Speech
of his Excellency Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu
Secretary
General
of the
Organisation
of the
Islamic
Conference
At the thirty-fourth session of the
Islamic
Conference
of
Foreign
Ministers
ISLAMABAD – ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF PAKISTAN
15-17 MAY 2007
Honourable Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to begin by greeting you all as we begin the
proceedings of the 34th Session of the Islamic
Conference of Foreign Ministers. Allow me, at the outset, to
say how much privileged we are and grateful to the people
and Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for
hosting this Conference. We cannot thank them enough for all
the marks of hospitality as well as the gracious and warm
welcome with which we have been met.
I would also like to pay a special tribute and express my
profound gratitude to His Excellency Pervez Musharraf,
President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, for his
patronage, and for gracing this meeting by his personal
presence. His constant support for joint Islamic action and
his unswerving effort to champion the just Islamic causes,
is a strong testimony to his deep-seated belief and
conviction in the inevitability of Muslim advancement,
progress and ascent.
We feel delighted to assemble here in this beautiful capital
city of Islamabad of this great country Pakistan, historic
bastion of Islam, and a rich fountain spring of Islamic
civilization.
I wish also to thank our
outgoing Chairman H.E. Mr. Elmar Maharram oglu Mammadyarov,
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan,
for his sincere dedication to furthering Islamic goals and
objectives. I am grateful to him for his guidance and
tremendous assistance and cooperation with the General
Secretariat in discharging its duties throughout a full year
of fruitful cooperation and achievements. We very highly
appreciate all the efforts exerted to make Azerbaijan’s
tenure of office a very successful one, marked with hosting
several important Islamic meetings and activities.
Honourable Ministers,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Our Muslim world is facing a defining moment in its history.
Even as we speak we realize that the major problems
afflicting us do not show any tendency towards receding.
It is customary that a
situation like this, drives people to mobilize their
potentials and spurs them to combine their resources and
unify their ranks, in order to overcome their difficulties.
The Summits of Putrajaya and Makkah Al-Mukarramah brought
this issue to the fore and a blue-print for hope was made
available to us through the 3rd Extraordinary
Islamic Summit held in Makkah in December 2005. The adoption
by the Summit of the Ten-Year Programme of Action gave us a
practical and workable road-map to realize our objectives.
The Ten-Year Programme of Action is a historic turning
point. It was meant to bring joint Islamic action closer to
reality and implementation. It contained all the needed
requirements for freeing ourselves from the entanglement of
despair and dispersal.
The Programme is a rare occasion which will empower us to
turn the challenges we are facing to an opportunity to act.
We should seize this moment and define our destiny rather
than leaving the others to define our destiny according to
their agenda.
We, in the General Secretariat, in discharging our
responsibilities with steadfastness and dedication, had to
summon all our energy and power to ensure that the Ten-Year
Programme of Action is implemented. We have worked out a
very detailed and comprehensive “Road-Map” for its
implementation, and for keeping track of the progress of
implementation. Moreover, we have put this question on the
agenda of all important meetings of our Organisation, all
through the ten-year implementation period.
At the level of the General Secretariat, we started to
implement the provisions of the Programme which fall within
our ambit. We have established the Executive Committee
called for by the Programme, based on the system of troika.
This Committee started to function, held many meetings and
proved to be extremely useful.
Over the past year, we have managed to introduce major
reforms required by the Programme. We have overhauled the
International Islamic Fiqh Academy (IIFA), and turned it
into a supreme international Islamic authority in religious
matters. It has started to work in its new capacity,
rendering crucial services to Islam and the Muslim world,
notably by regulating the proliferation of Fatwas.
The same effort has been devoted to the Islamic Solidarity
Fund, with a view to injecting more efficiency in its work
and expanding its scope of activities. This task is still
continuing and new meetings to that effect are already
scheduled.
