Pakistan would definitely rise: Sudanese Envoy

I AM impressed by the natural beauty and greenery of Pakistan. This is indeed a blessed land. It is full of natural resources. With peace and stability, foreign investment would be massive. The nation is full of talent and hardworking people. It is destined to rise no matter the difficulties and challenges the people are facing. I will always remain a friend and well-wisher of Pakistan.

These were the highlights of a farewell interview with the outgoing Ambassador of Sudan Mr. Mohammed Omer Musa who shared with Pakistan Observer some interesting moments of his diplomatic life while serving in Islamabad.

When Musa was told that he would be stationed in Pakistan, many friends in the media were worried. The media projected Pakistan negatively due to law and order situation. However, When Musa arrived to Islamabad as a member of a military delegation, he assumed his duties as Ambassador of Sudan to Pakistan in the same day.

Additionally, the Prime Minister Sayed Yusuf Reza Gilani gave him the surprise of his life when he invited him to Iftar-Dinner party before presenting his credentials. The prime minister also was keen to seat him on the main table. The message of amity and goodwill to him and Sudan was conveyed in the best possible and powerful manner.

Among sincere friends, protocol can wait.

Musa immediately realized how wrong was international media and how lively is Pakistan, its leaders and people. Those moments would always live with him. They made him determined to promote the bilateral relation in every field.

Overwhelmed by the love and affection shown to him, Musa made a comprehensive plan to lift the relations. He made a comprehensive plan to activate the ties. Before he arrived to Pakistan, the last meeting of the Joint Ministerial Commission was held in 1996. Musa immediately worked on resuming the meeting of JMC and was successful in holding the meeting in March 2010. A compressive mechanism was devised by JMC to promote the relations in economic, trade and cultural ties.

The business community in Pakistan has also responded by investing in Sudan. In next August, an investment delegation would visit Sudan to sign an agreement on joint investment.

For Musa, geographic distance is no hindrance to trade and investment. The ties between the two countries and people are deep-rooted and based on common history, culture, customs, traditions and religion.

One characteristic of the bilateral relations is that they remain steady and have never been affected by political changes in the two countries. This would further help invigorate the ties to the benefit of the two peoples.

Having been fascinated by the natural beauty of Pakistan, Musa visited major cities including Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Faisalabad, Muree, Peshawar, Charssada, Naushehra, Gilgit- Baltistan and Hyderabad. He also attended social functions by the civil society including wedding parties and was highly impressed by the local traditions, colours, songs and the strong family bonds in the Pakistani society. Musa was particularly moved by the warmth and generosity of the people. Resultantly, he never felt living away from his country.

Answering a question about a memorable occasion in his life while in Pakistan, Musa narrated his visit to Skardu. He, along with other diplomats were invited to attend an investment conference by the government of Gilgit-Baltistan.

The conference was supposed to last two days. However, bad weather compelled the delegates to stay for five days. During the extra three days, the prime minister of Gilgit-Baltistan made an elaborate programme to show the delegates various places in the area and to enjoy breath-taking scenes of majestic nature. He thanks his stars for the most valuable delay.

During the 2010 flooding, Musa accompanied the Sudanese relief team and mixed with the people affected by the flood. He personally supervised distribution of the reliefs among the affectees. He also recommended that Sudan should build a hospital in Sindh as a token of goodwill from the government and people of Sudan.

Musa expressed special thanks to the foreign office for their cooperation and interests in strengthening the bilateral relations especially to foreign secretary Salman Bashir and Additional Secretary for Africa and the Middle East Mr. Muhammad Aslam.

His last message is : Be steadfast and don’t worry. Work hard. And with your talent and dedication, Pakistan would definitely rise.

Source http://pakobserver.net/detailnews.asp?id=99071

Pakistan's problem is that we did not make it British enough

Having told the Indians last year that Pakistan was basically a nest of terrorists, David Cameron has now told an audience of academics in Pakistan that the real problem is Britain! Not just Kashmir, he said, but pretty much all the world’s problems are our fault.

He really does like to please an audience. For once I agree with Tristram Hunt, the Labour MP and historian, who said: “To say that Britain is a cause of many of the world’s ills is naïve. To look back 50-odd years for the problems facing many post-colonial nations adds little to the understanding of the problems they face.

