OIC chief hails Arafat's courage, welcomes Saudi initiative

In his word before the opening session of the Arab summit, secretary-general of the organisation of Islamic conference (OIC) Abdel Wahed Belgaziz praised the steadfastness and courage of Palestinian president Yasser Arafat in the face of the Israeli aggression.

Belgaziz also underlined the necessity of integrating the interests and goals of the Arab Muslim worlds and coordinating joint actions between the two so as to garner international support for Arab attitudes in light of the great political weight of the Islamic world.

The OIC chief called for extending further financial and moral support for the Palestinian people to strengthen their case, and calculating the damage caused to the Palestinian infrastructure to ask Israel for compensation.

Belgaziz said the OIC welcomed the initiative of Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz , noting that the proposal help close Arab ranks in the fact of Israel's intransigence, threw th weight of Arab countries behind the Palestinian attitude and put Israel to a real test to show whether the Jewish State was willing to achieve peace.