SANA'A, Yemen, June 29, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – The ministerial meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) Wednesday, June 29, resumed its second day of meetings in the Yemeni capital, Sana'a, with reforming the 57-member body and seeking a louder Muslim voice in international affairs topping the agenda.

Addressing the inaugural session Tuesday, June 28, OIC Secretary General, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, announced his determination to push for "real reform" in the Islamic bloc's internal affairs, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

"I want to push for real reform in the organization, not just a superficial one ... to enhance capabilities and improve performance," he said during the inaugural session, which was held amid tight security measures and away from the press.

Ihsanoglu told the conference that his ambitious plans also provided for the introduction of "real reform" in the Islamic bloc's internal affairs.

The Turkish secretary general also proposed finding a new name for the organization that would reflect what he called "its reality".

OIC was given its current name when it was first established at a meeting of Islamic leaders convened in Morocco following an attempt by Jewish hardliners to burn down Islam's third holiest site - Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque.

The Red Sea city of Jeddah in Saudi Arabia hosts the headquarters of the OIC, "pending the liberation of Jerusalem, which would be the permanent headquarters," according to the OIC Web site.

The OIC was entrusted "in absolute priority, with liberating Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa from Zionist occupation," it adds.

But Ihsanoglu wanted to "revisit the OIC's convention and rewrite it in a way that would serve the interests of the (Islamic) nation." He also wanted to reform the OIC in order to "guarantee that its political decisions do not remain wishes."

"The Islamic world is in need of a renaissance .... Development and reform are the real guarantees for the continuity of our nation, and to bridge the gap between us and the advanced world," he said.

Proposed reforms also include "Islamic solidarity," especially in facing natural disasters such as last December's tsunami, which exposed the lack of an OIC mechanism to cope with such catastrophes.

On December 26, the world's biggest earthquake in 40 years struck off Indonesia's westernmost province of Aceh, unleashing tsunamis which killed 220,000 people in nations around the Indian Ocean, several of them predominantly Muslim.

OIC ministers are discussing reforms.

Seeking a greater role for Muslim countries in world affairs and a permanent representation on the UN Security Council also figured high on the second days' discussions.

"The Islamic world, which represents one fifth of total mankind, cannot remain excluded from the activities of the Security Council which assumes a fundamental role in keeping security and peace in the world," Ihsanoglu told the meeting, according to AFP.

Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari, however, said the demand was unlikely to be fulfilled.

"It is a good idea, but difficult to achieve. Countries like Germany and Japan have a better chance of getting in," he told AFP.

"These countries started lobbying earlier" in comparison with Muslim states like Egypt and Pakistan, which are also aspiring to join the Security Council, he added.

The five permanent members of the Security Council are Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

On another front, Iraq called on its neighbors Wednesday to make a bigger contribution to restoring security in the face of what Zebari termed "a raging insurgency" that has seen daily bombings and shootings.

"The Iraqi request is clear. We believe that our neighbors can play an influential role in helping to stabilize Iraq," Zebari told counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting of Islamic foreign ministers in Yemen.

"Until now, we have not received such support. We hope that there will be a new trend towards cooperation in security matters, as well as in economic and commercial affairs."

Iraq's neighbors last held a meeting on April 30 in Istanbul during which they pledged support to Baghdad authorities and vowed to increase security cooperation.

The minister called on Islamic countries to "condemn explicitly acts of terrorism in Iraq and the attempt to sow sedition between the different religious communities".

Zebari also demanded a higher diplomatic representation of Islamic countries in Iraq, where few have posted full ambassadors.

Moving to the issue of the Muslim Thai South, the OIC reassured Thailand, which enjoys observer status in the group, that its forthcoming official report on the Kingdom’s troubled deep South would be “impartial” and reflect “realities”, the Thai Foreign Ministry said, according to The Nation paper.

During their meeting before the OIC’s ministerial conference, Ihsanoglu told Thai Foreign Minister Kantathi Suphamongkhon that any document issued by the Muslim world body and dealing with the insurgency in Thailand’s South would be a fair appraisal of the violence in the region as documented by an OIC fact-finding mission.

The secretary-general reiterated the organization's earlier promise that its official position on Thailand’s Muslim-dominated deep South would respect Thai sovereignty and adhere to principles of non-interference, Foreign Ministry spokesman Sihasak Phuangketkeow told the daily.

Sihasak said the secretary-general was pleased with the outcome of the fact-finding mission to Thailand headed by Syed Qasim Al-Masri, a former assistant secretary-general of the organization.

The heavy-handed policies by Thai police and armed forces toward the Muslim South had brought harsh criticism from international organizations, including the OIC.