JEDDAH – A two-day preparatory session involving foreign ministers from the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) started in Cairo Monday prior to the 12th Islamic Summit, which will begin Wednesday. Addressing the opening session, OIC Secretary-General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu voiced deep concern over the rising tide of violence and extremism on a vast terrain of the Islamic world. He urged member states to stand united in rooting out extremism and militancy as well as to uphold the principles of moderation and tolerance. Ihsanoglu said the summit is being held at a time when the Muslim world is passing through an extremely critical period, especially in the Middle East region. While calling on leaders of the Islamic world to map out a broad strategy to protect the identity of Jerusalem, he said that there will be a special session on Al-Quds Al-Sharif on the first day of the summit. The OIC chief also emphasized the need to further strengthen the pan-Islamic body to effectively counter the challenges facing the Muslim Ummah. The opening session was chaired by Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel. The meeting will finalize the agenda of the summit as well as the final communiqué, called the “Cairo Declaration.” The summit, carrying the theme “Muslim world: New challenges and expanding opportunities”, will discuss six major topics on the agenda, including Jewish settlement in Palestine, conflict in the Islamic world, Islamophobia, the humanitarian situation in the Islamic world, enhancing economic cooperation among member states and promoting scientific, cultural and technological cooperation in the Islamic world. Among the political issues, the summit will discuss mainly the situations in Syria, Mali, Somalia, Afghanistan and Sudan. Ambassador Sayyid Qassim Al-Misri, adviserto OIC secretary general for minority affairs, said the summit will focus on discussing issues concerning Muslims in non-member countries. “OIC is giving great care and concern to the case of the 500 million strong Muslim minority communities who constitute one-third of the world's Muslim population,” he said. Security arrangements are beefed up in east Cairo in the wake of the current turmoil. The present situation in the country will, in no way, affect the arrangements and preparations for the summit, said Amr Ramadan, assistant Egyptian foreign minister. As part of the security measures, the venue of the summit was changed from Cairo International Conference Center, located near the city center, to hotels near the airport, the sources said.
