In a most lofty and magnanimous gesture, His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, graciously agreed to bestow his High Patronage and Solicitude‏ on the activities of the 2nd Session of the Conference of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States, which was held in the Moroccan House of Representatives in Rabat, on September 27 and 28, 2001.

The Inaugural Session:

1. His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, accompanied by his brother, HRH. Prince Moulay Rachid, graced the Conference by inaugurating the Second Session of the Conference PUOICM at 11.00 hours in the morning of Thursday 9 Rajab, 1422 H, corresponding to 27 September, 2001. The Session started with a blessed recitation of some verses of the Holy Quran. This was followed by a speech addressed by His Majesty to the Conference. The address covered the following points:

a- His Majesty commended the constructive role played by the esteemed institution of our Union in enhancing the brotherly bonds of Islamic solidarity. He pointed out that the Union stands for the original Islamic frames of reference, which Morocco has adopted as the very foundations of its constitutional monarchy. The latter actually combines two approaches: it strives, on the one hand, to derive guidance from the lofty aims of our tolerant Sharia which has always enshrined and upheld human rights, honoured man, and instituted a nation governed on the basis of Shura (or mutual consultation), justice, freedom, and equality. On the other hand, it seeks to benefit from the common human heritage, in order to establish a state governed on the basis of the rule of law and of democratic institutions;

b- His Majesty pointed out that the Conference is held at a critical international juncture, for it coincides with extremely serious events which hold a potential for a wide range of developments. The latter confront the Islamic world with major challenges which warrant much wisdom and circumspection. First and foremost among the said challenges is how to correct the image of Islam as perceived by the «Others», and to highlight its civilizational mission and its advocacy of peace;

c- Addressing the Conference, His Majesty stated : «As representatives of the Islamic peoples, you stand at the forefront of those who have the ability to repudiate the allegations levelled by people who, taking advantage of the behaviour of those who have gone astray and departed from the tolerant values of Islam, depict this religion as being extremist and violent. You can attain this objective by endeavouring to foster a better understanding of the lofty Islamic ideals»;

d- His Majesty the King pointed out that the magnitude of the unspeakable assault which was perpetrated against innocent civilians in the United States of America –an outrageous act which was vehemently denounced by the Islamic Ummah—did not make us forget the tragic events endured by our brothers in the Palestinian territories, who are valiantly struggling to recover their legitimate right to establish their independent state, with Al-Qods Al-Sharif as its capital;

e- His Majesty vowed not to spare any effort in approaching influential bodies and the Powers concerned by peace, with a view to putting an end to the Israeli Government’s persistence in evading the resolutions of international legality and legitimacy, and recanting the commitments they had made to the Palestinian Authority;

f- His Majesty concluded his speech by exhorting the delegates to strive in order to enhance democracy as a civilised way to manage differences, both domestically and externally. He also urged the delegates to make of the significant weight of their standing within the international community in order to enhance religious co-existence and inter-civilizational dialogue of which Islam was a leading advocate;

The speech of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco, was greeted by a thundering round of applause on the part of the delegates who, out of consideration, stood up as His Majesty left the Conference Room. The Conference decided to consider the Royal Speech as an official document among the other documents of the Conference. (the text of the address is annexed under No.-1)

The Inaugural Session was marked by the attendance of a great number of Moroccan statesmen, led by H.E. Mr Abderrahmane El-Youssoufi, Prime Minister, as well as by members of the diplomatic corps accredited in Morocco and Ambassador Ibrahim Auf, Secretary General and Ambassador Mohamad Peyrouvi Assistant Secretary General of the PUOICM.

The Conference resumed its Inaugural Session under the Chairmanship of Honorable Sheikh Mahdi Karroubi, Chairman of the 1st Session of the Conference of the Union, who delivered an important speech. (the text of the address is annexed under No 2)

Honorable Sheikh Mahdi Karroubi invited Honorable Abdelouahed Radi, Speaker of the Moroccan House of Representatives, to assume the Chairmanship of the 2nd Session of the Conference, in accordance with the stipulation of the Union’s Statute. The Conference greeted the new Chairman with a round of applause, whereupon he proceeded to deliver his speech. (the text of the address is annexed under no 3).

