Morshed flies to Azerbaijan tomorrow

Foreign ministry sources said this session of the ICFM bears a special significance as it will do the spadework for the forthcoming Islamic summit, scheduled to be held in Senegal later this year with a number of important issues on the agenda.

The foreign ministers attending the meeting are expected to deliberate on the recent developments in the Middle East and other issues pertinent to the Muslim Ummah, the sources said.

According to the foreign ministry officials, the main issues to be addressed by the ICFM are Palestine and Arab-Israel conflict, Middle East peace process, situation in Iraq and Afghanistan, problem of refugees in the Muslim world, reform of the United Nations, Iran and IAEA, combating international terrorism and combating Islamophobia.

Assistance to LDCs, establishment of Islamic common market, activities of the Islamic University of Technology in Gazipur as well as the restructuring of OIC are also among the topics, officials added.

Bangladesh has the third-largest Muslim population in the world. Moreover, Bangladesh is a member of the OIC Committee on Palestine (Al-Quds Committee) and the OIC Committee on the Philippines (Committee of Eight).

Morshed Khan is expected to articulate Bangladesh's stand on the major issues that concern the Islamic world and call for “solidarity and brotherhood among the Muslim countries”, said an official.

The foreign minister is expected to return home on June 24.