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OIC Secretary General holds fruitful meeting with the visiting Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and explores various possibilities of enhancing effective cooperation between the two organizations
The Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, held a fruitful meeting with Ambassador Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Jeddah today. This was the first ever visit by an OSCE Secretary General to the OIC General Secretariat.
The two Secretaries General exchanged views on the recent global developments since their last meeting in Vienna on 15 November 2005 and discussed various means of enhancing mutually beneficial cooperation between their two organizations.
The OIC Secretary General gave a detailed briefing on the various significant developments following the printing of the blasphemous, insulting and provocative caricatures and the imperative need to initiate various confidence-building measures between the Muslim World and the West. While elaborating the various elements of the ambitious Ten-year Programme of Action adopted by the Extraordinary OIC Summit Conference in Makkah, the Secretary General drew parallels between this Programme and the OSCE's objectives. He specified that this could serve as a comprehensive basis for cooperation between the two organizations. He also conveyed the willingness of his organization to institutionalize and expand its relationship with the OSCE, particularly in the fields of combating terrorism, extremism, Islamophobia and intolerance.
The OSCE Secretary General commended his interlocutor for his active and constructive role in charting a course for respectful dialogue and understanding. He informed that the OSCE participating States had a profound and long-standing commitment to tolerance and respect between people of different opinions and beliefs, as well as to freedom of _expression_. He also suggested specific areas for closer OSCE-OIC cooperation on the shared objectives of promoting tolerance, combating extremism and fostering dialogue on norms and principles relating to inter-faith practices and co-existence.
Both sides agreed to undertake joint activities focusing upon tolerance, Islamophobia and an effective dialogue between the West and the Muslim World. The two organizations also agreed to intensify the exchange of information and benefiting from each others experience in the fields of conflict management and good governance. The two Secretaries General would also strive towards the establishment of an OIC-OSCE Joint Forum.
Jeddah, 25 March 2006
*************************************************************************** {Invite (mankind, O Muhammad ) to the Way of your Lord (i.e. Islam) with wisdom (i.e. with the Divine Inspiration and the Qur'an) and fair preaching, and argue with them in a way that is better. Truly, your Lord knows best who has gone astray from His Path, and He is the Best Aware of those who are guided.} (Holy Quran-16:125) {And who is better in speech than he who [says: "My Lord is Allah (believes in His Oneness)," and then stands straight (acts upon His Order), and] invites (men) to Allah's (Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds, and says: "I am one of the Muslims."} (Holy Quran-41:33) The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: "By Allah, if Allah guides one person by you, it is better for you than the best types of camels." [al-Bukhaaree, Muslim] The prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) also said, "Whoever calls to guidance will have a reward similar to the reward of the one who follows him, without the reward of either of them being lessened at all." [Muslim, Ahmad, Aboo Daawood, an-Nasaa'ee, at-Tirmidhee, Ibn Maajah] -------------------------------------------------------------------------- All views expressed herein belong to the individuals concerned and do not in any way reflect the official views of IslamCity unless sanctioned or approved otherwise. If your mailbox clogged with mails from IslamCity, you may wish to get a daily digest of emails by logging-on to http://www.yahoogroups.com to change your mail delivery settings or email the moderators at [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the title "change to daily digest".
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