The Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), in the Final Communiqué issued by its Expanded Emergency Meeting of the Executive Committee at the Ambassadorial level on the situation in Côte d'Ivoire, which was held on Thursday 16 December 2010, decided to submit a recommendation to the Council of Foreign Ministers of the OIC Member States to suspend participation of Côte d'Ivoire in all OIC meetings and activities until the legitimate President of the country (Alassane Dramane Ouattara) assumes his full responsibilities as Head of State. The Final Communiqué of the meeting, which was held at the OIC headquarters in Jeddah, urged the outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo to respect the outcome of the election and to immediately transfer power in a proper way to the duly elected President Alassane Outara. The meeting decided to invite the OIC Secretary General, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu to continue his close contacts with all partners and stakeholders in order to restore democracy, durable peace and stability in Cote d'Ivoire. In his statement at the meeting, Ihsanoglu refused the duplicate situation in Côte d'Ivoire resulting in the existence of two parallel governments, one headed by the former President Gbagbo and the other headed by President Outara. He warned that this flagrant violation may lead to a major setback for the collective efforts that aim to build an Islamic world endowed with prosperity and peace. The OIC Secretary General has earlier announced that he is determined to make endeavors to mediate or contribute in the framework of any other international initiative which ensures reaching a peaceful solution to the crisis. He appealed to the former President Gbagbo to use wisdom and utmost restraint in order to avoid further escalation and urged him to respectfully accept the outcome of the election for the sake of top national interest, and to spare his country falling into a prolonged conflict. In the meantime, the participants in the meeting commended the work of the peace-broker in the conflict of Côte d'Ivoire, the President of Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, for his tireless efforts for the implementation of the Ouagadougou Peace Agreement.
