The Organisation of the Islamic Conference (OIC) summit in Malaysia in October will focus on bolstering the unity of the group and finding ways to enhance the dignity of Muslims, a senior minister said today.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the discussions would be in line with the theme of the summit -- "Knowledge and Morality."

"In order to be in the mainstream of (global) development we need to have knowledge and morals and in order not to be sidelined we need to be united," he told reporters.

Syed Hamid said the OIC had to be restructured to enable the 57-nation Islamic bloc to remain relevant and to champion the dignity of Muslims.

"We have to do a lot of soul searching to look into ourselves how we are going to progress," he said.

Roadmap for peace

Syed Hamid said other important topics would be the Middle East "roadmap" for peace and Iraq.

"Peace, security and stability will be an important issue," he said.

Member countries would reiterate the need for a multilateral system to resolve international issues.

"(We will express) our concern about the stereotyping of Muslims with all forms of violence and terrorism.

"It is an important summit because we are at a crossroads. When the Islamic world has been put in a situation, we have become defensive and apologetic. We have to give back the confidence," he said.

Mere rumours

Syed Hamid also quashed rumours that the meeting would be cancelled.

"The meeting is going to go on. We consider the rumours as an attempt to derail our good intention to proceed with the summit," he said.

Malaysia would take over the OIC chairmanship for two years from Qatar.

Visiting OIC Secretary-General Abdulwahed Belkeziz of Morocco echoed Syed Hamid's comments saying: "There is no basis for the rumours. There is no postponement." - AFP