In implementation of the Ten-Year Programme of Action,
concerning the amendment of the OIC Charter, we have covered
a considerable distance. We have convened a high-level panel
composed of highly eminent Muslim personalities representing
the OIC three regional groups to review the Charter and to
elaborate a new vision, objectives and principles to be
enshrined in the amended Charter. The Panel met twice,
reviewed the Charter extensively and introduced the
necessary amendments therein. The panel was comprised of
former President of the Republic of Turkey, H.E. Mr.
Suleiman Demirel; former Prime Minister of Malaysia H.E. Tun
Dr. Mahathir Mohamed; former Foreign Minister of Indonesia
H.E. Mr. Ali Alatas; former OIC Secretary General H.E. Dr.
Hamid Algabid; former Secretary General of the Gulf
Countries Cooperation Council (GCC) H.E. Mr. Jamil
Al-Hujailan; former Director General of the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
H.E. Mr. Moktar Mbow; former Judge of the International
Court of Justice H.E. Dr. Nabil E-Arabi; and former Foreign
Minister of Algeria H.E. Mr. Lakhdar Ibrahimi.
The amended text of the Charter was submitted to a Committee
of prominent legal Muslim experts commissioned for a legal
review. This Committee carried out a study of the draft from
the legal perspective and finalized the text of the New
Revised Charter. This Committee was comprised of: H.E. Mr.
Sharifuddin Pirzada, Senior Legal Adviser to the Prime
Minister of Pakistan and former OIC Secretary General; H.E.
Ambassador Javad Zarif, Iran’s Permanent Representative to
the United Nations; Mr. Nugroho Wisnumurti, Member of the
International Law Commission(ILC) and former Indonesian
Diplomat; and Professor Babacar Gueye from Senegal.
Given the paramount importance of this document, it has been
put to the consideration of the Meeting of the Senior
Officials’ Preparatory to the 34th Islamic
Conference of Foreign Ministers which was held in Jeddah
from 14 to 16 April, 2007.
The Senior Officials’ Meeting examined the text of the new
revised Charter in two sessions and a consensual view
emerged to hold a special session of an Open-ended
Intergovernmental Group of Experts to continue the
consideration of the said text.
The Open-ended Intergovernmental Group of Experts on
reviewing the Charter met in five consecutive days (6-10 May
2007) and held exhaustive discussions and examinations on
all the different articles and chapters of the Charter and
introduced amendments on different preambular paragraphs and
articles and redrafted several paragraphs to the text. The
Group was able to complete the first review of the Draft
Amended Charter on the basis of consensus. A limited number
of paragraphs remained for discussion, to be completed by
the Special Committee here in Islamabad, as a prelude to be
brought to your consideration and approval.
Honourable Ministers,
These endeavours and others have been going on in
synchronicity with the creation of the OIC Observatory on
Islamophobia at the General Secretariat which is tasked with
monitoring and documenting in an interactive manner any
activity propagating hatred, discrimination and intolerance
against Muslims around the world.
In this context, we reacted promptly to the blasphemous
caricatures published in a Danish newspaper and put this
issue on the agenda of the international community,
including particularly, the UN Human Rights Council in
Geneva, the UN General Assembly in New York, and UNESCO in
Paris. By the grace of God and through close coordination
with the OIC Groups in the aforementioned fora, we succeeded
to obtain from the UN General Assembly and UN Human Rights
Council resolutions providing for the respect of religions
with particular reference to Islam.
The issue of how to counter defamation of
Islam and the phenomenon of Islamophobia have prompted us to
seek your valuable views and visions in a brainstorming
special Thematic Session that will take place later today.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In view of the turbulent situation prevailing in many parts
of the Muslim world, and the need to voice our concerns, and
emphasize our shared views regarding these volatile and
disturbing events, we had to adopt a policy of direct
interaction with events as and when they occurred, in close
consultation with the concerned Member States. This method
had earned us approval and acclaim from Member States, and
from Muslim public opinion, as well.
Our initiative in Iraq started with a fact-finding mission
sent to Iraq last July that gathered needed information from
the representatives of all shades of the political spectrum
there. On the basis of these findings, and in total
agreement with Iraqi officials, political and religious
leaders, we organised a historic meeting of reconciliation
based on a solemn commitment by the Sunnis and Shiites
highest hierarchy to renounce and denounce sectarian
killing, and a solemn pledge to respect the sanctity of
human life and refrain from shedding the blood of their
fellow Muslims on religious considerations.
