By NNN-APP
Jeddah : Foreign Minister Inam ul Haque has reiterated Pakistan’s strong condemnation of Israel’s latest military campaign against the Palestinians and viewed it as an attempt to sabotage international efforts to find a permanent solution to the Palestinian problem.
Presiding an open-ended Extraordinary Meeting of the Executive Committee of Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) on the latest development in Palestine in particular the siege imposed on the Gaza strip, Inam ul Haque said Israeli actions were undermining the amicable solution of the Palestine problem envisioned by the Security Council’s resolutions, the Quartat RoadMap, the Arab Peace Initiative and the targets outlined in the outcome of Annapolis Summit.
He recalled that President Musharraf had characterized the tragedy of Palestine as “an open wound inflicted on the psyche of every Muslim” and added that a comprehensive settlement of the Palestinian problem could only be achieved if the occupying power was dissuaded from deepening the sense of vulnerability among Palestinian population.
The Foreign Minister suggested that the OIC should call upon Israel to lift its economic blockade and the UN Security Council to assume its responsibility towards ending violations of rights of Palestinian people under the international humanitarian and human rights law.
The open-ended Extraordinary Session of the Executive Committee of the OIC attended by 31 out of the 57 member states also adopted a final communique which reaffirmed unequivocal support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with full sovereignty over all Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 and with Al-Quds as its capital.
The meeting urged the member states, the Islamic Development Bank and private financial institutions to provide urgent humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in order to alleviate their sufferings.
The final communique mandated the OIC Secretary General in coordination with Malaysia and Pakistan, as the current chairs of the Islamic Summit and Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers respectively, as well as Palestine to take the necessary steps in order to contact influential stakeholders and the UN with a view to lifting the blockade on the Gaza strip and resolving the ensuing humanitarian crisis.
The eight member OIC Executive Committee is composed of Malaysia, Qatar and Senegal being the Summit troika as well as Pakistan, Azerbaijan and Uganda being the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) troika.
The Secretary General OIC is also a member of the Executive Committee whereas Saudi Arabia occupies a seat in the Committee in its capacity as the host country of the OIC Secretary General Secretariat.
The meeting was chaired by Pakistan as the current chair of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers.