Muslim countries prepare for OIC summit on Palestine

Kuwait has announced that Emir Sheikh Sabah al Ahmed al Jaber Al Sabah would head the Kuwaiti delegation to the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Istanbul on Friday, Kuwait’s official KUNA news agency reported.

The summit of Muslim countries will focus on the latest incidents in Gaza, where over 60 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces while they were protesting for the right to return to the homes that were taken away from them 70 years ago.

Sheikh Sabah “will leave the country on May 18 for Istanbul to attend the extraordinary summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation,” KUNA reported.

Jordanian King Abdullah II, meanwhile, will head up his country’s delegation to Friday’s OIC summit, Jordan’s official Petra news agency reported.

In the same context, Egypt announced on Thursday that it will send its foreign minister Sameh Shukry to participate in the event.

At the summit, Shukry will review Egypt’s position on the Palestine issue, the status of Jerusalem, and the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, according to an Egyptian foreign ministry statement.

Meanwhile, Pakistan on Thursday welcomed Turkey’s initiative to convene the summit.

“Pakistan believes that this summit will accord opportunity to the OIC to discuss the grave situation and to come up with a collective response,” Pakistan's foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Faisal told reporters in capital Islamabad during his weekly briefing.

The summit will also likely be attended by Palestinian Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Afghan President Ashraf Gani and Mauritanian President Mohammad Ould Abdulaziz.