The Chairman gave the floor to Honorable Dr. Ahmed Fathi Surour, Speaker of the Egyptian People’s Assembly and Chairman of the 2nd and 3rd Session of the Union’s Council to deliver his speech (the text of the address is annexed under no 4)

The Chairman invited Honorable Sheikh Ali Akbar Nateq Nouri, Chairman of the Union’s Founding Conference and the Guest of Honour of the Conference to deliver his speech.

The Conference listened to the address of Honorable Abdelouahed Belakziz, Secretary General of the OIC, as it was delivered by his representative (the text of the address is annex under no 5)

Working Sessions:

The Conference resumed its activities in three Working Sessions held on 27 – 28, September, 2001, with the participation of 37 Parliamentary Delegations, comprising of 139 Parliamentary Delegates, in addition to 4 Observer Delegations (see annex no 6)

The Conference then proceeded to elect its Bureau, which comprised, besides the Chairman, the following members:

Honorable Dr. Zahiruddin Bin Ismail, Speaker of the Malaysian Parliament, as Vice-Chairman

Honorable Mr. Assarid AG Imbacaouaouane, First Vice-chairman of the National Assembly of the Republic of Mali, as Vice-chairman

Honorable Dr. Rajaai Al-Dajani (Jordan), Member of the Jordanian Parliament, as the Rapporteur.

The Conference proceeded to adopt its agenda and its Program of Work (see annexes 7 and 8), following a discussion between the Delegations of the United Arab Emirates and the Islamic Republic of Iran concerning the request of the former to insert an additional item pertaining to the finding of a solution to the problem of the Islands in the Conference ‘s Agenda.

The Chairman then asked the Secretary General to read the text of the conciliatory text adopted by Sixth Executive Committee and endorsed by the 3rd Session of the Union’s Council which reads as follows : “desirous to enhance a spirit of solidarity among the members of the Union, and to encourage them to seek the resolution of differences among themselves through direct dialogue, the Conference,

welcomes the readiness of the Islamic Republic of Iran to engage in direct negotiations with the United Arab Emirates to resolve the differences between them ;

the Conference understands that the negotiations bear upon the issue of the Islands.”

Based on the above, the Chair decided to refer the matter to the Drafting Committee in order to discuss it in the presence of the Delegations of the United Arab Emirates and Islamic Republic of Iran.

The issue was raised during the Closing Session, at the end of which a consensus was reached on the formaulation proposed by the Chairmanship. The said formulation has been recorded in the Final Declaration of the Conference, thus: “Besides its own resolutions and its recommendations, the Conference supports the resolutions emanating from the Sixth Session of the Executive Committee, and the Third Session of the Union’s Council.”

The Conference decided to set up a Drafting Committee headed by the Rapporteur of the Conference and comprising of two representatives for each geographical group. The following countries participated in this Committee:

Deomcatic Republic of Algeria

The United Arab Emirates

Islamic Republic of Iran

Republic of Turkey

Republic of Senegal

Republic of Cameroon

After a short discussion, the Conference allowed the participation of Palestine Delegation in this Committee considering that its main task (inter-alia) would be to prepare the Final Declaration that addresses the issues of Al Qods Al-Sharif, Palestine and the Occupied Arab Territories in Palestine, Syria and Lebanon.

The Council also set up two Study Committees: The first Committee tackled the Member States’ Conception on the Fight Against Terrorism and their Role in the Dialogue Among Civilisations, while the second Committee pondered the impact of the implementation of the World Trade Organisation’s Agreement on developing countries, particularly Islamic ones. The Secretary General pointed out that a number of Member Parliaments presented Working Paper and Draft Resolutions to the two Committees to facilitate their task. He promptly invited the Committees to convene in the conference rooms reserved for them.

