Hassan Cheruppa Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the International Islamic News Agency (IINA) have agreed to join hands in combating terrorism and countering Islamophobia. Maha Mustafa Akeel, director of the OIC Department of Information, and Ali Ahmad Al-Ghamdi, director general of IINA, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in this regard at a ceremony held at the OIC headquarters here on Thursday. The MoU aims at strengthening cooperation in areas of mutual concern as well as in implementing resolutions adopted by the conference of information ministers of the Muslim countries.Under the agreement, IINA will undertake text, image and video coverage of the activities of the OIC general secretariat and sending them to news agencies, satellite channels and the mass media across the Islamic world. Both parties will organize workshops, joint training sessions for staff members of the two sides as well as for journalists from the Islamic world. The agreement also stipulates for the joint projects and programs aimed at creating awareness about issues concerning the Islamic Ummah, especially countering Islamophobia and combating extremism and terrorism. IINA, a specialized media organ of OIC, publishes daily online news bulletins in the Arabic, English and French languages. The Jeddah-based IINA was established in 1972 under a resolution of the Third Conference of Foreign Ministers from 57 OIC member states. Since then, there were several attempts to reactivate IINA in order to make it capable of fulfilling its objective of enhancing and preserving Islamic cultural heritage and strengthening ties among Muslims all over the world. As part of a 10-year action plan approved by the 3rd Extraordinary Islamic Summit held in Makkah in December 2005, IINA underwent major facelift so as to enable it to play an effective role in bolstering Islamic unity and highlighting causes of Muslims worldwide.
