The Saudi team will leave Saturday for the session that begins Sunday in the south Sumatra provincial capital city of Palembang. Indonesia was elected as the president of PUIC when the organization convened in the Ugandan capital of Kampala in January 2010. Fifty-one member states and 40 observing countries will attend the event.

In a statement Friday, Al-Asheikh said that the proposed conference is taking place at a time when there is strong need for cooperation and understanding among Muslim countries in jointly confront the challenges faced by the Muslim world.

“As a founder of this PIUC, Saudi Arabia under the able guidance of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, ably assisted by Crown Prince Naif, deputy premier and minister of interior, supports the cause for a joint action by all Muslim countries in resolving the current issues faced by the Islamic world at regional and global levels, as well as at the parliamentary level,” Al-Asheikh said.

He added that the Saudi foreign policy is dedicated to maintain peace, security and fair play in all Muslim countries and at all levels.

The president of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU) and Speaker of Indonesia's House of Representative Marzuki Alie said that Indonesia maintains its strong commitment to PUIC and hoped that the event would benefit its members.

Delegates are scheduled during the first meeting of the three-day session to elect members of the PUIC bureau, comprising two deputies to the chairman — to be selected from the Arab and African groups — and the registrar. They would also endorse agenda of the gathering.

The conference will examine a request for full membership from the Maldives, a member of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation since 1976, and consider an application for observer status from the Moro National Liberation Front.