“David Cameron has a tendency to go to countries around the world and tell them what they want to hear, whether it is in Israel, Turkey, India and Pakistan.”

Peter Oborne is also correct in pointing out that apology does not make good diplomacy. It might make the people in the room like Cameron personally, because he has helped to reinforce a narrative which they hold dear, or which they benefit from – that Pakistan was hard done by and Britain (and India, of course) is to blame for its various failings. But that is just a narrative; Britain did many good things in southern Asia, and many bad things. Where two countries have an unambiguous history, then such contrition may be appropriate – the German chancellor in Israel, for instance – but Britain’s relationship with Pakistan is more nuanced. After all, as Oborne says, we did give them “parliamentary democracy, superb irrigation systems, excellent roads, the rule of law, the English language and, last but not least, the game of cricket”.

Apologising only builds the negative narrative, so that Pakistanis keen to play on the downsides of British rule can now say to their countrymen: “Look, even their prime minister says so.” That’s human nature. And apologising while handing over hundreds of millions of pounds in aid certainly does not encourage gratitude – only resentment.

Of Oborne’s list the most important, by far, is the rule of law. The reason the world speaks English today, not Urdu, Persian or Arabic, is that England, and a host of other, smaller countries in north-west Europe, were able to undermine traditional family, clan and religious structures and loyalties to create societies with wide circles of trust. England, the Netherlands and Denmark in particular were able to forge nation-states in which men did not rely on clans or religious leaders for protection; this rule of law, and the creation of a strong national (rather than tribal) identity, helped to bring about astonishing growth in trade, transport, education, science and medicine.

Those former colonies which have most flourished are those that have mimicked Britain. Pakistan, alas, is not one of them. Parliamentary rule did not survive military coups and Pakistan took the retrograde step of introducing Islamic law. The country has not looked forward since.

Today the constitution states that “no law shall be enacted which is repugnant to the injunctions of Islam as laid down in the Koran” while the Federal Shariat Court has the power to examine whether bills comply with Islamic law (England still has some idiosyncratic religious elements in its constitution, such as bishops in the Lords, but imagine, for instance, if a body of Christian scholars could veto legislation if it contradicted Leviticus). Meanwhile Pakistan has made little progress in nation-building, tribal loyalty is supreme, and cousin marriage – an absolute guarantor of national failure, since it retards the development of civil society – is widespread. Meanwhile the country is rated 143rd on Transparency International’s corruption index (a good measure of civil virtue, which itself is a fairly good measure of national loyalty), which means that for all the good our aid money will do, we may as well build a new Millennium Dome. Out of chocolate. In the Western Isles.

If Britain owes Pakistan an apology, it is for not doing enough to make it more British.

Source http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100082662/pakistans-problem-is-that-we-did-not-make-it-british-enough/

Public representatives urged to monitor National Emergency Action Plan

In a PILDAT arranged National workshop on the National Emergency Action Plan 2011 for Polio Eradication, Parliamentarians and MPAs from all Provincial Assemblies believed that public representatives should effectively monitor and oversee the National Emergency Action Plan 2011 for Polio eradication. “To eradicate polio a nation- wide awareness campaign should be launched with effective participation of Parliamentarians and media,” said experts in the National Workshop. A strategy through which both public representatives take a pro-active role in overseeing the programme as well as Federal and Provincial Governments inform legislators ahead of campaigns to ensure legislators involvement and oversight is crucial to ensuring the success of the National Emergency Action Plan, said Parliamentarians and MPAs. In 2011 so far 24 cases of polio have been detected across Pakistan which is twice as compared to 12 in the same period in 2010 – an alarming scenario believed experts and legislators, and requires effective measures to counter the spread as well.

Ms. Fozia Ejaz Khan, MNA and Vice President Parliamentary Caucus on Immunization, chaired the session. Other speakers included Mr. Tariq Fazal Choudhary, MNA, General Secretary Parliamentary Caucus on Immunization, Mr. Wazir Baig, Speaker, Gilgit Baltistan Legislative Assembly, Dr. Abdul Khaliq Achakzai, MPA and Provincial Minister for Youth Affairs, Balochistan, Dr. Asad Ashraf, MPA, Convener, Parliamentary Caucus to promote Immunization In the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab, , Mr. Anwar Ahmed Mehar, MPA, Convener, Parliamentary Caucus to promote Immunization in the Provincial Assembly of Sindh, Mr. Moin Aamir Pirzada, Convener, Parliamentary Caucus to promote Immunization in the Provincial Assembly of the Sindh, Dr. Azhar Abid Raza, Health Specialist, UNICEF, Mr. Agha Ishfaq, Deputy National Programme Manager, EPI, Government of Pakistan and Ms. Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director PILDAT.

