U.N.: BAN KI-MOON VOWS TO BOOST COOPERATION WITH ISLAMIC CONFERENCE
Praising the cooperative relationship between the United Nations and the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has anticipated strengthening these ties in the years ahead. In a message to the OIC Ministerial Conference meeting in Islamabad, Ban said Tuesday the gathering comes at a crucial juncture.
"Instability in Islamic States - from Afghanistan and Iraq to Sudan and Somalia - carries profound implications for international peace and security,"he said. “The OIC, as a leading multilateral institution, is well placed to play a leading role in addressing all these challenges,” said Ban. “I would especially like to commend the excellent cooperation between the Untied Nations and the OIC.” The Secretary-General said engagement between the two on matters of peace and security “holds tremendous promise,” while joint UN-OIC economic, cultural and social projects are “already yielding significant dividends” in a number of countries. “I look forward to strengthening these ties even further in the months and years to come,” Ban said in the statement, which was delivered by his Special Adviser on the International Compact with Iraq and Other Political Issues, Ibrahim Gambari.
SEE ALSO on the OIC: The Hypocrisy of Islamic States is Breathtaking
SOMALIA PEACE TALKS TO INCLUDE ISLAMISTS
Reconciliation talks in Somalia next month will include Islamists, the Somali president said. Officials said the number of participants would be reduced, citing “insufficient funding.” The president would allow members of the ousted Islamic movement in Somalia to participate in the conference, as long as they were selected by their clans and they renounced violence, AP quoted Italian Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Patrizia Sentinelli as saying, following a visit to the country. Somalia is hoping the conference will bring an end to 16 years of violence.
The Somali government has refrained from inviting Islamists to reconciliation talks in the past. Government forces, with backing from Ethiopian troops, ousted the Islamists from the capital and other strongholds in January. The Islamists had taken control of large parts of the country several months earlier. However, some of the Islamists have regrouped and violence has worsened over the past few months.
More than 1,600 people were killed during March and April and hundreds of thousands have fled the capital in search of a safe haven. ‘Ali Mahdi Muhammad, whom the government appointed to chair the reconciliation talks, said a 29-people committee would be sent across the country’s various provinces to invite participants. Traditional Somali tribal leaders and elders would be independent to choose the envoys taking part in the conference, he said. More than 1,300 people are expected to attend the talks in the Somali capital Mogadishu in mid-June.
Somalia's Union of Islamic Courts Call for Jihad 28/10/06
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