Saudi Arabia to chair OIC

Saudi Arabian Minister for Culture and Information Iad Madani will become the new Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), as decided on the first day of the 12th summit of the organization in Cairo. Chad decided not to compete for the chairmanship. Incumbent Secretary General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu (Turkey) said that Madani’s appointment will be announced today.

The new OIC chief will start work on January 1, 2014, replacing Ihsanoglku who had been in office for 2 terms.

Leaders of 26 out of 57 states are attending the talks. They urged the Syrian president and opposition to start a dialogue and end violence.

President of Senegal Macky Sall made his last speech before the session started, before passing temporary presidency to Egyptian leader Mohamed Morsi. He called for support of Mali’s sovereignty.

Morsi urged Damascus not to consider personal interests above the national ones. He reminded that 21 Islamic states were in the list of the poorest countries. He emphasized the need for development of education and science.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was the first high-ranking official of Iran to visit Egypt in the past 33 years. President of TunisiaMoncef Marzouki cancelled his visit due to disorders provoked by murder of oppositionist Shokri Belayid.

67-year old Madani used to be the Saudi Arabian Minister for Hajj. He will be the first Saudi Arabia chairman of the OIC. The organization was founded in September 1969 for Islamic social, economic and political solidarity. It is headquartered in Saudi Arabia and has 57 members.