OIC suspends Syria’s membership

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The Organization of Islamic Cooperation suspended Syria’s membership early on Thursday at a summit of Muslim leaders in Makkah.In a closing statement, the OIC also decided to take to the United Nations the issue of Myanmar’s Muslim Rohingyas, displaced by deadly sectarian violence. It described as a “crime against humanity” the Myanmar government’s handling of minority Muslims and reiterated support for the Palestinians.The statement by the 57-nation group said: “The conference decides to suspend the Syrian Arab Republic membership in the OIC and all its subsidiary organs, specialized and affiliated institutions.”The move had been approved on Monday at a preliminary meeting of OIC foreign ministers and was agreed on the summit’s second night despite opposition from Iran. The two-day emergency solidarity summit was held on Tuesday and Wednesday in the holy city of Makkah.Some of the participants had agreed on “the need to end immediately the acts of violence in Syria and to suspend that country from the OIC.”The final statement said there had been “deep concern at the massacres and inhuman acts suffered by the Syrian people.”Egypt’s President Muhammad Mursi proposed the formation of a committee grouping his country with key players Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to try to find a settlement to the Syrian conflict, a delegate had said.Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi on Monday criticized the move to suspend Syria’s membership of the OIC, saying it would not resolve the conflict and was not in line with the group’s charter.The statement backed cooperation between Muslim states, the fight against divisions between Muslims, promotion of “moderate” Islam and the “fight against terrorism and the thinking behind it.”/129