Islamic countries call for international court to try Israeli war criminals

Foreign ministers of the member countries of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC) have called the UN Security Council to set up an international criminal court to try "Israeli war criminals and perpetrators of massacres against the Palestinian people."

In their final declaration adopted by the 28th session of the OIC ministerial conference convened in Bamako, Mali, The foreign ministers called on the Security Council to shoulder its responsibility and provide international protection to the Palestinian people.

The ministerial conference condemned Israel "for its terrorist practices and crimes against the Palestinian people and denounced its settlement policy, land expropriation and mass sanctions against Palestinians in the occupied Arab territories."

The conference also decried the US veto against the proposal to send an international protection force to Palestine, saying the veto dishonors Washington's role as a sponsor of the peace process in the Middle East.

The OIC foreign ministers, who renewed solidarity with Syria and Lebanon in their fight to liberate their territories from Israeli occupation, recommended the halt of any political contact with the Israeli government that they held responsible for the collapse of the peace process on all tracks.