OIC chief to discuss issue of xenophobia with UK government

LONDON: The Secretary General of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) has said that he will raise the issue of rising hatred against Muslims in the West with the British government in his talks on Wednesday.
The Cabinet Minister and Co-Chair of the ruling Conservative Party, Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, has invited Prof Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu for an official visit to the UK. Ihsanoglu will meet Prime Minister David Cameron, Baroness Warsi, Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt, Department for International Development (DFID) Minister Alan Duncan, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Foreign Secretary William Hague and the heads of various think tanks. In an interview with The News Ihsanoglu said his visit offers an opportunity for both the OIC and the UK to take forward discussions on Libya, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Arab Spring, besides exploring areas for closer cooperation.
He said the UK had a tradition of understanding, tolerance and coexistence between different faiths and ethnic groups but regretted that the xenophobic trends against Muslims were on the rise in Europe, and far-right groups were gaining strength.
He said the OIC valued its relations with the UK and agreed that the cooperation between the two had increased in the recent months. He said the appointment of Baroness Warsi in the coalition cabinet had sent a powerful and positive signal to the Islamic world that the UK valued its Muslim communities.
In a sign of how close the OIC and the UK have become, the British government this week appointed FCO diplomat Mohammed Shokat as the UK Special Representative to the OIC, and Baroness Warsi has been invited to address the Council of Foreign Ministers’ meeting on 27-29 June in Astana. The secretary general dismissed the charge that the OIC was a toothless body. “The OIC has been vocal in being the collective voice of the Muslim Ummah. We have spoken in favour of justice for Muslims and non-Muslims alike. Our clout has increased massively and the world listens to our concerns but we have to act on behalf of the Muslim world in a responsible manner. I have taken serious steps to make the OIC and effective organisation.”