OIC Press Release

His Excellency Dr. Abdelouahed Belkeziz, Secretary General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), left Jeddah, today Sunday 11 Zul Qi’da, 1421 (February 04, 2001), for New York to take part in the 4^th U.N.-Regional Organizations High-Level Meeting.

During his stay in New York, the OIC Secretary General will confer with his U.N. counterpart His Excellency Mr. Kofi Annan as well as the Chairmen of the Security Council and the General Assembly. He also plans to have intensive talks with the Secretaries General of numerous international organizations and a host of ambassadors of OIC member states to the U.N. on important international and Muslim world-related issues.

Dr. Belkeziz’s visit to New York, the first since he took office as OIC Secretary General, comes on the heels of a series of meetings he had in Riyadh, last week, with Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd ibn Abdul Aziz; His Royal Highness Prince Abdullah ibn Abdul Aziz, the Crown Prince, First Deputy Premier and Commander of the National Guard; and His Royal Highness Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister. On Saturday, February 03, 2001, the OIC Secretary General had talks in Doha, the State of Qatar, with the Emir Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al-Thani, the current OIC Chairman, and with Foreign Minister Sheikh Hamad ibn Jassem ibn Jabr Al-Thani.

H.E. Dr. Belkeziz is expected back at headquarters in Jeddah, on February 09, instant, to preside over the Islamic Commission for Economic, Cultural and Social Affairs due to convene in Jeddah, February 10, within the framework of preparations for the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers (ICFM) schedule to take place in Bamako, capital of the Republic of Mali, in June, 2001.