DHAKA: The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Sunday decided to form a ministerial committee to handle and monitor the Rohingya issue internationally.
The decision came on the last day of its Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting. Abubacarr Tambadou, Gambia’s attorney general and justice minister, tabled the proposal.
The committee will collect information and evidence for accountability purposes, and will support UN organizations, the International Criminal Court (ICC) and other NGOs working with Rohingya to sustain international political pressure on Myanmar, he said.
Bangladeshi Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali said: “We will come up with a proper formula for the establishment of this committee, and this will be circulated by the OIC secretariat later on.”
Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin, former OIC vice chairman and former Bangladeshi ambassador to Saudi Arabia, told Arab News that the organization “should work as a united force and play a more active role on the world stage.”
He added: “The OIC needs to take a very bold step, and the leadership should come from Saudi Arabia.”
Former Bangladeshi Ambassador Mohammed Jamir said the formation of the committee “will help not only to create pressure, but also political and financial engagement from OIC member states that are keen to resolve the crisis in the shortest possible time.”
The OIC on Sunday condemned Myanmar for its atrocities against Rohingya Muslims, and commended Bangladesh for its humanitarian efforts.
OIC forms committee to handle Rohingya issue
OIC forms committee to handle Rohingya issue
- The Organization of Islamic Cooperation decided to form a ministerial committee to handle and monitor the Rohingya issue on an international scale
- The committee will collect information and evidence for accountability purposes, and will support UN organizations
Germany plays down threat of US invading Greenland after talks
WASHINGTON: Germany’s top diplomat on Monday played down the risk of a US attack on Greenland, after President Donald Trump’s repeated threats to seize the island from NATO ally Denmark.
Asked after meeting Secretary of State Marco Rubio about a unilateral military move by Trump, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said: “I have no indication that this is being seriously considered.”
“Rather, I believe there is a common interest in addressing the security issues that arise in the Arctic region, and that we should and will do so,” he told reporters.
“NATO is only now in the process of developing more concrete plans on this, and these will then be discussed jointly with our US partners.”
Wadephul’s visit comes ahead of talks this week in Washington between Rubio and the top diplomats of Denmark and Greenland, which is an autonomous territory of Denmark.
Trump in recent days has vowed that the United States will take Greenland “one way or the other” and said he can do it “the nice way or the more difficult way.”
Greenland’s government on Monday repeated that it would not accept a US takeover under “any circumstance.”
Greenland and NATO also said Monday that they were working on bolstering defense of the Arctic territory, a key concern cited by Trump.
Trump has repeatedly pointed to growing Arctic activity by Russia and China as a reason why the United States needs to take over Greenland.
But he has also spoken more broadly of his desire to expand the land mass controlled by the United States.
