Iranian President Mohammad Khatami , left, and Belkeziz right

TEHRAN, May 30 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Foreign ministers from the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) on Friday, May 30, ended three days of talks in the Iranian capital with a call to back Palestinian resistance and Iraqi sovereignty.

The joint declaration issued by ministers and delegates from the 57-member pan-Islamic body declared "solidarity with the resistance of the Palestinian, Syrian and Lebanese people against occupation" and called for the "speedy restoration of full Iraqi sovereignty".

While denouncing "blind violence and terrorism", the group also stated, in a dig at Washington, that "unilateralism and intimidation undermines the cause for freedom and democracy."

They also "rejected the resort to force and unilateral action which undermines freedom and sovereignty of peoples and nations," reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The joint declaration condemned "the continued occupation of the Palestinian and other Arab territories by Israel and its policy and practice of state terrorism against the Palestinian people."

But it made no reference to the internationally-drafted roadmap for Israeli-Palestinian peace, reflecting a huge split within the pan-Islamic body over whether to back the plan.

OIC Secretary General Abdulwahed Belkeziz had said earlier it was "imperative for us to work to ensure wide international acceptance for this plan" - a call that failed to find its way into the final statement.

Syria and Iran, both OIC members, have been the subject of intense United States pressure in recent weeks, fueling fears Washington could be intent on expanding its Iraq invasion.

The statement stressed the "increasing relevance of the OIC in the new international environment and the need for the OIC to review and rationalize its agenda and operationalize its resolutions."

On this, the delegates agreed to "establish an open-ended meeting of senior officials in mid-2003 for this purpose."

The secretary general of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) clashed with Iran when he demanded Tehran discuss a decades-old claim by the United Arab Emirates for three tiny Gulf islands.

The OIC was founded in 1969 and aiming to enable Muslim states to speak with one voice.