Spain hosts conference on Muslims and European construction

The Madrid-based Islamic Cooperation Council is holding its second conference in Toledo, Spain, on 29-30 October 1998 on "Muslims and European Construction."

A release of the Islamic Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ISESCO) says the conference will be attended by the Federation of Islamic Associations in Europe while ISESCO's delegate will make a presentation on "Cooperation between ISESCO and the Cultural Institutions in Europe: Basis and Prospects."

Held in cooperation with the European Commission and the Spanish Ministry of Justice, the Conference will be attended by some eighty representatives of the Cooperation Council in addition to leading personalities and institutions.

Enjoying membership of 27 institutions from the European Community in addition to Islamic institutions from Hungary, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, the Cooperation Council was founded in 1996 and held its first conference in Strasbourg the same year.

The Second Conference of the Islamic Cooperation Council in Europe will look into ways of integrating Muslim communities into the host European societies while preserving their identities, and the role played by Islamic cultural and social institutions in Europe in the service of Muslim communities in the west, within the general framework of European construction.

The conference will also focus on the responsibility of official European parties with regard to the protection of Muslim communities and preservation of their rights and freedom to perform their religious rites and to consolidate their culture.