The Conference adopted the Rules of Procedures of the Union’s Conference after the Secretary General explained that both the Executive Committee and the Union’s Council had recommended their adoption by the Conference. (Annex-9)

The Secretary General presented his report to the Conference. A number of Delegations commended the efforts carried out by the Secretary General in spite of the scarcity of the financial resources and called upon the Conference to urge Member Parliaments to settle their contributions to the Union’s budget, to enable it to enhance its administrative structure. During the discussions, the Secretary General read out the items of the Statute which entrusts the Council of the Union, and not the Conference, with the “Adoption of financial matters”.

The Conference took cognisance of the Report and was satisfied with the summaries of the reports of previous Sessions it comprised instead of a full review of the Reports.

16. The Cconference approved the nominations of the members of the Executive Committee representing the three geographical groups (two representatives for each group), in addition to a representative of the current chairmanship (Morocco), the former one (Iran) and the future Chairmanship (Senegal), (as described in detail in Annex 10).

17. The Conference approved the nominations of the members of the 4th Council of the Union (two representatives from each parliament) (detailed in annex 11). The new Council was invited to convene in parallel with the Conference and on the same day in a Pprocedural Meeting to elect its Bureau. This Bureau comprises of the Chairman of the Council, two Vice-chairmen and a Rapporteur. It is worthy to note that the General Secretariat announced that it had received, twenty-four hours earlier, a request from H.E. Mr. Gavaye Yegie Djibril, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Cameroon whereby he expressed his desire to chair the new Council of the Union, and his country’s wish to host the 4th Session of the Council in Yaoundé in the year 2002. The Council decided to elect H.E. the Speaker of the National Assembly of Cameroon as Chairman of the Union’s Council, H.E. Mr Salim Azzaanoun, Speaker of the National Palestinian Assembly as Vice-chairman of the Union’s Council,

Honorable Dr. Amalbek Tshan, Member in the Parliament of Kazakhstan as Vice-chairman, and Honorable Muhammad Ali Satri, Member in the Parliament of Bahrain as a Rapporteur.

18- The Conference adopted the recommendations presented by the Union’s Council and the Executive Committee regarding the exchange of Observer Status with the following organisations:

a- The Inter-Parliamentary Union

b- The Arab Parliamentary Union

c- The African Parliamentary Union

d- The Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace

e- The Consultative Council of the Maghreb Arab Union

f- The Organisation of the Islamic Conference

g- League of Arab States

h- The African Union (Former Organisation of African Unity)

19- All the Delegations of Member Parliaments and Observer Delegations joined in the general discussion. Their respective speeches focused on the issue of Al Qods Al Sharif -being the First Qibla, the Third Sacred Mosque, the destination of the Prophet’s Isra’a and the locus of His Ascension(Me’raaj). They stressed the importance of maintaining Arab and Islamic sovereignty over Al Qods and the right of the Palestinian People to set up an independent state with Al Qods as its capital, and condemned the state terrorism and war crimes perpetrated against humanity by Israel using highly sophisticated and internationally banned arms. The Delegations also emphasised the need for Israel to comply with the ratified international legality and legitimacy resolutions and agreements, to adhere to the “Land for Peace Principle”, to withdraw from all occupied territories in the West Bank, Gaza, the Syrian Golan and Southern Lebanon, and re-establish the 4 June 1967 borders.

The speeches all reiterated the denunciation by the entire Islamic world of the heinous terrorist attack that was perpetrated against the cities of New York and Washington on 11 September 2001, and extended condolences to the families of the victims. At the same time, the ever-increasing tendency to associate terrorism with Islam, Arabs and Muslims was strongly condemned.

They also pointed to the call made by the Heads of some Arab and Muslim countries, namely H.E. President Mohamed Hosni Mubarak, to hold an international conference on the fight against terrorism, and to conclude the convention on combating terrorism both at the level of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League.