Ms. Fozia Ejaz Khan stressed on the need for public representatives to take interest and work in their own areas to make immunization campaign a successful mission. “Media should run effective awareness campaigns especially an on FM radio that is the main source of information in FATA and other remote areas,” she added. Till we all work on this eradication mission as a national duty regardless of pay and perks and remuneration, unfortunately, this too shall remain a disaster, she said. While chairing the session she said that small pockets of areas should be targeted and campaigns should run in periodic manner to make it more result oriented. She stressed on revision of the honorarium for the field workers associated with the polio campaigns. Religious leaders should be involved in awareness campaigns to overcome misconceptions.

Dr. Azhar Abid Raza, while speaking on the occasion, said that Pakistan is one of the only four (4) countries in the world where polio still exists and Pakistan is the only country where number of polio cases is rising as seen in 2010. He told that 144 polio cases were found in 40 districts across Pakistan in 2010 while during the same period last year in Afghanistan 4 cases were found, 12 cases were detected in India and only I case was found in Nigeria. In 2011, while not a single case has been detected so far in any of these countries, Pakistan has already seen 24 reported as compared to 12 in same period last year. He believed that persistent operational challenges include security and access in FATA, KPK, and Balochistan, increasing fatigue, service delivery and quality, accountability and lake of awareness are major challenges though he believed if public representatives put their weight behind the campaign and effectively oversee and coordinate, Pakistan too can stop the spread of this virus.

Talking on the strategies to implement the National Emergency Action Plan, Agha Ishfaq, briefed that FATA, Central Punjab, Quetta, Qilla Abdullah, Karachi, Hyderabad and Jacobabad are high risk areas in Pakistan. He believed that polio coverage in far off areas is not satisfactory which needs to be addressed properly. He said that migrated population is yet another source of polio virus transmission. He admitted that over 250,000 children are still inaccessible in FATA. He stressed that a plan on districts level should be prepared which should be focused on local needs. Campaigns for 33 high risk districts was launched in 2010 but there is still 1% missed areas in KPK, Balochistan and Sindh while missed areas in FATA are 2%, said Agha Ashfaq in his presentation.

Mr. Tariq Fazal Choudhary, MNA appreciated PILDAT for highlighting issue of such national importance. He believed that it is not necessary that all polio cases are reported across Pakistan and the ground realities could be much more drastic as presented by the experts today. He stressed that health departments need to coordinate campaigns with public representatives and it’s a sorry state of affairs that despite efforts, effective coordination is still missing in this crucial area.

Mr. Wazir Baig said that all our efforts should be continued to eradicate polio from Pakistan as well as to maintain polio-free status of areas such as Gilgit-Baltistan. He said that no polio case has been registered in Gilgit Baltistan for some years due to the efforts made by health department and NGOs. He said that legislators of Gilgit Baltistan are also actively involved in polio campaigns.

Dr. Abdul Khaliq Achakzai, believed that of the spread of polio in Pakistan should be declared as the most important national emergency. He believed that in Balochistan, Qilla Abdullah is marked as high risk area because it is on the border of Afghanistan and the union councils in which these cases were reported, all are on the border. He believed that the people have misconceptions about polio vaccination which need to be addressed. He said that health department never involves public representatives in immunization campaigns. He stressed that far flung and border areas should be given special attention.

Dr. Asad Ashraf believed that until all children of Pakistan are not vaccinated we should not relax. He said all the countries except 3 Muslim countries are polio-free except India and in India the most hit province is Bihar which is a Muslim majority province. He believed that it is because of misperceptions among Muslims regarding polio vaccine. He especially shed light on Government of Punjab’s lead in testing polio vaccination and then making sure only effective and quality vaccine is used in Pakistan.

