The leaders of the world’s biggest Islamic body are anticipated to approve the hanging of Syria’s membership in spite of the objection of Iran, further setting apart President Bashar al-Assad.
Assad faced another diplomatic blow after the foreign ministers of member countries in the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) are in agreement at a meeting on Monday in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to set aside Syrian membership in the international body, a step opposed by Assad’s Shiite Muslim ally Iran. “The foreign ministers agreed in theory to set aside Syria’s membership,”
The formal decision concerning Syria to be made by the OIC leaders calls for a two-thirds absolute majority, implying that Iran alone won’t be able to overcome the motion. “The formal decision to set aside Syria’s membership is probably to be made on Wednesday. The decision won’t be made by consensus but by absolute majority,” an OIC source confirmed. The meeting will be held in Mecca.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu has pressed a bigger role for the OIC in looking for ways to cease the 17-month violence in Syria accompanying the resignation of the United Nations peace envoy to the war-torn country.
Davutoğlu told reporters in Jeddah accompanying Monday’s meeting to talk over urgent issues in the Islamic world that Turkey had noted the sufferings of Syrians and urged the OIC to take immediate action when United Nations envoy Kofi Annan resigned last month.
Speaking in İstanbul ahead of his trip to Mecca, Turkish President Abdullah Gül told the OIC leaders will talk about the degenerating situation in Syria, possible solutions and the affect of the crisis on regional and international peace and security.
