Tehran hosts constituent meeting for federation of Islamic countries' parliaments

Works of the establishing conference for the Islamic parliaments started today in Tehran as it last for 3 days - in which heads of the Islamic parliament. Iranian President Mohammed Khatami delivered an address in which he hailed the attendees.

The chairman of the constituent conference of the federation of the Islamic countries' parliaments, Muhammad Jawad Zarif, said that some 20 delegations on the level of heads of parliaments in the Islamic countries were due to arrive in Tehran on Monday to take part in the meetings of heads and members of parliaments to be convened today.

In a statement on Monday, Zarif said this meeting, the first of its kind, aims at maintaining cooperation between these parliaments and attaining their unity.

Earlier in the day, parliament speakers of Mali, Togo, Tunisia, Morocco, and Sierra Leone arrived in Tehran to take part in the meeting. In arrival statements the parliament speakers expressed hopes that the federation of the Islamic states' parliaments will be able to preserve the strategic interests of more than one billion Muslims in the world and to attain their set objectives.

At dawn Monday the parliamentary delegations of Bosnia and Guinea arrived in Tehran for the same purpose. They said in statements that the foundation of the Islamic states' parliaments federation is a good start for fostering relations among the Muslim states.