Muslim Leaders Meet To Combat Extremism

Mecca - Leaders of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference opened a summit in Mecca Wednesday with a Saudi call for moderation and tolerance and a rejection of extremist violence.

His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam was also in Mecca to attend the summit. Accompanying His Majesty was His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

"Islamic unity would not be reached through bloodshed as claimed by the deviants," Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz said at the inauguration of the two-day summit at Islam's holiest city of Mecca.

King Abdullah, whose country hosts the 57-member OIC's headquarters, was referring to Islamist extremists, notably the al-Qaeda terror network of Saudi-born Osama bin Laden.

He called upon the Islamic jurisprudence arm of the OIC to "fulfil its historic role of combating extremism."

He also called for a reform of educational programmes in Islamic nations, which have been facing a relentless US campaign for changing school textbooks that Washington deemed intolerant.

"Developing the curriculum is essential to building a tolerant Muslim identity ... and to having a society that rejects isolation," he said.

Washington has been pushing for an initiative to encourage democratic reform and economic liberalisation in Arab and Muslim countries in a bid to abate the frustration and poverty on which terror is thought to thrive.

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi, whose country chairs the summit, said the Muslim world is "faced with grave problems that affect the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe.

"We can no longer neglect-these problems or expect others to solve them for us," he said.

Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said Tuesday the summit was meant to counter the "harsh offensive on Islam from enemies abroad and some of its own children with deviant ideologies".

On Tuesday, OIC foreign ministers held a preparatory meeting in the Saudi city of Jeddah to draft the agenda of the summit, which is expected to adopt two main documents: a "Mecca Declaration" and a 10-year "plan of action to confront the challenges of the 21st century".

Saud said the Mecca Declaration would "present a general view of the situation as well as the common aspirations and hopes of our nation".

The Muslim world "calls for forgiveness ... among peoples and for combating injustice, aggression and corruption", he said.  -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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