TASHKENT: Group picture of participants in the 43rd session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) Foreign Ministers council meeting in the Uzbek capital. — KUNA

TASHKENT: Kuwait strongly believes in the joint efforts to spread religious tolerance and fight terrorism, said First Deputy Prime Minister Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Hamad Al-Sabah. Speaking at the 43rd session of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation's (OIC) Foreign Ministers council yesterday, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled, also Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that the session under the theme "Education and Enlightenment: The Path to Peace and Creativity" aimed to bring awareness towards the peaceful teachings of Islam and show the world that our religion has no relation with terrorism by any means.

He said Kuwait was honored to chair the 42nd session of the council for a year, with additional extended six months by the request of Uzbekistan. Kuwait has headed 11 urgent meetings in the time period, seeking to resolve issues facing the Islamic World, mainly terrorism, said Sheikh Sabah.

The Foreign Minister spoke of the Palestinian Cause, noting the increasing suffering of Palestinians as Israel continues to expand the settlements and execute acts of aggression against citizens. He called participants to join efforts to end Israeli violations against Palestinians, in accordance with international laws and the terms of the Arab Peace Initiative. Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled added that Kuwait will host an international conference on the suffering of Palestinian children with Israel's violation of the UN's Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Syrians' suffering

As for the Syrian crisis, he said Kuwait has been exerting efforts to ease the suffering of Syrians affected by the ongoing war. Mentioning the worsening situation in Aleppo, he noted that Kuwait has called on the OIC to hold an urgent meeting on October ninth to discuss the issue. The Kuwaiti official called on the UN and the clashing Syrian parties to apply resolution 2254 to endorse a road map for peace in Syria and achieve a political solution to end the war.

Meanwhile, Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled expressed regret that clashing Yemeni parties did not make the best out of the UN-sponsored Yemeni peace talks held in Kuwait for over 100 days. He also expressed support for the 72-hour ceasefire set to start next Thursday, announced by UN Special Envoy for Yemen Ismail Ould Cheikh Ahmad.

The Senior Kuwaiti official hoped that the ceasefire would be a step towards reaching an agreement to end the war, in accordance with the GCC initiative and the UN resolution 2216. Moreover, he congratulated Iraq on launching the battle to liberate Mosul from the so-called Islamic State (IS). Kuwait always supports Iraq to protect its peace and security against terrorist groups.

Sheikh Sabah Al-Khaled spoke about the suffering of Somalis living in poor conditions. He noted that Kuwait is set to host an international conference to develop education in Somalia. The official also called on the international community to protect the Rohingya Muslim minority against continuous attacks in Myanmar. - KUNA