His Royal Highness Prince Mohamed Bolkiah, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, yesterday arrived in Djibouti City, where His Royal Highness will attend the 39th session of the OIC Foreign Ministers' Meeting which will be held from November 15 to 17.

Accompanying His Royal Highness is YAM Pengiran Anak Mansurah Izzul Bolkiah.

On arrival, His Royal Highness was greeted by Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Djibouti at the Ambouli International Airport.

Also present was Dato Paduka Haji Mahdi bin Pehin Dato Hj Abd Rahman, Ambassador of Brunei Darussalam to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

The 39th OIC Foreign Ministers' Meeting is being held this year under the theme "Session of Solidarity for Sustainable Development". The OIC website said that meeting would discuss the situation in Syria, which is at the top of its concerns, by considering the successive developments on the ground. It would also discuss ways for member states to support the UN-Arab League Envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, to stop the bloodshed and address the humanitarian situation in Syria and neighbouring countries.

The meeting would also feature a special session on the latest developments in Myanmar, where many Rohingya Muslim villages in Arakhan region came under ethnic cleansing and attacks from Buddhists groups, forcing thousands to flee.

This meeting is being held at a time the Secretary General is mobilising international efforts through the United Nations, working towards a unified Islamic position at the Djibouti meeting. The meeting would also discuss the current situation in Mali and the Sahel and follow up on the recommendations of the Makkah Summit in this regard.

The meeting would consider ways to provide greater support for reconstruction and stability of Somalia. The meeting would also address the issue of Palestine and the Arab-Israeli conflict, in terms of following up the General Secretariat's efforts for mobilising international support for the Palestinian Authority's attempts to get international recognition for the State of Palestine at the United Nations.

Other issues to be addressed are developments in Al Quds (Jerusalem), the occupied Golan, Israel's continued occupation of Lebanese territories and the current status of the Middle East peace process. On humanitarian affairs, the foreign ministers would discuss the humanitarian situation in the Muslim world and the future of humanitarian action in the OIC in the contexts of challenges facing the Muslim world in this regard. - Borneo Bulletin (15 November 2012)