The third Extraordinary Islamic Summit Conference (OIC) started on Wednesday in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The summit is intended to help unite the world's Muslims and courage OIC countries to increase cooperation and reduce poverty and disease. 57 countries will participate in the two-day summit.

In his speech on Wednesday, King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz called on Islamic states to fight extremism. "Islamic unity will not be achieved by bloodletting as the miscreants -- in their misguided waywardness -- insist on claiming.

"Fanaticism and extremism can not grow on an earth whose soil is embedded in the spirit of tolerance, moderation, and balance. It is here that the Islamic Fiqh Academy, with its overhauled makeup, comes in to assume its historic role and responsibility in resisting the extremist ideology in all its forms and manifestations. Further more, a gradual approach to this end is the way forward to ensure success, which starts with consultation in all walks of life -- political, economic, cultural, and social domains -- to reach a stage of solidarity and, God willing, to a true and fortified unity worked through strong institutions so as to restore the Ummah to its rightful place in the balance of power," the Saudi king said, according to SPA.

Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, OIC Secretary-General, said that neither Iraq nor Kashmir were on the agenda of the conference. He explained that the OIC was intended to review the current state of the Islamic nation and to explore strategies for the Muslim world and enable it to face the challenges of the 21st century.

“The summit will discuss ways and means for the Islamic nation to regain a sense of self-confidence and to enable it to face the dangers that threaten it,” Ihsanoglu added.

© 2005 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)