By IINA
Dakar : The 11th Islamic Summit of the 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) is set to begin in Dakar, capital of Senegal, this afternoon. Leaders of the world’s biggest Islamic body have arrived here for the two-day Summit, with the theme of “Islam in the 21st Century,” to study ways to improve Islam’s image in the West and spur economic development in some of the Muslim world’s poorest countries. The participants will discuss the implementation of the 10-year Program of the Organization’s activities, ways of settling political, economic, cultural, social and humanitarian issues, as well as issues in the sphere of information, science and advanced technologies. The meeting is returning to Africa for the first time in 14 years. They will consider documents prepared by OIC foreign ministers, including drafts of OIC’s new Charter and the Dakar Declaration.
Issues of economic cooperation between Muslim countries will be given special attention at the Summit. Another important issue for the Muslim worlds is the situation in the Middle East. It will be discussed by the heads of Muslim states. The forum participants are expected to adopt a joint declaration on this issue. In addition, the situation in Iraq is also included in the summit agenda. Facing “Islamophobia” in the West, the OIC is seeking to re-brand itself during the Summit, as a forum for settling conflicts peacefully and for redistributing wealth to the world’s poorest states. It will seek to agree on a modern charter that will give it a more active, influential role as the voice of Islam in a globalized world.
The OIC is modernizing its charter to combat extremists and poverty and to emphasize values of tolerance and understanding amid concerns over an anti-Islam backlash. If last-minute differences can be ironed out, the revamped Charter will be adopted at the Summit. “The new charter embraces the United Nations language to reflect moderation and tolerance of Islam and focus on development and solidarity in action between members,” OIC Secretary General Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu told a news conference. He and other officials said the changes to the 40-article charter would help OIC become more proactive as it seeks a bigger role in a globalized world for the international Islamic community, which spans the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
The Senegalese leaders hope to host the signing of the latest peace pact on Thursday, between two feuding OIC members, Chad and Sudan, whose rivalry is entangled in the Darfur crisis. Senegal is hosting the OIC summit in for the second time in 17 years.