OIC Secretary General Othaimeen due tonight

Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Dr Yousef A Al Othaimeen arrives Dhaka tonight (Wednesday night).

The OIC chief who will lead a five-member delegation during the four-day visit will arrive at Shahjalal Airport at 10:40pm, said a senior official.

This will be his first visit to Bangladesh since assuming charge as the OIC Secretary General.

During the visit, Othaimeen will meet President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday.

He will also hold a meeting with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali on the same day at 11 am who will host a dinner in honour of him in the evening.

The OIC Secretary General will visit Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar on Friday to see for himself the situation there.

He will go to the Kutupalong Camp and surroundings in Cox's Bazar and the Rakhine Muslims there to express OIC 'sympathy and solidarity' with them.

This will give the OIC Secretary General an opportunity of briefing from the local administration and representatives of International Humanitarian Organisations working there, said Foreign Ministry officials.

The OIC repeatedly condemned the violence and abuse against the Rohingya Muslim minority in Myanmar in the past months.

Othaimeen is likely to reiterate its call to the government of Myanmar to eliminate the 'root causes' affecting the Rohingya Muslim minority, said a diplomatic source.

During the extraordinary session on January 19 in Kuala Lumpur, the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers urged Myanmar to eliminate the root causes affecting the Rohingya Muslim minority and restore their citizenship.

The visit, according to the Foreign Ministry, will give the Secretary General an opportunity to familiarise himself with Bangladesh, a country playing increasingly important role in OIC.

Officials said the visit will also give him the opportunity to seek views and suggestions of Bangladesh leadership on various OIC issues and matters of importance to the Muslim Ummah.

The visit will allow discussion on Bangladesh-OIC Secretariat cooperation apart from various other areas of bilateral cooperation as Bangladesh is going to host the 45th OIC Council of Foreign Ministers next year, said the Foreign Ministry.

Source: unb