Dubai: The world`s largest bloc of Islamic countries agreed on Thursday to send a high-level fact-finding mission to the Central African Republic and to appoint a special representative to coordinate efforts with the African Union and the United Nations.
The Organization of Islamic Cooperation`s decision comes as the country`s Muslim minority faces deadly and gruesome attacks from Christian militiamen and mobs. The OIC made the decision in an emergency meeting at the body`s headquarters in Saudi Arabia.
More than 1,000 people have been killed since sectarian fighting erupted in early December and nearly 1 million out of the country of 4.6 million people have fled their homes. More than 1,600 French troops and about 6,000 African peacekeepers are in the Central African Republic.
The OIC said it would "urgently dispatch" its high-level mission to the country to visit the capital, Bangui, to explore the situation, express solidarity with Muslims and to contribute to any peace talks.
OIC Secretary-General Iyad Ameen Madani said entire neighborhoods in the Central African Republic have been emptied of their Muslim populations, with property and mosques destroyed. He said the forced resignation of the country`s first Muslim president only emboldened Christian militias, which he described as criminal gangs that need to be combated.
"With the fast and sharp deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in the country, it has become imperative for a collective and timely engagement of the entire international community to help the new authorities restore order and stabilize the country because of the implications of the crisis on the peace, security and stability of the wider region and even beyond," Madani said.
Guinea`s Foreign Minister, Lounceny Fall, will head the OIC`s delegation to the Central African Republic. He called on the organization to issue a firm statement to call for an immediate end to the "heinous acts" being committed against Muslims. He said the organization must combat intolerance.