The meeting which took place in Makkah Al-Mukarramah in the
vicinity of Al-Kaaba was a successful achievement. The
parties gave their solemn pledge to abide by their sacred
obligations, and to promote them in Iraqi media, mosques and
houses of worship. This initiative met with notable success
among Muslim circles the world over, and was welcomed
internationally. This initiative has created a momentum of
its own and will remain a fundamental pillar of any future
settlement of the Iraqi crisis. Moreover, we have actively
participated in all meetings that brought together Iraqi
neighbouring countries, including the last one held in Sharm
El-Sheikh in Egypt early this month.
In Palestine, we redoubled our efforts to effectively deal
with the ongoing events. We also repeatedly called for the
lifting of financial, economic and political siege
unlawfully imposed on the Palestinians. We have been active
party to bring about reconciliation among sparring
Palestinian factions, through multiple visits to Palestine
and numerous contacts with the Palestinian leaders. We
carried the Palestinian issue with us to all our
international meetings and contacts with foreign officials.
I would like at this occasion to appeal from this rostrum to
the highest Palestinian authorities to put an urgent end to
the inner fighting which has erupted in the last few days in
order to maintain the unity among the Palestinians in their
common struggle to get rid of the occupation and attain
their national aspirations.
We initiated action to
counteract the illegitimate Israeli practices in the holy
city of Al-Quds, including the excavations around and
beneath the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as the works
destined to isolate the city from its Arab-Islamic
environment. To that end, we convened an extraordinary
meeting of the OIC Executive Committee at the ministerial
level upon the request of Palestinian President Mahmoud
Abbas.
In dealing with the Somali
issue, we dispatched two fact-finding missions to Somalia,
to assess the situation on the ground. We were engaged in
direct contacts with the Somali factions and leaders. I
personally met many members of the Somali Transitional
Government, including the Prime Minister and the Foreign
Minister. Moreover, we arranged for a meeting of the OIC
Contact Group on Somalia which was convened at the OIC
Headquarters just a few weeks ago. We also decided to join
our efforts with those of the League of Arab States and the
African Union with the aim of establishing a cease-fire and
restoring national reconciliation.
I have just completed an
official visit to Afghanistan where I held discussions with
His Excellency President Hamid Karzai and other
Afghanistan’s high officials. I have also inspected a number
of projects financed by the OIC Special Fund for Assistance
of Afghan People and witnessed Afghanistan’s dire need for
peace, stability and reconstruction. I would like to appeal
to you all to make generous donations to the said Fund in
order to continue and sustain its operation especially in
the vital fields of education and human capacity
development.
We dispatched a special
mission to Kashmir, which met with the President, Prime
Minister and senior officials of Azad Kashmir. The mission
also met the military leaders of the Line of Control
separating the two parts of Kashmir, and reaffirmed the
calls of the OIC and the Muslim World on the need to
implement the resolutions of the UN Security Council on
Kashmir as well as expediting the search of a final solution
to this problem. The mission supported and encouraged the
initiatives of rapprochement between Pakistan and India.
The
question of Muslims in southern Philippines has always been
the centre of our preoccupations. We dispatched an OIC
mission to Manila, which managed to persuade the Philippine
Government to renew its commitment to the full
implementation of the peace agreement concluded in 1996 with
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and the OIC
General Secretariat. A special meeting for this purpose is
scheduled to take place in Jeddah during the month of July
2007.
In the same vein, intensive
contacts with the Government of Thailand and prominent
Muslim leaders there are underway with a view to reaching a
peaceful and negotiated settlement of the question of
Muslims in southern Thailand.
