Special Report OIC Contact Group Commends the Saudi Call for Dialogue Between the Yemeni Parties The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Contact Group on the situation in Yemen, at its meeting held at the United Nations headquarters, appreciated the invitation of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for dialogue between the Yemeni parties to discuss the recent events that took place in the cities of Aden, Abyan and Shabwa in August 2019, and the response of the Yemeni parties to the invitation out of concern for everyone to act quickly to resolve differences and resume the peace process to reach a comprehensive settlement. Secretary General, Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen pointed out that the OIC General Secretariat is closely following the Yemeni, regional and international efforts related to the Yemeni crisis and ways to activate the peace process which is unfortunately blocked by the Houthi militias by continuing the military escalation both inside
Yemen and on its borders. The Secretary General emphasized that the organization strongly condemns all provocative actions by those militias, especially military actions on the Yemeni-Saudi border,
targeting cities, civilians, and installations inside Saudi territory, as well as commercial ships off the Bab al-Mandab strait and the Red Sea, which constitutes a threat to international maritime navigation.
Call on the International Community to Expedite Assistance to Jammu and Kashmir The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) has called on the international community to accelerate its efforts to provide crucial assistance to the people of Jammu and Kashmir to realize their legitimate rights. On September 25, 2019, the OIC Contact Group on Jammu and Kashmir held a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Secretary General of the OIC Dr. Yousef bin Ahmed Al-Othaimeen said in his speech to the meeting, “this contact group held an emergency meeting on August 6, 2019 at the level of permanent delegates in Jeddah, in the wake of the unilateral actions undertaken by the Indian government to cancel Article (370) of the Indian constitution, which included the special status of Jammu and Kashmir. On the sidelines of the General Assembly, the OIC held several meetings at the level of foreign ministers of the organization’s contact groups on peace and dialogue, Muslims in Europe, the aggression of the Republic of Armenia on the territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan, and the situation in Sierra Leone. The organization also held two meetings at the level of foreign ministers of the or-
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ganization’s contact groups concerned with the situation in Mali and Bosnia and Herzegovina. In his speech to the meeting of the Contact Group on Mali, which was delivered on his behalf by the Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs, Ambassador Yousef Aldobeay, the Secretary General of the organization stressed that although the security situation in Mali is alarming, important steps were taken last year to implement a broken
peace agreement signed by the government and armed groups in 2015. The Secretary General also stressed the organization’s commitment to support Somalia in line with the decisions of the Islamic Summit and the Council of Foreign Ministers, to achieve the goals of the National Development Plan for Somalia. This came in a speech of the Secretary General before the high-level meeting on Somalia, which was held at the United Nations Headquarters.
OIC Journal Sept - Dec 2019
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