On Tuesday, 7 February Ursula Plassnik, in her capacity as President-in-Office of the Council of the EU, asked the High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana, to visit the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) in Jeddah (Saudi-Arabia). Mr Solana is to explore with the OIC how best the latter can help reduce the tensions that have arisen in large parts of the Islamic world following the publication in some European media of cartoons featuring the prophet Mohammed.
The OIC is an association of 57 Islamic countries. The Secretary-General of the OIC, Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, has in clear terms expressed his regret at the latest attacks on European embassy buildings and in particular stressed that such acts of violence overstep the boundaries of legitimate protest and should not be repeated.
Foreign Minster Plassnik stressed that an “international consensus against violence” was more important than ever in the current difficult situation. “It is all the more necessary for the moderate forces on all sides to enter into dialogue with each other,” she continued.
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