Mr. Anwar Ahmed Mehar was of the opinion that if polio is decreasing in Afghanistan why it is on rise in FATA. He said that awareness campaign is the most important factor in the efforts of eradicating polio and public representative can play a very important role in this regard. He stressed that misconceptions can also be removed by creating awareness among masses.

Mr. Moin Aamir Pirzada believed that public representative should take a pro-active role and personally get involved in polio eradication campaign, demand from health officials to inform them ahead of campaigns and personally be part of campaigns. It is unlikely that once effective oversight of representatives is there, virus could still spread.

Introducing the Session, Ms. Aasiya Riaz, Joint Director-PILDAT, said that PILDAT has facilitated the formation of Immunization Caucuses for National and Provincial Legislatures in order to facilitate the public representatives and to enhance their awareness and involvement into immunization campaigns. The continued transmission of poliovirus in Pakistan has become a national emergency. Pakistan now risks becoming the last remaining reservoir of endemic poliovirus transmission in the world, and the only remaining threat to achieving global polio eradication. In the light of the situation and its national and global implications, the President of Pakistan has directed the immediate development of an emergency action plan for polio eradication in Pakistan. The Goal of the Emergency Action Plan is to stop transmission of polio in Pakistan by the end of 2011. PILDAT’s objective of holding the National Workshop on the National Emergency Action Plan 2011 to Eradicate Polio is to discuss the importance and need of the plan, to review the strategies for its successful implementation, to identify what role Parliamentarians can play for the success of the plan and to sensitize the civil society and media on this serious issue. She thanked honourable public representatives who especially travelled from across Pakistan to be part of the Workshop.

Source http://www.sananews.net/english/2011/03/29/public-representatives-urged-to-monitor-national-emergency-action-plan/

Pakistan, India must set up counterterrorism centres

The two-day strategic seminar organized under Aman Ki Asha concluded here on Wednesday with the conclusion that war is not an option for India and Pakistan.

The seminar was organized under the Aman Ki Asha initiative of the Jang Group and the Times of India for devising ways and means of reducing the acrimony that has thus far marked relations between the two countries and turn a new leaf in the ties for the mutual benefit of the people of the two countries.

The two-day seminar deliberated on a plethora of issues which promised lots of positive developments. The seminar was marked by lectures and closed sessions to discuss various issues like trade, counter-terrorism, and others. At the end of the conference, recommendations were made for starting a new chapter in the ties, which are listed below:

Conclusions and recommendations

1. War is not an option. The two sides should formulate policies, which should make war impossible.

2. Terrorism is a common enemy of the people of India and Pakistan. The governments of Pakistan and India must coordinate to combat terrorism and in this context, a joint mechanism agreed to in Havana needs to be strengthened by establishing Counter Terrorism Centres (CTC).

a) It is proposed that CTCs be established in New Delhi and Islamabad as a way to institutionalise cooperation against terrorism.

b) The mandate of CTCs would include regular communication, early warning, exchange of actionable Intelligence, monitoring of terrorist organisations, joint training in counter-terrorism and potentially joint responses/operations.

c) The CTCs would be headed by a secretary-level officer and include senior officers from all the intelligence and criminal investigation agencies.

d) There would be a dedicated hotline between the CTCs and there would be monthly meetings between the heads alternatively in Islamabad and New Delhi.

3. To promote stability and peace in the region there is a need to implement all the confidence building measures, which have already been agreed to between Islamabad and New Delhi.

4. The Pakistan and Indian governments should move ahead for the resolution of the pending issues like Sir Creek and Siachen Glacier.

5. Jammu & Kashmir remains one of the critical issues between the two countries and they should work for its early resolution, taking into account the wishes of the people of Jammu & Kashmir.

6. Back channel needs to be revived at the earliest date.

7. There is a need for more civil society-led peace initiatives, like Aman Ki Asha, which would build public opinion and strengthen the hands of the two governments to resolve all outstanding issues.

8. The Indus Water Treaty has stood the test of time for more than five decades. There is value to utilising the existing provisions of the treaty for more optimal use of the water resources of the Indus River Basin.

9. The challenges of water scarcity and environment degradation must be addressed at the regional level.

These recommendations were accepted unanimously.

10. There is a need to develop an integrated energy plan for the provision of electricity and natural gas for South Asia.

