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Hassan Cheruppa
PROTRACTED differences among Muslim countries negatively impact the performance of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Iyad Madani, chief of the pan Islamic body, has said.
Addressing the extraordinary meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of OIC in Jeddah on Thursday, Madani said that this negative impact dents OIC’s credibility and puts its role under scrutiny.
Ministers and senior officials from 37 member countries of the 57-member OIC are attending the meeting, convened at a request from Saudi Arabia to discuss the repercussions of the attacks on its missions in Iran.
Madani said the unfortunate events against Saudi diplomatic missions evidently breach diplomatic norms and practices as enshrined in the Vienna conventions and in relevant international and UN covenants. “Likewise, interference in the internal affairs of any member state constitutes a contravention of the provisions of the OIC Charter whose articles and stipulations we have consensually adhered to. The charter explicitly provides for ‘strictly adhering to the principle of non-interference in matters which are essentially within the domestic jurisdiction of any state’ as well as the respect for the sovereignty, independence and unity of each member state,” he said.
The OIC chief said strained relations among some member states contribute to deepening the fractures in the Islamic body politic and create political or sectarian polarization. “This situation turns us from effectively addressing the true challenges threatening the future of our member states and their peoples,” he said.
Madani said it was a matter of grave concern that divisiveness and protracted differences among Muslim countries negatively impact the OIC performance and undermine its ability to live up to its mission to respond to the hopes and aspirations of the peoples of its member states. “It also dents its credibility before the Islamic and international public opinions, and puts its role and standing up for questioning,” he said.
Recalling the recent terror attacks that struck some member states and continuing Israeli aggression against Palestinians, Madani said that these necessitate closer cooperation within a collective Islamic approach, in addition to resolute action driven by a collective resolve. “It is only by so doing that we could defuse tensions by building bridges of understanding and restoring mutual trust among the member states.”
While presiding over the meeting, First Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah called for holding fast to the values of Islam to confront the challenges facing the Islamic Ummah. Addressing the session, Foreign Minister Adel Al-Jubeir blamed Iran for interfering in the internal affairs of other countries and triggering sectarian strife in the region.
“This is the major reason for the worsening situation, instability and wars being witnessed by the region,” he said.
Iran is represented at the meeting by its Deputy Foreign Minister for Legal and International Affairs Abbas Araqchi.
