| Fourth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ||||
| Host country |  Saudi Arabia | |||
| Cities | Mecca | |||
TheFourth Extraordinary Session of the Islamic Summit was a conference organised by theOrganisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) inMecca on 14 and 15 August 2012.[1] The venue of the conference was Al Safa Palace.[2]
The summit was organised in response to the increased violence as a result of theSyrian civil war.[1]
Nearly all member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation took part in the summit.[3] However, Syria was not invited to participate in the conference.[4] Amongst the participants were host leaderking Abdullah, Turkish presidentAbdullah Gul, Egyptian presidentMohamed Morsi, Jordan'sking Abdullah, Iranian presidentMahmoud Ahmedinejad, Qatari emirHamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, Yemeni presidentAbd Rabbuh Mansur Hadi, Palestine'sMahmoud Abbas, Malaysia'sNajib Razak, Sudan'sOmar al-Bashir, Afghanistan'sHamid Karzai, Tunisian presidentMoncef Marzouki, Pakistani presidentAsif Ali Zardari and Bangladesh'sZillur Rahman.[5]
Discussions centred on Syria and preventing the spread of sectarian unrest that began to be experienced in the region.[6] The king of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah, proposed the establishment of a center for dialogue in order to address the sectarian unrest in the region.[7] It was reported that the center would be established inRiyadh.[8] During the summit, Abdullah called for a dialogue among eight sects: theSunniHanafi,Maliki,Shafi'i,Hanbali and theShiaJa'fari,Zaidi, al-Abazi and al-Zahiri, which exist in thePersian Gulf region, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Yemen and Iraq.[9]
On 16 August 2012, the summit was closed with a call for more unity among Muslim countries and the need to avoid divisive tendencies.[8] The joint decision of the summit was the suspension ofSyria's membership.[7][10] This move was opposed by Iran and Algeria.[11] Both the proposal to establish a dialogue center and its planned headquarter were included in the closing statement of the summit. The closing statement also focused on the question ofPalestine, stating it as the central cause of the IslamicUmmah.[12]
Syrian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign and Expatriates MinisterWalid Muallem stated that the decision over the suspension of Syria's membership was a clear violation of the OIC's charter.[4] Iranian Foreign MinisterAli Akbar Salehi argued in Mecca on 16 August 2012 that the suspension was an unjust move and that Iran did not support this decision.[13] TheU.S. State Department spokeswomanVictoria Nuland commented that the decision over the suspension supports the Syrians and their struggles, and increases the international isolation of the Assad government.[13]
