Jakarta (ANTARA News) - The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) during its extraordinary summit in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, on August 14-15 is to discuss the possibility of suspending Syria`s membership in the organization, Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said.

"More concrete steps need to be taken to end conflict in Syria. The United Nations and the international community need to create peace in Syria," said Marty here on Wednesday.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has expressed concern about the ongoing conflict in Syria that has claimed the lives of hundreds of civilian.

"What is happening in Syria right now is very grave. I see that the number of victims is still rising and there has been no sign of an effective solution from Kofi Annan (the UN-Arab League special envoy) and the UN Security Council," President Yudhoyono said at his office here last Thursday, in response to deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Arab country.

He noted that the conflict was in its 16th month and hundreds of lives had been lost.

The President expressed concern about the failure of the UN Security Council to "facilitate an agreement and end the ongoing tragedy".

"Actually I have already sent a recommendation to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. It is understandable that the UN has difficulties in resolving the protracted conflict in Syria," he said.

President Yudhoyono stated that veto-wielding countries, which enjoyed a lot of power in the UN Security Council, must soon find a solution to prevent the number of victims from rising any further.

He said the settlement of the conflict in Syria was a "common moral responsibility", adding that global community must make more efforts to put an end to it. (A051/S012)

Editor: Kunto Wibisono
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