Closing Session:

20- Date and Venue of the 3rd Session of the Conference in 2003 :

The Conference decided to accept the kind invitation extended by the National Assembly of Senegal to host the proceedings of the 3rd Session of the PUOICM Conference in Dakar in the Year 2003, with the expression of thanks to H.E. the Speaker of the National Assembly of Senegal.

21. In its Closing Session, the Conference adopted the following documents:

i- Final Declaration of the 2nd Conference (Annex 12).

ii- The Statement proposed by the Egyptian Delegation in response to the derogatory statements made by Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy wherein he attacked the Arab and Islamic civilisation (Annex 13)

iii- The Report of the Committee on Terrorism and Dialogue Among Civilisations (Annex 14)

iv- The Report of the Study Committee on the Impact of the Implementation of the WTO Agreements on Developing Countries, particularly Islamic Ones (Annex 15)

v- A Message of condolences to the Speaker of the Federal Swiss Parliament in Bern following the reprehensible criminal act that cost the lives of a number of Parliament members in the province of Zoug on 27 September 2001 (Annex 16), and

vi- The present report of the 2nd Conference of the PUOICM in Rabat.

22. The delegates participating in the Conference stood up and read Surat al-Fatiha in remembrance of the souls of the martyrs of the blessed Intifadah of Al-Aqsa. The Conference also issued a separate Statement in which it paid tribute to the heroes of the blessed Intifada of Al Alqsa prayed for the souls of its valiant martyrs, and declared the solidarity of all Islamic Parliaments with the Palestinian Intifada and their resolve to provide it with moral and financial support (Annex 17)

23. The Conference addressed a cable of thanks to His Majesty King Mohamed VI (Annex 18).

24. The following Representatives of the three geographical groups delivered speeches in which they expressed gratitude for the High Patronage of His Majesty Mohamed VI of the Conference, and thanked Honorable Mr Abdelouahed Radi, his aides and the Moroccan People for the warm welcome, generous hospitality and excellent organisation that was the main factor in the success of this Conference:

- Honorable Sheikh Ibrahim Bin Jobair, Speaker of the Saudi Shura Council for the Arab Group

- Honorable Dr. Mohsen Mirdamadi, Chairman of the National Security and International Affairs Committee in the Islamic Consultative Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Iran, for the Asia Group

- Honorable El-Haj Sina Sere, Head of the delegation of Burkina Faso, for the Africa Group.

The Chairman then delivered a brief concluding speech wherein he greeted and thanked the various delegations for their participation, and for their contribution to the success of the Conference. The latter, he pointed out, managed to achieve its goals at the level of the Executive Committee, the Council, and the Conference of the Union. It has also managed to agree on the date and venue of the next Council Session and the Third Conference of the Union. He observed that the Conference discussed all of the points inscribed in the Agenda in a spirit of responsibility and concord, and without any major differences concerning the highest interests of our Ummah. This, he added, is the locus of our strength which we re-assert despite the existence of differences. Such differences can be overcome through the openness, magnanimity and wisdom of our countries’ leaders. The Chairman then commended the work performed by the three Committees and thanked their members and Chairmen. He said that all of the reports were adopted unanimously, adding that our prime objective enshrined in making the Union an international organization with a special weight. The Chairman then thanked the Secretary General, his aides, the personnel of various Moroccan administrations, the National Organizing Committee, as well as the Members of the Moroccan Parliament who kindly greeted and bade farewell to the members of the guests of the Conference.

26. At the end of the Closing Session, some blessed verses from the Holy Quran were recited. Then Honorable Mr. Abdelouahed Radi declared the 2nd Conference of Union adjourned.

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N.B. The Islamic Republic of Iran expressed its reservations about any statement made during the Sessions of the 2nd Conference, which might imply implicitly or explicitly the recognition of Israel.