Islamic inter-parliamentary union holds congress in Morocco

Morocco will host the second congress of the inter-parliamentary union of the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) next September 24-26.

The decision was made unanimously by the union's executive committee at its 5th session held here over the weekend.

The agenda of the congress will be topped by the issue of Al-Quds, Islamic countries parliaments' contribution to the reform of the general agreement on trade and tariffs (GATT) and inter-civilizations dialogue, 2001 having been decreed by the UNO as the year of dialogue between civilization, head of the Moroccan delegation to the executive committee session, Driss Lachgar told MAP bureau in Cairo.

The committee, which will convene its upcoming meeting in Morocco in the course of this year, agreed that the Sudanese national council resumes its activities within the union following the latest legislative elections in Sudan and hailed the ruling of the Hague International Court of Justice that put an end to a border dispute between Qatar and Bahrain.

It rejected the membership request made by the legislative assembly of Northern Cyprus (Turkish majority), arguing the issue is a matter of dispute between the member states.

The OIC inter-parliamentary union, set up in 1999 in Tehran, Iran, gathers the legislative assemblies of 50 Islamic countries. Its executive committee is made up of Bangladesh, Chad, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Mali, Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Turkey. (MAP)SL/