Syria is most likely to be expelled from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as an expression of the 57-member pan-Islamic body's protest to the Assad regime's failure to end bloodshed in that Middle East country.
Syria's expulsion from the OIC from will be finally decided at the two-day Islamic solidarity summit opening in Islam's holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
Senior OIC diplomats who met in the Saudi city of Jeddah on Sunday ahead of the summit has recommended Syria's expulsion from the organization. It will now be presented to the OIC Foreign Ministers who are meeting on Monday. and their decision will be final, then Arab media reported.
Syria's expulsion from the OIC will mark President Bashar al-Assad's total isolation in the Muslim world. The 22-member Arab League expelled Syria from the regional grouping in November last.
With Iran continuing to support the tottering Assad regime, it found itself completely isolated. The recommendation to expel Syria from the OIC found instant favor from an overwhelming majority of OIC countries, including hosts Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Qatar.
Sunday's meeting also discussed violence against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar amid divergent view on the issue. While one section called for a strong condemnation and rapid reaction, others including Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and Bangladesh,suggested a policy of engagement with Myanmar. "The Asian nations feel that since the Myanmar government has indicated full cooperation with the Muslim world body, it should be given a chance to come good on its promise of delivering justice and bringing the murderers to book," the Arab News reported quoting an Asian diplomat.
Mali was not supposed to be on the agenda, but almost all African member-states stridently raised the issue of the unprecedented political crisis in that landlocked West African country. The decision was consequently made to include it in the deliberations. The meeting recommended that the territorial integrity of the country be respected by all parties and that those who are flying the flag of rebellion against the central government should be stopped and condemned.
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December 19, 2025 15:10 ET U.S. inflation data and interest rate decisions by major central banks were the highlights of this busy week for economics news flow. Employment data and survey results on the housing markets also gained attention in the U.S. In Europe, the European Central Bank and Bank of England announced their policy decisions and macroeconomic projections.