FOREIGN ministers of Islamic states gathered in Cairo yesterday to draft an agenda for an Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) summit scheduled to kick off tomorrow. President Mohamed Morsi will inaugurate and assume chairmanship of the conference that groups the leaders or their representatives of the OIC's 56 member-states. It will be the 12 such summit since the OIC was launched in 1969. Egypt will retain OIC and summit chairmanship for three years. Senegal held the organisation's 11th chairmanship. The developments of the Syrian crisis and the situation in Mali are expected to figure high on summit agenda and in deliberations. Foreign ministers worked throughout the day yesterday to hammer out a draft statement, written by senior officials of the foreign ministries of member-states, to be announced by the summit if approved. Syria will not take part in the Cairo gathering since its OIC membership has been suspended by an emergency Islamic summit in Mecca last year. The statement blueprint defines the OIC posture on the issue of Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territories, the situation in Somalia and the overall humanitarian scene in member-states. Senior officials began their meetings here on Saturday. Inaugurating the meetings, the OIC Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Abdullah Alim, said that the Muslim world is pinning high hopes on Egypt's chairmanship of the grouping. “We look forward today with great appreciation to the chairmanship of Egypt, which the Muslim world has high expectations of towards more active joint Islamic solidarity," the OIC Assistant Secretary-General told the senior officials meeting. “Egypt," Alim also said, “is capable of overcoming all the current challenges and moves forward with confidence towards achieving stability, security and sustainable development." “The Islamic world: Fresh Challenges and Growing Opportunities," will be the theme of this year's summit. In addition to permanent political items, the Cairo summit is expected to look into such issues of current and shared concern as Islamophobia and the phenomenon of showing contempt of religions. Distinguishing the economic and social agenda of this year's summit will be a consideration of ways and means to activate poverty reduction measures and to advance the standards of living in the OIC member-states. The summit will also name a new Secretary-General to succeed Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu of Turkey who was elected to the post in 2005. The issue is a bit sensitive though the OIC has followed the rule of rotation between geographical groups. Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr has been quoted by local news outlets as saying that a Saudi Arabian nominee, Iyad Madani, is so far the only candidate for the prestigious post. Madani is a former Saudi Information Minister. So far, 27 of the OIC member-states have already confirmed their participation at the head-of-state level. They include Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, Senegal, Iran, Indonesia, the Sudan and Djibouti. Saudi Arabia will be represented by Crown-Prince Salman bin Abdul-Aziz. Iraqi Prime Minister Nour Maleki will represent his country in the summit, deputizing for President Galal Talbani who is still recuperating in Germany. The United Nations, the African Union, the League of Arab States and the Non-Aligned Movement also participate in OIC summits, and so do some states extended the capacity of observer, including the Russian Federation, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Central Africa and Thailand. As senior officials and foreign ministers of the 56 member-states as well as advance teams for heads of state have been arriving in large numbers over the past three days, security at Cairo International Airport has been tightened and the utility's services have been put on high alert to facilitate disembarkation, visa and customs clearance for the official delegations, said the Airport Security Commissioner, police Brigadier-General Salah Ziadah. Cairo Governor Usama Kamal and senior municipal officials have already inspected the public services and facilities that will be used during the summit. In press statements following an inspection tour on Sunday, Governor Kamal noted that the municipal arrangements are well in place for the big event. Recent demonstrations and protests have kept metropolitan Cairo under stress, especially with regard to street maintenance, traffic control and fuel and power supplies. Preparatory meetings at both senior official and ministerial levels have been held at a suburban Cairo hotel to ensure easy traffic from and back to the capital's international air terminals. Local press reports said the Foreign Ministry has asked the government to sanction LE2.2 million (nearly US$ 300,000) to cover conference arrangements.