In this context, I paid an
official visit to Thailand at the beginning of this month
and conducted a series of meeting with Thai officials
including the Prime Minister, the President of the Council
of National Security, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and
Interior Affairs. I expressed to my interlocutors OIC’s deep
concern over the situation in the troubled Southern Border
Provinces, and encouraged them to accelerate the ongoing
process of accountability as a means of building confidence
among the local Muslim populations and to grant them greater
responsibilities over their own affairs, within the
framework of the Constitution. My concerns were favourably
acknowledged and, upon my request, a general amnesty for
those involved in the violence in the Southern Border
Provinces was announced. I hope that this constructive and
promising attitude will be an example to other issues
concerning Muslim minorities.
In implementation of the
resolutions adopted by the ICFM, urging the promotion of
effective solidarity with the Turkish Muslim Cypriot people
in various domains, such as culture, trade and tourism,
relations between the OIC and the Turkish Muslim people of
Cyprus have witnessed a marked evolution. The General
Secretariat has organised a visit of a large high-level
delegation comprising ranking officials of the General
Secretariat and representatives of most of the OIC
Subsidiary Organs, Specialized and Affiliated Institutions.
The delegation conducted several meetings with the Turkish
Cypriot Government, and was briefed on the political and
economic situation there. The visit was met with great
satisfaction and appreciation by the Turkish Cypriot
officials, who saw in this move a prelude to more active
relations with the OIC Member States.
An International Conference
on the Role of Media in the Development of Tolerance and
Mutual Understanding was held in Baku, Republic of
Azerbaijan, late last month in collaboration with the OIC.
This commendable initiative focussed on the role of the
media in advancing tolerance, dialogue among civilizations,
dissemination of the culture of dialogue, inter-faith
dialogue, and the need for combating the phenomena of
Islamophobia and projecting the true image of Islam.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the field of information and the media, we have dedicated
a substantial part of our efforts to promote the true image
of Islam, defend Muslims in the face of the hate campaigns
waged against our faith, and its followers. In this context,
we have seized all available opportunities and used all
media platforms available to us to rebuff the negative
stereotypes of the Western media, and to refute attempts to
confuse Islam with terrorism.
It has become unequivocally clear that the
Muslim world is in dire need to have an effective and
influential joint Islamic mass-media to defend its causes.
Accordingly, we were very keen to focus our efforts on the
restructuring of the International Islamic News Agency
(IINA) and the Islamic States Broadcasting Organisation
(ISBO) in implementation of the resolutions adopted by the
Seventh Session of the Islamic Conference of the Ministers
of Information held in Jeddah in September 2005, and the
Eighth Session of the Standing Committee on Information and
Cultural Affairs (COMIAC) held in Dakar, Senegal, in
November 2006. Given the vital importance of these two
organs as the information arm of the OIC, we consider that
this attempt at restructuring them represents the last
chance to rescue and revitalize them before seeking other
alternatives.
On a different front, we have paid particular attention to
humanitarian relief issues, pursuing our efforts to assist
the victims of the Tsunami tidal wave which wreaked havoc at
the Indonesian shores and other countries in South East Asia
and beyond. The OIC Alliance to Rescue Tsunami Child Victims
(ARTCV) has so far been able to provide relief to 3000
orphans in Indonesia by offering them shelter, food,
clothing, health care and education. I have personally
inaugurated different shelters built for these purposes
during my last visit to Banda Aceh. Our hope is to be able
to provide similar care for 15,000 children.
On the African Continent, the OIC in cooperation with the
State of Qatar and the Republic of Niger is planning to
organise an International Donors Conference in June 2007 in
Doha, to ensure assistance to the Republic of Niger in
coping with the problems of cyclical droughts and food
shortages and ensuring sustainable food security.
Distinguished Delegates,
Strengthening economic bonds among Member States is the most
effective way to foster real solidarity and unity. In our
dealing with economic issues we always bear this fact in
mind and work accordingly. Our action in this domain has
been facilitated by OIC institutions like COMCEC, IDB, ICDT,
SESRTCIC, and others.
The holding of the Second Round of Negotiations under the
Preferential Tariffs System (PRETAS), is a clear indication
that we are on the right track. We are heading toward our
target slowly but surely. It is our hope that concrete
results will emanate from the trade Negotiation Committee
before the end of the Second Round of negotiations by
November 2007, so that the protocol could enter into force
by January 2009.
