, Malaysia, and key officials from the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC). The minister said the countries involved in various disputes had been excluded from the forthcoming talks. While describing the Islamabad meeting as a brainstorming session, he said the decisions taken at the meeting would help the Makkah summit make a plan to address the challenges facing the Muslim world. “The Makkah summit will hopefully yield concrete results,” he said.
He praised King Abdullah and Prince Saud for brokering a deal between the Palestinian factions that culminated in the Makkah Accord and agreement on a unity government.
“Discord between Palestinian factions had caused a great deal of disappointment and dismay among the people of Pakistan as well as among Muslims throughout the world,” he said and called on the international community for an end to sanctions against the Palestinian government.
Responding to a question, Kasuri said Pakistan was the only country in the world that has strong strategic relations with the United States and China.
During the past five decades, Pakistan and the US have shared identical views on a number of important issues but there were instances when the countries disagreed. The US attack on Iraq, for example, was opposed by Pakistan, Kasuri said.
