ISTANBUL - The joint communique of the 31st Session of the Islamic Conference of the Foreign Ministers in Istanbul, said that the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) Convention on Combating International Terrorism was ratified, and called on member states to follow up the convention and expedite their signing.
Stressing that the Islam was innocent of all forms of terrorism which involved the murder of innocent people, the joint communique said, ''we reject any attempts to link Islam and Muslims to terrorism because the latter has no relation whatsoever with religions, civilizations or nationalities.''
''We strongly condemn the perpetrators of these heinous terrorist crimes, who pretended to act in the name of Islam or under any other pretext. We call upon all states not to grant asylum to these terrorists, and to take all necessary measures to help bring them to justice,'' it said.
Affirming the determination of member states to coordinate their efforts to combat all forms and manifestation of terrorism, including state terrorism, directed against all states and peoples, the joint communique said, ''we reaffirm that the struggle of peoples under colonialist domination or under foreign occupation, for their national liberation or to regain their right to self-determination, does not constitute an act of terrorism.''
The joint communique said, ''we call upon member states to follow up the OIC Convention on Combating International Terrorism and expedite their signing and/or ratification of the convention.''
''We invite member states to stress the need for convening an international conference to define the meaning of terrorism and to distinguish it from people's struggle for national liberation,'' it added.
(UK-AÖ) 16.06.2004