The OIC General Secretariat, in collaboration
with COMCEC and other OIC institutions, has made significant
progress in the OIC Cotton Programme. Three Expert
Group Meetings were hosted by Turkey and have culminated in
the adoption of the OIC Five-Year Programme on Cotton,
focusing on Research, Trade,
The Fifth Islamic Conference
of Tourism Ministers held in Baku, Azerbaijan, adopted
resolutions to strengthen collaboration among OIC Member
States in tourism development, and to promote intra-OIC
tourism, especially with regard to historical sites and
cultural exchanges.
A Forum was convened upon the initiative of the OIC General
Secretariat in Ouagadougou in April 2005 and adopted several
recommendations including making better use of existing
facilities within the IDB, particularly the Islamic
Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector and
the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investments and
Export Credits.
We have also supported other Islamic initiatives within the
framework of capacity-building projects that have started to
yield concrete results. In this connection, I would like to
voice my deep sense of appreciation to the Governments of
Malaysia and Turkey for demonstrating solidarity with the
Least Developed Countries (LDCs), particularly in Africa.
I would also like to praise the efforts of the Islamic
Centre for Development of Trade (ICDT) and the Islamic
Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) for the new ideas
they have introduced for the implementation of the OIC
Ten-Year Programme of Action, and for revitalizing its
performance to better serve the private sector.
The 3rd OIC
Extraordinary Summit notably decided also to establish a
Special Fund within the IDB to address poverty, with a view
to providing job opportunities and defining mechanisms for
its financing.
In variance with previous
attempts to deal with poverty alleviation, the generous
contribution of One Billion Dollars, by the Custodian of the
Two Holy Mosques, to the Poverty Alleviation Fund
established within the IDB is a propitious starter for this
worthy effort. I would also like to thank the State of
Kuwait for contributing a sum of 300 Million Dollars to this
Fund. While thanking the other contributors, I would like to
appeal to Member States who have not done so to generously
contribute to this Fund.
I would like to thank the
IDB for its efforts to implement the Poverty Alleviation
Fund established under the Makkah Summit of 2005, and seize
this opportunity to express my sincere conviction that the
Fund should retain its original appellation to remain
conform to the spirit and letter of the 3rd
Extraordinary OIC Summit of Makkah.
I also would like to express
my sincere appreciation to the ICCI for steering the
establishment of the International Zakat Foundation under
the leadership of H.E. Abdullah Badawi, the Prime Minister
of Malaysia and current Chair of the OIC; as well as to
request the OIC General Secretariat to be a founding member
of the Foundation.
On the Cultural field, the General Secretariat has been
proactive and relentless in its efforts to promote the rich
culture of Islam and engage itself intensively in dialogue
with other faiths and civilizations.
In this regard, we have maintained close relations with the
European institutions, and engaged European public opinion
in direct contacts or through organizing joint activities
comprising thematic lectures, discussions or speeches in the
intellectual or scholarly fora to expose the fallacy of
misperceptions rooted in Islamophobia.
Moreover, ISESCO and IRCICA have played a very prominent
role in the field of propagating the true information about
Islam and its culture. We appreciate their various and
sincere efforts in this important domain.
We have also been working with ISESCO and UNICEF on
preparation for convening the Second Islamic Ministerial
Conference on Children, as well as implementing the
provisions of the Rabat Declaration on the Rights of the
Child in the Muslim World. The OIC and the World Health
Organisation had agreed to reinforce their campaign to
continue their efforts to eradicate polio and other diseases
in the OIC Member States. I am thankful to the Member States
that made generous contribution to this effect.
The 1st Ministerial Islamic Conference on Women’s
role in the development of OIC Member States was held in
Turkey in November 2006 to discuss means, strategies, and
programs to advance the status of women. In thanking Turkey
for its commendable effort to host this Conference, I am
happy to report that this meeting was a great success in
setting up the agenda for women in the Member States.
