49 OIC member states confirm attendance at Jakarta Summit on Palestine

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at http://ift.tt/jcXqJW.

Thursday 03 Mar 2016 - 13:43 Makkah mean time-23-5-1437 Indonesian FM Retno (R) and her Palestinian counterpart Riyad al-Maliki (JP Photo) Jakarta (IINA) – Member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) plan to issue a Jakarta Declaration containing concrete steps to help Palestine, in a summit scheduled for March 6-7. Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi explained that 49 out of 56 OIC member states, represented by their heads of state and or government and ministers, had confirmed their attendance at the 5th Extraordinary OIC Summit on Palestine and Al-Quds Al-Sharif, Jakarta Post (JP) reported. The two-day event will see the manifestation of two documents, namely a resolution containing a political call for Palestinian and OIC unity and a declaration regarding the concrete steps that the OIC countries will take to help Palestine. Retno said Indonesia’s role as a host was based on a special request by Palestine and the OIC, signaling trust in the country’s commitment to solving Palestinian issues. She added that Indonesia's willingness to host the summit was an illustration of its commitment to return the Palestinian issue back to the attention of the international community by picking up the pace of the peace process, which had recently stalled. The minister said the summit aimed to underline both the importance of an internal unity of Palestinian factions, namely Fatah and Hamas, and the need for unity among Islamic countries in supporting the factors required to achieve a peaceful resolution. The situation faced by Palestinians in East Jerusalem is alarming, Retno said, adding that only 36.8 of the population in the area are Palestinian and over 75 percent of these people were reported to be living below the poverty line. In a move to show a concrete commitment to Palestine, Retno said Indonesia was currently in the final process of setting up a representative office in Ramallah, scheduled for inauguration in mid-March. AB/IINA