Islamic world body asks joint action against terrorism

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation said the international community should engage in a concerted joint action to combat the scourge of terrorism.

Jeddah: The world's top Islamic body asked joint action against terrorism today, condemning "in the strictest terms" the Paris gun and bomb attacks that killed at least 129 people.

The Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) secretary general Iyad Madani said the international community should "engage in a concerted joint action to combat the scourge of terrorism which has become the arch enemy of humanity at large".

The 57-member grouping's head said he "condemned the attack in the strictest terms" and voiced his "firm rejection of any terrorist act" that undermines "universal human values including the values of freedom and equality that France has consistently promoted".

Madani "reiterated the OIC's principled and consistent position in condemning terrorism in all its forms" and the grouping's "unwavering solidarity and support for France at these critical and painful circumstances".

The OIC is based in Saudi Arabia's port city of Jeddah.

The Islamic State jihadist group, which has seized territory in Syria and Iraq, claimed Friday's attacks on some of the French capital's most popular nightspots, including a concert hall, restaurants and bars and outside the national football stadium.