26 May 2004 00:10
Russia may get OIC status
ByLine: Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW: Russia may gain observer status in the Organisation of Islamic Conference as early as this summer, the
Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, said here. The breakthrough in year-long talks on Russia's participation
in the OIC apparently came during a visit of an OIC delegation to Moscow last week. "The Chairman and the Secretary
General of OIC have assured us that the formal procedures of granting Russia an observer status may be finalised before
the OIC conference," Mr. Lavrov reported to the President, Vladimir Putin, during his meeting with the Cabinet
Ministers on Tuesday. Russia has been invited to attend the OIC Foreign Ministers' conference in Istambul this
summer, Mr. Lavrov said. Moscow seeks OIC membership in order to erode support for Chechen rebels in Muslim countries
and to build closer ties with the Islamic world at a time it has been alienated from the U.S. by the war in Iraq.
[The Hindu] |
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