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Bangladesh to plead for Islamic Common Market

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November 9, 2000 

Dhaka (UNB) – Bangladesh, which broached the idea of an Islamic Common Market, will attach highest priority to its establishment during the 9th OIC Summit in Doha, a top official said here today.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina leaves here for Doha, the capital of Qatar, November 11 to lead the Bangladesh delegation at the three-day OIC Summit beginning November 12.

She is expected to call for further strengthening co-operation among the Muslim countries to face the emerging challenges of globalization, Foreign Secretary CM Shafi Sami told reporters at the Foreign Office this afternoon.

The agenda of the Summit broadly includes political affairs, Muslim communities and minorities in non-Muslim countries, legal affairs, information affairs, economic affairs, science and technology, cultural and Islamic affairs.

Sami said Bangladesh delegation would press for safeguarding the interests of the LDCs and call on the OIC countries to undertake concerted efforts within the World Trade Organisation and other multilateral economic negotiations to protect the interest of Muslim countries in general and the Muslim LDCs in particular.

He said free flow of funds and raw materials, easier movement of skilled and unskilled manpower, market access, resource support for micro-credit, poverty alleviation, promotion of health care, education facilities etc. will receive importance in the deliberations of Bangladesh delegation.

The Summit will be preceded by a Senior Officials Meeting on November 8 and a Conference of the Foreign Ministers November 9-11.

The Foreign Secretary said an extraordinary session of the Foreign Ministers will be held on November 9 to discuss the Palestine situation.

He said the Prime Minister will present a comprehensive statement covering various issues concerning Muslim Ummah in general and Bangladesh in particular.

She will reiterate Bangladesh’s position on the legitimate Palestine-Arab rights including the right to establish an independent state of their own with Jerusalem as its capital and the right of the Palestinian refugees to return to their ancestral homes to live in honour and dignity.

Bangladesh will actively support all efforts to promote a culture of peace, which is a pre-requisite for development. It will emphasise the need for complete disarmament, in particular, the destruction of nuclear weapons.

Sami said conflicts, violence, crises caused by various other natural and man-made causes afflicting Muslims in the OIC member countries and elsewhere will also form important part of their deliberations in the conference.

He said Bangladesh will underscore the need for cooperation among the OIC member countries for promotion of science and technology. “We will highlight the achievements as well as difficulties faced by the IIT in Bangladesh.”