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Islamic body wants Syria crisis resolved by Muslims

Arab World Materials 30 November 2011 22:12 (UTC +04:00)
The head of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Wednesday the world's largest Islamic body will try to resolve the political crisis in Syria internally and oppose moves to take the issue to the international community.
Islamic body wants Syria crisis resolved by Muslims

The head of the Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) said on Wednesday the world's largest Islamic body will try to resolve the political crisis in Syria internally and oppose moves to take the issue to the international community, Today's Zaman reported.

"We are keen to preserve Syria's safety, security and stability, and insist on rejecting the internationalisation of the Syrian crisis and on working towards resolving it within the broader Islamic family as represented by the OIC," Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu said in the Saudi Red Sea port city of Jeddah.

"We need to reiterate our stand against any internationalisation of the Syrian crisis," he told an OIC meeting expected to focus on Syria's crackdown that has killed more than 3,500 people and drawn global condemnation and sanctions from the Arab League.

Syria's biggest trade partner Turkey suspended all financial credit dealings with it on Wednesday and froze its government's assets, joining the Arab League in isolating President Bashar al-Assad over his military crackdown on opponents.

Under the terms of an Arab League deal aimed at ending the violence, Syria agreed earlier this month to withdraw the army from urban centres, release political prisoners, launch a dialogue with the opposition and admit foreign observers.

United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said he was still hoping Syria would admit observers and avoid sanctions due to be unveiled by Saturday.
European and Arab diplomats say the top United Nations human rights forum will paint a grim picture of events in Syria at a special session on Friday which is likely to condemn the Syrian government for crimes against humanity.

A UN report said on Monday Syrian forces have committed murder, torture and rape against pro-democracy protesters. The UN says more than 3,500 people have been killed since March.

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