"The Muslim nation faces major challenges and enormous dangers which target its cultural foundations and religious beliefs," Saud said.

JEDDAH, December 6, 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – Muslim countries discussed on Tuesday, December 6, plans to promote economic development, tackle grave challenges facing the Islamic world and curb religious militancy.

"The Muslim nation faces major challenges and enormous dangers which target its cultural foundations and religious beliefs," Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal told fellow Muslim foreign ministers, reported Reuters.

Meeting to prepare the agenda of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC)'s summit, due to kick off Wednesday, December 7, in the holy city of Makkah, the ministers discussed a "Mecca Declaration" and a 10-year plan of action to confront the challenges of the 21st century.

The ten-year plan calls for decisive cooperation to deal with "grave political, socio-economic, cultural and scientific challenges" which could hurt the peace and security of the 57 member states.

It also includes calls for better education, faster economic development, more trade, promoting religious moderation, and strengthening the rights of Muslim women.

The plan maintains that the OIC should have greater funding and authority to meet the aspirations of the Muslim nation in the 21st century.

Kings and presidents from the 57-member OIC will meet for a special two-day summit called by Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdel Aziz.

Presidents of Iran, Syria, Sudan, Yemen and the United Arab Emirates as well as the kings of Morocco and Bahrain have already confirmed their attendance.

In addition to the 57 OIC member states and five observer states, 25 independent organisations will also be represented at the summit.

Terror Causes

The ten-year plan condemns "terrorism in all its forms."

It, however, draws a clear line between terrorism and "the legitimate struggle against foreign occupation that does not kill innocent lives".

The draft urges countries to address real causes of terrorism, including foreign occupation, injustice and poverty.

It also calls on OIC countries to "exert all efforts to reflect the true image of Islam as a faith of moderation".

It underlines that no Muslim -- Sunni or Shiite – who follows Islamic teachings could be considered a heretic, and no Muslim should be allowed to issue "unacceptable fatwas".

Prince Saud said the OIC should seek to counter the "harsh offensive on Islam from enemies abroad and some of its own children with deviant ideologies".

He asserted that the OIC's Islamic Jurisprudence Academy "should become the highest reference in jurisprudence ... and put an end to the multitudes of references and conflicting fatwas".

The Saudi minister was referring to religious edicts issued by extremists, including Al-Qaeda in Iraq group, that have tried to legitimize deadly attacks on civilians and political assassinations.

OIC countries should "correct the image of Islam in the world and defend its principles with dialogue and wisdom", he said.

Roadmap

Ihsanoglu, said the 10-year plan "will be a roadmap for Islamic common action".

The OIC's Turkish Secretary General, Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, said the 10-year plan "will be a roadmap for Islamic common action".

It was meant to "confront the massive challenges ... which affect our political, economic, cultural and scientific sectors and which weaken the Islamic nation in the world."

Ihsanoglu cited "conflicts among Islamic states ... the deterioration of development and economic ratios, the increasing poverty and the decrease of the role of the private sector which in turn has aggravated unemployment."

Malaysian Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ismail Ibrahim said the 10-year plan could restore the glory and the self confidence in Muslims, Malaysia’s Bernama News Agency reported Tuesday.

He OIC needs intellectual inputs and strategies and a new approach in thinking to address the changes and modernisation that is taking place in the Islamic world.

The plan proposes comprehensive solutions for overcoming future challenges by taking into consideration political economic, social and cultural aspects of the Muslim nation.

A proposal for expanding the OIC budget is also expected to be presented to the Muslim leaders.

They are expected to approve a name change for the pan-Muslim body to become the Organisation of Islamic Countries.

Ambitious

Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah told Reuters the OIC plan was "very ambitious, well-intentioned plan of action."

"It's a recognition of the need to get our acts together in a better way and move forward".

Abdullah declined to say whether he thought all the aspirations were realistic.

Algeria's presidential representative Abdelaziz Belkhadem said the OIC needed to ensure the declarations could be implemented.

"For 36 years, hundreds of decisions have been taken. Some of them just remain in the office drawer," he said.

The OIC was set up in Rabat, Morocco, on September 25, 1969 in reaction to an Israeli arson attack against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on August 21, 1969.

It groups Muslim nations in the Middle East, North and West Africa, Central Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Indian subcontinent in addition to Albania, Guyana, and Surinam.

In March 1970, the first meeting for OIC foreign ministers was held in Jeddah.

The participants appointed a secretary general and chose Jeddah as the headquarters of the OIC, pending the liberation of Al-Quds, which would be the permanent host.