Professor Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the newly elected Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Conference (OIC), will take over on Saturday from his predecessor, Dr. Abdul Ouhed Belkeziz, who has completed his office tenure, according to the Arabic daily "Okaz."
Professor Ihsanoglu, a Turk, arrived in Jeddah on Sunday and immediately left for the Holy City of Makkah, where he participated in the washing of the Holy Kaaba, the annual celebration before Hajj.
The Foreign Ministers of Islamic states elected Ihsanoglu during a meeting that took place in Istanbul in July. Previously, he was the director of the Islamic History Research Center of the OIC - immediately after its establishment in 1980.
The new OIC secretary general will widen the scope of the contacts between the member states and the West and the European Union.
The OIC will host a party at the InterContinental in Jeddah next Tuesday in honor of Ihsanoglu and the outgoing secretary general. Senior officials and diplomats will attend it.
Ihsanoglu is scheduled to meet with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Fahd Bin Abdul-Aziz; Crown Prince Abdullah Bin Abdul- Aziz, the Deputy Prime Minister and Commander of the National Guard and Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz, the Second Deputy Prime Minister, Defense and Aviation Minister and Inspector General to review with them the vital issues facing the Islamic world.
