Manama: The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) that took place in Makkah on Tuesday and Wednesday has stressed in its final communique that Islam is a religion of moderation and openness and that the OIC refuses all forms of extremism and narrow-mindedness.
It called to address the dissemination of perverse ideas by all available means and for the development of the school curriculum to consecrate the Islamic values of understanding, tolerance, dialogue and pluralism, and to build bridges of communication within the Islamic nation and enhance unity and solidarity by holding seminars and conferences that will explain these values. It also called to address extremism in the name of religion and sects, avoiding charges of heresy against the followers of Islamic schools, deepening dialogue between all schools and promoting moderation and tolerance.
The summit said that Muslims should boost their unity and solidarity and promote ways to remove obstacles. Muslims should build their capacity through practical programmes in the political, education, economic and social sectors “to empower themselves to have closer networks both in the present and the future.”
Fragmentation and sectarian sedition should be avoided while credibility in common work should be promoted, it said, adding that the media played a crucial role in helping achieve solidarity between Muslims. The summit stressed that Islam was a religion of moderation and openness and that the OIC refused all forms of extremism and narrow-mindedness.
In an expected move, the OIC suspended Syria’s membership.
“Following the failure to achieve practical results to implement the initiative of the UN-Arab representative to solve the Syrian crisis, the Arab initiative and the decisions of the executive committee of the Organisation of Islamic Conference and due to the obstinacy of the Syrian authorities and their insistence on a military solution, the Summit has decided to suspend the membership of the Syrian Arab Republic from the OIC and all its subsidiary organs and specialised and affiliated institutions,” the summit said in its final communique.
Deeply worried
The OIC said that it was keen on Syria’s unity, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity and that it strongly condemned the bloodshed.
However, it said that the Syrian authorities were responsible for the continuation of the violence and property destruction.
The OIC added in the closing statement at the end of the two-day conference of 57 countries, that it was deeply worried about the deterioration of the situation in Syria and the escalation of the acts of killing that have left thousands of innocent victims dead. It also deplored massacres in cities and villages by Syrian authorities.
“We call upon the Syrian authorities to put an immediate end to all acts of violence, not to use violence against unarmed civilians and end human rights violations,” the statement issued early Thursday morning said.
