The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has affirmed that the recently concluded 21st Arab Summit in Doha, "carries a key importance, as it represents the first political summit held in the wake of the war on the Gaza Strip and provides an occasion to articulate an Arab position on the situation in the Middle East." Responding to questions from journalists on the sidelines of the Summit that concluded on Monday in Doha, he pointed out yesterday that the positive outcome of the Summit will no doubt serve the interests of the OIC, as all Arab countries are members of the Organization. The Secretary General noted that the importance of the Doha Summit emanates from the number of dossiers it put on the discussion floor, particularly the political developments related to the arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and the stabilization of the security conditions in Iraq, as well as the favorable developments in Somalia. Ihsanoglu attributed the Summit's importance to its timing, as it was held following the election of a new American president and the relationship of this event to a host of key issues in the Middle East. "Arab countries, too, need to define an Arab position vis-à-vis the Israeli government and the position of Israel towards the peace process in the region." The Secretary General praised the efforts deployed by Qatar to heal the rift among the various Arab parties, affirming that, "The OIC highly appreciates Qatar's efforts... The point is that all Arab countries are Member States of the OIC". Referring to Sudan, Ihsanoglu pointed to the communiqué issued early this week by the Expanded Executive Committee at the ambassadorial level, announcing the Committee's decision rejecting the ICC's arrest warrant against President al-Bashir, dubbing it 'groundless and irrational'. The Committee called upon the UN Security Council to suspend the execution of the warrant just as it called on the ICC to revoke its decision. The Secretary General commended the communiqué's denunciation of the double standards deployed in approaching the issue of war crimes, according to a press release issued in Jeddah yesterday.
