Shahid heads to Saudi Arabia to attend OIC's extraordinary meeting

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Abdulla Shahid has departed to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to attend the Extraordinary Meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

FM Shahid took to twitter following his departure on Saturday night, writing that his visit is to attend the extraordinary meeting to be held in pilgrimage hub, Jeddah, on Sunday, 15 September.

While the extraordinary meeting was scheduled at the Saudi Kingdom’s request, it is being held to address the “serious” Israeli escalation after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention “to impose Israeli sovereignty on all the regions of the Jordan Valley, the Northern Dead Sea, and the settlements in the West Bank” if he is to be re-elected to the post of PM, revealed the OIC via a statement.

This declaration, OIC deems to be a “new aggression” on the rights of Palestinian people and a “blatant violation” of the UN charter.

FM Shahid wrote in his tweet that Maldives will always stand with Palestine and its “struggle for self-determination”.

The meeting will also focus on taking required, “urgent” political and legal steps to face the “aggressive stand” by Israel and to rally the efforts of Islamic countries though an emergency action plan to confront the issue, through “all possible courses”.

Further calling on all states to reject and condemn the Israeli declaration, OIC via its statement, urged international organizations to work together to compel Israel to stop all unilateral procedures, as void and bearing no legal effect under international law and relevant UN resolutions.

The statement goes on to reads that the declaration will undermine any international efforts to reach justice and achieve lasting and inclusive peace “under the vision of the two-state solution”.

OIC stands with it’s member states to ensure “achievement of the Palestinian people’s legitimate rights according to international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab peace initiative, in favor of the establishment of the independent State of Palestine on the borders of June 1967, with Eastern Al Quds/Jerusalem as its capital” reads the statement.