Dar arrives in Saudi Arabia for OIC moot on West Bank annexation

RIYADH: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Thursday arrived in Saudi Arabia on a two-day visit to attend an extraordinary meeting of the Executive Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).

The Extraordinary Open-Ended Ministerial Meeting is scheduled to be held in Jeddah and will deliberate on what Pakistan’s Foreign Office described as the “illegal decisions of the Israeli occupation authorities” to expand settlements, pursue annexation and attempt to impose sovereignty over the Occupied West Bank.

According to the Foreign Office, Dar was received at King Abdulaziz International Airport by Pakistan’s Permanent Representative to the OIC Ambassador Fawad Sher, Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ahmad Farooq and Consul General in Jeddah Syed Mustafa Rabbani.

The meeting comes amid reports that the Israeli government has approved a proposal to register large areas of the occupied West Bank as “state property”—the first such move since the occupation of the territory in 1967. The decision has drawn widespread criticism for violating international law, which prohibits an occupying power from confiscating land in occupied territories.

At the OIC session, Dar is expected to present Pakistan’s perspective on what the FO termed as Israel’s “latest illegal measures” to convert parts of the Occupied West Bank into so-called state land. He is also scheduled to hold bilateral meetings with his counterparts from OIC member states on the sidelines of the conference.

The FO added that the foreign minister would undertake brief visits to the holy cities during his stay in the Kingdom.

The OIC, along with Pakistan, the Arab League and several Muslim and European countries, has jointly condemned what they described as “unacceptable de facto annexation” attempts in the West Bank. Last week, 93 countries—including an eight-nation Muslim bloc—and the European Union also denounced the move and called for its immediate reversal.