Britain, OIC agree to develop joint programs

h/t Snaphanen.dk

By GHAZANFAR ALI KHAN | ARAB NEWS

Published: Jun 20, 2011 01:17 Updated: Jun 20, 2011 01:17

RIYADH: The British government has appointed Mohammed Shokat as the UK special envoy to the 57-member Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) in a major bid to boost ties between the two.

The OIC and the UK have also announced plans to develop a joint framework of dialogue and cooperation in selected areas and evinced keen interest to hold regular consultations on issues of common concerns, said a British Embassy spokesman in Riyadh Sunday.

The move to promote relations with the OIC is significant for both sides as Islam is the second largest religion in Britain, with an estimated Muslim population of 2.5 million.

The UK is also a permanent member of the UN Security Council besides being a developed country and the world’s sixth largest economy. On the other hand, the OIC, the second largest inter-governmental organization after the UN, is the collective voice of the Muslim world.

A joint draft statement released by the British Embassy Sunday said Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, OIC secretary-general, held talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Minister William Hague that focused on promoting OIC-UK cooperation.

The OIC chief paid a five-day official visit to London last week on the invitation of Baroness Warsi, UK Cabinet minister without portfolio.

During the visit, Ihsanoglu was also received by Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons Nigel Evans, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Alistair Burt, Minister of State for International Development Alan Duncan, UK Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Mark Sedwill, as well as Shokat, said the statement.

Referring to Ihsanoglu’s talks with Cameron and Hague, the statement said a number of issues of mutual interest were discussed including the further development of OIC-UK relations and cooperation, including thorough regular consultation at various levels.

They also exchanged views on the Middle East peace process, developments in some countries in Northern Africa and the Middle East, such as Libya, Syria and Yemen and the situation in Afghanistan, the statement added.

The OIC chief welcomed Shokat’s appointment and expressed his support for him in consolidating the bilateral relationship.

Ihsanoglu met selected British Muslim personalities and exchanged views about their role and activities in society. He commended the valuable and successful work conducted by the British Muslim community and expressed his strong belief that members would set a good example for Muslims in the rest of Europe.

In addition, the OIC secretary-general got together with ambassadors of OIC member states based in London and met representatives of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, during his trip.

Both sides agreed to develop a joint framework of dialogue and cooperation between the OIC and the UK on selected areas including international political issues, development aid, humanitarian assistance, science and technology, interfaith dialogue and combating intolerance.

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

3 Replies to “Britain, OIC agree to develop joint programs”

  1. “on selected areas including international political issues, development aid, humanitarian assistance, science and technology, interfaith dialogue and combating intolerance.”

    The OIC is telling britain, “Give us your money and your technology and do what we tell you or we will incite the muslim radicals we have created in your country to start blowing stuff up like on 7/7… And if you agree to this we will continue to create violent radicals in your country anyway.”

    It is extortion plain and simple.

    Look what each side gets from this relationship and tell me I’m wrong. The only benifit Britain could possibly get is less terrorism.

    Unfortunately if it works then the OIC countries will continue just as before. And considering the amount of turmoil in the muslim world what would be the point of coming to any agreement with any islamic political entity at this time?

    Britains elected officials are choosing to turn Britain into a client state to the enemies of free speach and democracy.

    This is treason.

    The OIC is a fraudulent entity anyway as the countries that give it its large size do not have muslim majority populations and have joined it in return for money. One member only has 13,000 muslims. It’s an organization based upon the evil prinicpal that might equals right.

    It should be completely ignored by the civilized countries and deals only made with individual members, not the entitiy itself.

  2. and combating intolerance.

    What kind of tolerance do mahoundians usually talk about, when they mention this at all? Just tolerance of their barbaric mahoundianism, of course, which they’ll shamelessly pimp so long as their numbers aren’t large enough for them to behave as they do when they’re a majority, by which time the only “tolerance” for human beings (infidels, that is) they might be willing to talk about is whatever complies with the sharia rules for dhimmitude.

    The way Coptic Christians are treated in Egypt, Christians and Animists in Sudan; Christians, Sikhs and Hindus in Porkistan; Buddhists, Hindus and Christians in Bangladesh; and all non-mahoundians in mahoundian countries ought to be enough evidence of this already to prevent a single Western government from falling into this tolerance-for-islam-only trap. But it’s clear that most Western leaders would much rather continue to pretend that non-mahoundians get as much tolerance in mahoundian countries as mahoundians get in Mona-Sahlinstan (Sweden, that is.)

  3. I can remember when the British leadership had courage enough to defend its people without kissing the feet of the petty tyrants of OIC, the modern Brit is in more need of Tommy Robinson and the EDL then I thought.