OIC hopeless to end Palestinian crisis

Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia on Friday criticised Palestinian factions over the conflict in Gaza and said the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) was “hopeless'' to end the crisis.

Malaysia's foreign minister said President Mahmoud Abbas' dismissal of the Hamas-led Palestinian government would not help resolve the conflict.

"It's like giving a good excuse to Israel and to those who say there's no need to implement the peace plan," Syed Hamid Albar said in a rare public rebuke of the Palestinians. "It will frustrate the goal to create a Palestinian state."

"The OIC is in the state of hopelessness. We got limits to what we can do," Albar said.

Malaysia has been the chair of the 57-nation OIC, the world's biggest grouping of Islamic nations, since 2003.