11. The two countries should provide a level playing field to one another to boost trade and economic ties. For this, Islamabad should work to give most favored nation status to India, while New Delhi should remove the non-tariff barriers that will ensure a multi-fold increase in mutually beneficial trade.

12. There is a need to take bold initiatives in order to liberalise visa regime between the two countries. Practices like police reporting and city-specific visas should be done away with.

Source http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=4496&Cat=13&dt=3/10/2011

Civil society protests against killings in Lahore

Hundreds of protesters belonging to civil society, trade unions and legal fraternity staged a protest demonstration at Chur Chowk here on Tuesday against US national Raymond Davis who allegedly killed three Pakistanis in Lahore.

Holding placards with slogans against Raymond Davis, the demonstrators blocked traffic for more than an hour and demanded justice for victims. They said that the government of Pakistan should not succumb to the US pressure and punish Raymond Davis according to the law of the land.

The protesters said that Shumaila Kanwal, who committed suicide on February 6 in an attempt to secure justice for her husband allegedly killed by Raymond Davis in Lahore, was the daughter of the whole nation. They said that it was now the responsibility of Pakistani leadership to give justice to the families of the victims.

Shumaila Kanwal was the widow of Muhammad Faheem, one of two men who were allegedly shot and killed last month by Raymond Davis.

Azhar Mir, a social activist, while addressing the protest rally, said that police were trying to prove the two men criminals because of the US pressure. “All members of civil society are with the family of Shumaila Kanwal and they will not allow anyone to let Raymond Davis leave Pakistan,” he added.

He said that it was a test case for the federal and Punjab governments and if anyone would let Raymond Davis back to his country he would face public wrath, as Pakistanis were against the killing of innocent people. “The government should clarify its viewpoint and tell the nation about the status of Raymond Davis,” he said, adding that the media was playing a very important role and portraying the true picture of Americans.

Malik Humayun, another member of civil society, said: “Our government should not give immunity to Raymond Davis, as he is not a diplomat. No one has the right to kill any Pakistani. We trust our judiciary, but our leaders are under immense US pressure If Raymond Davis is released, every Pakistani will come out in the streets to protest against the government.”

Source http://www.thenews.com.pk/TodaysPrintDetail.aspx?ID=30204&Cat=6&dt=2/9/2011

Pakistan moves to disarm

Worried about ongoing targeted killings and growing gun violence, civil society organisations have started a de-weaponisation campaign in Karachi, and the Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has filed a bill in the National Assembly seeking de-weaponisation across the country.

Last year was one of the most violent in Pakistan's history, with 801 people killed in Karachi alone. That is the most murders since 1995, when 1,742 people were killed, a Citizen Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) report says.

Some 40 people have been killed in targeted killing since January 13, which led to a partial curfew in parts of the city.

The MQM filed a bill in the National Assembly on January 17 seeking de-weaponisation across the country. The proposed law would ban the production, smuggling, import and use of firearms, ammunition and weapons throughout Pakistan, said Dr. Farooq Sattar, a key leader of the MQM.

The party also suggested forming a parliamentary committee to oversee the process, he said. A public outcry for de-weaponisation has been raised with every new wave of violence in Karachi.

“The present waves of anarchy and lawlessness have necessitated a need to launch a comprehensive de-weaponisation campaign to cleanse the city from the menace of illicit weapons,” said Farhat Parveen.“The present waves of anarchy and lawlessness have necessitated a need to launch a comprehensive de-weaponisation campaign to cleanse the city from the menace of illicit weapons,” said Farhat Parveen, head of the National Organisation for Working Communities (NOWC), a Karachi-based rights organisation.

The disarmament drive -- “Campaign for Peace” -- is run by NOWC with the collaboration of Oxfam-Novib Pakistan, Parveen told Central Asia Online last week. Civil society and professional organisations, traders, political parties and peace activists are part of the campaign, she added.

“Even though it is a difficult task, the disarming of the city is the need of the hour and has to be perused from some point,” Parveen said. Some of the victims of the violence were political activists, but most were apolitical daily wage labourers.

Crime statistics on rise in Karachi

From 2006-09, criminals and terrorists committed 6,894 attacks with illicit arms across the country, killing 9,634 people and injuring 18,788 others. Thousands of others were kidnapped for ransom, Sattar, who is also a federal minister, said.

