OIC Chief hails positive outcome of Doha Arab Summit

Jeddah, April 01, SPA -- The Secretary General of the Organization of
the Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has
affirmed that the recently concluded 21st Arab Summit in Doha,
"carries a key importance, as it represents the first political
summit held in the wake of the war on the Gaza Strip and provides an
occasion to articulate an Arab position on the situation in the
Middle East."


Responding to questions from journalists on the sidelines of the
Summit that concluded on Monday in Doha, he pointed out yesterday
that the positive outcome of the Summit will no doubt serve the
interests of the OIC, as all Arab countries are members of the
Organization.


The Secretary General noted that the importance of the Doha Summit
emanates from the number of dossiers it put on the discussion floor,
particularly the political developments related to the arrest warrant
issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Sudanese
President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and the stabilization of the security
conditions in Iraq, as well as the favorable developments in Somalia.



Ihsanoglu attributed the Summit's importance to its timing, as it
was held following the election of a new American president and the
relationship of this event to a host of key issues in the Middle
East. "Arab countries, too, need to define an Arab position vis-à-vis
the Israeli government and the position of Israel towards the peace
process in the region."


The Secretary General praised the efforts deployed by Qatar to heal
the rift among the various Arab parties, affirming that, "The OIC
highly appreciates Qatar's efforts... The point is that all Arab
countries are Member States of the OIC".


Referring to Sudan, Ihsanoglu pointed to the communiqué issued early
this week by the Expanded Executive Committee at the ambassadorial
level, announcing the Committee's decision rejecting the ICC's arrest
warrant against President al-Bashir, dubbing it 'groundless and
irrational'. The Committee called upon the UN Security Council to
suspend the execution of the warrant just as it called on the ICC to
revoke its decision. The Secretary General commended the communiqué's
denunciation of the double standards deployed in approaching the
issue of war crimes, according to a press release issued in Jeddah
yesterday.

--SPA