The General Secretariat is fully committed to
strengthening and supporting educational institutions in the
OIC Member States. Our efforts to obtain financial support
for the Islamic Universities in Niger and Uganda have been
noteworthy and this is reflected in the growth and
development infrastructures, facilities, and educational
standards. The General Secretariat is indebted to all those
Member States, to Muslim NGOs and Waqf endowments, and to
His Highness Dr. Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohamed Al-Qasimi, Member
of the Supreme Governing Council of Sharja, United Arab
Emirates, for their generous contributions. In addition, the
situation of the Islamic University of Uganda has vastly
improved, as it has been able to realize a financial surplus
for the first time since 1988.
Distinguished Delegates,
On the level of Science and Technology, the
OIC convened an informal open-ended Meeting of Ministers of
Higher Education on the sidelines of the Third Session of
the Islamic Conference of Ministers of Higher Education and
Scientific Research held in Kuwait City, on 19 – 21 November
2006. The Ministers discussed ways and means to meet the
mandated target namely “to strengthen selected
universities in the field of science/engineering, with the
objective of elevating at least 20 Universities within the
OIC Region to the rank of the first Top 500 World
Universities.” The Ministers also decided to establish a
core group consisting of the Islamic Republic of Iran;
Malaysia; COMSTECH; IDB; ISESCO; SESRTCIC; and the OIC
General Secretariat. We are overjoyed by the fact that,
thanks to the tireless efforts of its managers, COMSTECH has
evolved from a policy-making committee into a vibrant and
essential Science and Technology implementation institution.
In this regard, there were calls to study the possibility of
transforming the existing COMSTECH Secretariat into an OIC
specialized organ.
Excellencies,
We have persevered in our effort to restructure and reform
the General Secretariat, and have managed to introduce new
working methodologies which render our work in the
administrative and financial field more efficient and
transparent. We extended these methods to all OIC Subsidiary
Organs.
The performance achieved at all levels of our endeavour have
positively affected the financial situation of the General
Secretariat, with the collection of mandatory financial
contributions of Member States improving substantially. The
working cooperation between the General Secretariat and the
Finance Control Organ has become exemplary.
As OIC activities increase, we are called upon to open new
offices in both Baghdad and Brussels in implementation of
your resolutions.
In line with the amendment introduced in the OIC Financial
Regulations, the OIC Financial Year will henceforth conform
to the calendar year. Therefore, the ordinary meetings of
the PFC (Permanent Finance Committee) will be held in
October of every year in order to consider the draft
estimated budget for the annual term starting on 1 January
and ending on 31 December of every year. Accordingly, the 36th
Session of the PFC will be held in October 2007 in order to
examine the Report of the 28th Session of the FCO
and the 2008 Draft Estimated Budgets of the General
Secretariat and Subsidiary Organs for approval.
In this connection, I cannot but mention the generous
donation of US$ 1 million by the Islamic Republic of Iran
and of US$ 2,500,000 by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. To them
we say a very big thank you.
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In concluding my remarks, I would like to say that we are
pursuing our efforts to enable the OIC General Secretariat
to render the best possible service to our Ummah, through
optimal use of the human and material resources at our
disposal. We are endeavouring to promote Islamic solidarity,
to bring Member States closer, and to unify their stands
internally. We are doing our best to defend Islam as a
revealed faith and as a radiant civilization, shedding light
on its values, most prominent among them moderation, peace,
tolerance and diversity. In the same vein, we are defending
the major causes of the Muslim world, be it in Iraq,
Palestine, Kashmir, Somalia or elsewhere. We have been able
to do this thanks to your unwavering support and
encouragement which we highly value and cherish.
The journey before all of us, to reclaim for our Ummah its
pioneering spirit and lofty position among the major
contributors to the world’s progress and advancement, is
still very long and arduous. It is only through our
determined efforts that we can realize our aspirations.
Let us, therefore, pray that God Almighty will grant us His
help and assistance to carry out our mission.
May God Almighty crown your proceedings with success.
