Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki made this observation to the Indonesian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Retno Marsudi, in a bilateral meeting held on the sidelines of the Ministerial Conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jidda, Saudi Arabia, on Thursday (Jan 21).
According to Al-Maliki, as a country with the largest Muslim population in the world, Indonesia is expected to work on improving its relations with the Islamic countries in the Middle East region.
Indonesia is considered to have the potential to take up various challenges in the region.
Marsudi and Al-Maliki agreed that the biggest challenge for the Islamic world today is tackling radicalization and terrorism. Therefore, the Islamic countries and OIC members must work together to overcome the same.
In addition, the Palestinian foreign minister also appreciated Indonesias support for the Palestinian cause.
He referred to the opening of the Honorary Consul of Indonesia in Ramallah which will be inaugurated soon and will be a strong political support for the Palestinians.
The two ministers, in a meeting held with the Secretary General of the OIC, discussed Indonesias plans to host the Extraordinary Summit of the OIC.
The Extraordinary Summit of the OIC, slated for March 2016 in Jakarta, will be attended by 57 heads of state to discuss the measures taken by the OIC in support of the Palestinian struggle for independence, and to seek a solution to the issue of the virtual siege of the Holy City of Jerusalem.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
