The visiting Secretary-General of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), Dr Ekmelddin Ihsanoglu, and his host Foreign Minister Khurshid Mahmood Kasuri have said they will not support any military operation against Iran because of its instance to move ahead with its nuclear development plans. Addressing a joint news conference here on Wednesday, the two leaders said that these views have already been made known to the countries that matter in this connection.
Kasuri said that during his recent visit to Europe in company of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz these views have been conveyed to political leaders of the EU and told them that "we cannot afford another problem in the Muslim world."
He thought that the region had not recovered from the earlier two operations against Afghanistan and then Iraq. Because of the contagious border with Afghanistan, he said Pakistan had paid a heavy price and the same way Pakistan had common borders with Iran.
He said the avenues for peaceful resolution of American impasse with Iran had not been exhausted, and there were several avenues that could be explored.
Kasuri said that Pakistan had talked to the G-3 - Germany, French and the UK - that has adopted an approach to seek a peaceful solution to the impasse.
Dr Ihsanoglu also said that the OIC supported the stand of the G-3.
Replying to another question, Dr Ihsanoglu said that he thought the recent elections in Iraq were not "complete and comprehensive" as voters in many cities of that country could not participate in the process. He, however, thought it was a starting point.He also stood for the integrity and unity of Iraq, and was also supportive of the people of occupied Kashmir, who wanted a resolution of that long-outstanding issue.
In a written statement, read out at the opening of the news conference, Khurshid Kasuri expressed full support to the OIC chief executive in "restructuring and reform process of the Organisation."
He thought that member states should take OIC "more seriously, through paying mandatory contributions on time and in full", participate in its different meetings at all levels to raise its effectiveness and international stature.
Pakistan looked up to the OIC as a very important Islamic organisation that had espoused national and global Islamic causes, including Kashmir, Palestine and Cyprus, Kasuri declared.
He also agreed with the visiting OIC secretary-general that Charter of the Organisation had become obsolete and outdated and needed to be reformed to make it effective.
Besides the Charter, Kasuri said Pakistan also supported Dr Ihsanoglu's plans to reform the Secretariat and the decision-making process.