(WASHINGTON, DC) – Today, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia vowed support for a recommendation submitted at the current extraordinary Ministerial Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Jeddah-based Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to suspend Syria's membership in the OIC. 

While addressing the meeting, Prince Dr. Torki bin Mohammed bin Saud Al-Kabeer, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for Multilateral Relations in Saudi Arabia, urged the Islamic community and the world at large not to become a mere onlooker to the human suffering in Syria. During his speech, he recounted the Syrian crisis since March 2011 and depicted the Syrian regime as uncooperative with the Arab and world communities.

The Executive Committee also urged the international community to discuss the situation in Syria during its forthcoming meeting in Djibouti under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter and called on the U.N. to shoulder its full responsibility to put an end to the violence and bloodshed in Syria. The Committee reiterated its strong support for Kofi Annan’s peace plan for Syria and implementation within a specific timetable.

The OIC is a group of 57 Islamic countries that promotes Islamic unity and cooperation. It is the second-largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations.