By IINA,
Jeddah : The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu received messages from both Dr. Sergey Lavrov, the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation and Bill Rammell, the British Minister of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs. In his message, the Russian minister emphasized that his country has moved strenuously to put an end to the bloodletting in the Gaza Strip by conducting direct contacts with the various parties in the region and the world, including the international Quartet and the UN Security Council. Russia has also dispatched two shipments of emergency aid, along with a number of Russian pediatricians, to the Gaza Strip, according to an OIC statement.
Minister Lavrov pointed out that the key priority for Moscow is putting an immediate end to the tragedy facing the civilian population in Gaza, consolidating the cease-fire, lifting the blockade imposed on Gaza, and ensuring that violence does not erupt again in the future. He explained that these events are hampering the peace process, which requires deploying further efforts to resume the negotiations for the establishment of an independent and viable Palestinian state.
Additionally, the Russian minister indicated that Muslim countries should have the confidence that Russia will continue making every effort to move forward towards achieving a just and long-lasting peace in the Middle East. In this regard, he referred to the international conference to be hosted in Moscow during the first half of 2009 with the objective of pushing the Middle East process peace forward. For his part, British minister, Bill Rammell, stated in his message to the Secretary General that the UK welcomes the ceasefire in Gaza, pointing up the role the British Foreign Secretary played during the negotiations that led to the passing on 8 January 2009 of UN Security Council Resolution 1860.
He affirmed that the ceasefire is, however, still fragile, and that the focus needs to be on the access for humanitarian aid and on reconstruction process as well as on securing the conditions necessary for the consolidation of the cease-fire. The British minister added that the British government believes that the European Union should continue to put its weight behind efforts to move forward the peace process in the Middle East and establish a Palestinian state alongside Israel. He pointed out that the UK has pledged since the start of the conflict in Gaza to provide aid worth £27 million. Earlier, Prof. Ihsanoglu has sent messages to various international organizations and governments, urging them to take immediate action to put an end to the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip and provide protection of the Palestinian people against the oppression of the Israeli military machine.