The number of incidents of violence in Pakistan fell 11% from 2009 to 2010, but violence in Karachi rose 288%, according to a report by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies (PIPS), an Islamabad-based think tank.

Targeted killings in Karachi killed more people than suicide bombings did nationwide in 2010, media reported. Last year 1,208 people died in 335 suicide bombings, while 1,247 were criminally murdered. About 95% of “hit-and-run shootings” in Karachi were carried out with 9mm and .30 calibre pistols, police sources said, adding that these small arms are readily available on the black market.

Some Karachi residents keep around 50 weapons on a single license, Rehman Malik, Federal Interior Minister, said. He added that the government is devising a strategy to stop such abuses.

Central Asia Online has learned that the Sindh Interior Ministry has forwarded a recommendation to the Chief Minister to increase the penalties for possessing illegal weapons and make the possession of illegal weapons a non-bailable crime.

The government is amending Arms Rules 1924 and Pakistan Arms Ordinance 1965, and suggests that the penalty for keeping illegal weapons be increased to 10 years in prison, a senior Interior Ministry official told Central Asia Online.

Security affects businesses, medical care

The worsening security situation has prompted 150 businessmen and their families to leave the country, said Majyd Aziz, former head of Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industries (KCCI). Targeted killings affect businesses as commercial areas close because of violence and riots, Aziz, who is also a leader the campaign to disarm Karachi, said.

A number of physicians from Karachi have also left Pakistan because they were victims of violence, said Dr, Samreena Hashami, an officer of the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA).

The continued re-enforcement of the ideas of militarisation in the educational curriculum, and society’s emphasis on militancy were the main reasons behind the weaponisation of society, said Javed Jabbar, a former federal Minister, involved in the campaign.

“We have to focus on traditional and non-traditional education because non-traditional education including media is promoting violence,” Jabbar said. He added that law enforcement needs to be reformed to make it able to effectively de-weaponize society.

Source http://centralasiaonline.com/cocoon/caii/xhtml/en_GB/features/caii/features/pakistan/main/2011/01/18/feature-01

OIC Secretary General inaugurates 600 Housing Unites for Pakistanis affected by the Floods

The Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu inaugurated the construction of 100 housing unites in D G Khan Village in the Punjab province being the first phase of a project totaling 600 housing unites funded by the OIC in six provinces in the country. The special ceremony was held on Tuesday 11 January 2011 in the presence of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, H. E. Yousaf Raza Gillani and high-ranking government officials, dignitaries and guests.

The housing unites were sponsored using funds contributed by the staff of the OIC General Secretariat and OIC organs in addition to assistance from Cameroon and Guyana. At the ceremony, Ihsanoglu presented a speech in which he underscored OIC assistance for the people affected by the floods that hit Pakistan last year. At the ceremony, the Secretary General received some of the people benefiting from the housing units to be built by the OIC for the people affected by the floods. This project comes in support of the Secretary General's efforts to rally support from the Muslim Ummah and civil society institutions to assist the people of Pakistan affected by the latest devastating floods.

Worth mentioning that the OIC Secretary General had played a proactive advocacy role in raising the awareness among the OIC Member States about the devastation caused by the unprecedented floods immediately after it occurred. And in response to the Secretary General's call for rendering assistance to Pakistan, the Member States governments and civil societies have in total allocated assistance and pledges to support Pakistan which amounted to 1 billion USD out of which a total of 680 Million US Dollars has been committed. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has allocated 250 Million USD in addition to shipment of humanitarian assistance to Pakistan immediately after the floods hit the country, and Turkey which has pledged to allocate 200 Million USD and Iran which has pledged to allocate 100 Million USD.

During the event, the Secretary General also honored the renowned Pakistani artist Mr. Abrar Ul Haq by designating him the first OIC Humanitarian Ambassador. This designation comes in recognition of Mr. Abrar's eminence in philanthropic and social work in his country and abroad to support needy people. It will enable him to promote the OIC humanitarian cause in his country and in other OIC Member States.

Earlier in the day, the Secretary General addressed the 14th Session of the General Assembly of the OIC Standing Committee on Scientific and Technological Cooperation (COMSTECH) which will last three days.

Source  http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/JARD-8D29Y7?OpenDocument