Al-Sahhaf: Extraordinary meeting of the OIC Foreign Ministers conclusion

INA - BAGHDAD 

Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ahmed Al-Sahhaf announced the conclusion of the extraordinary meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation for foreign ministers.

"The extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation concluded its work shortly where they discussed the adoption of the attached decision, the content of which was mentioned," said Al-Sahhaf to the Iraqi News Agency - INA.
 
He added, "The work of the urgent meeting at the ministerial level of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation began today at the request of Iraq, to discuss the most important measures and positions taken by the members of the organization regarding insulting the Holy Qur’an."

In a speech during the conference, Iraq presented 5 proposals to reduce the recurrence of the incident of burning the Holy Qur’an:
- Forming a committee of foreign ministers in the council, of which the Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation will be a member, that adopts sustained dialogue with the European Union and other regional organizations to reach agreed solutions to limit the expansion and recurrence of these acts.

- Intensifying efforts and working towards issuing international resolutions in the future, whenever necessary, including not insulting the heavenly books or disrespecting religions and religious symbols.

- Working to combat the phenomenon of Islamophobia, via cultural framing and moderate international discourse documented by international resolutions and relevant UN instruments.

- We call on the Secretary-General and the ambassadors of the OIC member states in the capitals where the crime of violating the sanctity of copies of the Holy Qur’an and other sacred Islamic symbols takes place, to exert more collective efforts at the level of national parliaments, the media and the Civil Society Organizations and government institutions in those countries to express their position as members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.

- Islamic civil society organizations in member states should work with their counterparts in which anti-Islamic attacks are taking place against copies of the Holy Qur’an and other sacred values, to form a volunteer team of international law experts to formulate legal approaches and solutions. Resort to local courts before filing cases with international judicial bodies.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation issued a draft resolution on the crime of burning the Holy Quran, which included several points.