The 12th summit of OCI: The Moroccan King urges the Islamic nation to use its own assets to stand as a genuine dynamic force

By African Bulletin on February 6, 2013

The King of Morocco has urged Muslim nations to address the endogenous reasons behind the crises facing the Muslim world rather than justify these crises by external factors

The Islamic world should build its own capacity of development and peace, underlined King Mohammed VI in a speech read out on his behalf before the 12th summit meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OCI) convening in Cairo under the theme “Muslim world: New challenges, expanding opportunities”.

The king who surveyed the situation prevailing in the Islamic world deplored the manifestations of extremism and exclusion prevailing in the world and which open wide the gates to all forms of violence and to the proliferation of hotbeds of tension and terrorist activities.

Condemning “extremism, terrorism and separatism” in a speech to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Cairo, King Mohammed VI reminded leaders of Islamic countries that Morocco had “warned the international community, years ago, of the perils looming over the Sahel and Sahara region” and called for “consistent and coherent” international efforts to stem the tide of terrorist activities in the region. He lauded the “firm reaction” by French, Malian and African forces that ended the invasion of Southern Mali and liberated the Northern Mali cities of Gao, Kidal, and Timbuktu from terrorists.

HM the King Mhammed VI expressed Morocco’s support for Mali’s “efforts to preserve its unity and sovereignty.” He said, “Armed radical groups, mostly foreign, illegally and aggressively assailed a fully sovereign country, wreaking havoc and destroying symbols of the cultural heritage of that country, especially in Timbuktu, the spiritual capital of Mali, in an attempt to impose their obscurantist ideology and undermine the Islamic values to which the Malian people have invariably been committed since time immemorial.”

King Mohammed warned that the threat extends beyond the borders of Mali to all countries in the region, and the terrorists’ aim is to destabilize them and undermine their unity. “As we can see,” he continued, “this is a general problem, and as such it calls for a comprehensive solution within the framework of international legitimacy — a solution that builds on resolute, consistent and coherent international efforts and on the use of all means of prevention and support, both from the political and security perspective.”

King Mohammed also reiterated Morocco’s commitment to remain actively involved in international efforts — such as the meeting of the Group of Friends of the Syrian People Morocco hosted recently — aimed at finding a political solution to the crisis in Syria. He directed attention to the humanitarian situation, noting that Morocco has set up a multi-disciplinary field hospital in the Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, and has supplied additional humanitarian aid in Jordan and Turkey to alleviate the suffering of Syrian refugees.

The Sovereign of Morocco expressed his strong view that the international community is now duty-bound to support the political transition process, with the participation of the legitimate representatives of the Syrian people, adding that “no hesitation or procrastination is acceptable any longer.”

In a very deep and forward-looking analysis, the Moroccan monarch has initiated his views on possibilities for an overall architecture of a new renaissance, the Moroccan Monarch has explained how the Islamic nation has significant assets enabling it to stand as a genuine dynamic force and not as a passive spectator.

“Given… our Ummah’s civilizational mission, Islamic countries are today called upon to make a bold, concrete contribution that provides answers to current questionings and concerns, and that helps ensure progress and prosperity for all peoples, guided by the values of coexistence, equality and concord,” he said, pointing out however that for such a contribution to be effective it is necessary that the Islamic world “gives concrete substance to the ideals underpinning its sacred guiding values, strengthens social bonds, promotes its cultural achievements as well as the genius of its people, and fosters tolerant attitudes towards all faiths and cultures.”

From the standpoint of the King of Morocco, the Islamic world should assert itself as “a model that can stand up to the test of positive interaction and constructive dialogue with the world around us, its regional groups, economic blocs, faiths and cultures.”

Such a model will not succeed without a collective involvement, he warned, urging Islamic states to build on their vast, diverse and complementary natural and human resources, to rely on their own capacities and to stop justifying crises by casting all the blame on external reasons or factors.

According to the king of the North African country, the OIC does have the capacity and means to trigger this new dynamic and make concrete proposals to deal with the structural problems bearing within them the seeds of violence. The OIC must be an outstanding vector of solutions, he insisted.

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