Muslim countries concerned over IS expansion in Mideast

Muslim countries voiced their main concern over the expansion of Islamic State (IS) militant group in the Middle East while gathering at a meeting in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Tuesday.

The 30th Session of Standing Committee for Economic and Commercial Cooperation of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (COMCEC) kicked off here amid increasing security concerns in the region.

Delegates including political leaders from more than 50 Muslim countries during the four-day meeting will discuss the ways to boost financial cooperation mainly in tourism, transport and agriculture.

Participants who spoke to Xinhua drew attention to the lack of security in the region and the growing threat of IS. They stated that the security issue is the main problem that blocks the economic prosperity in the region.

Sami N. Al-Saqabi, Assistant Undersecretary for Economic Affairs of Kuwait, said that the most important factor in fighting IS would be cutting the organization's financial resources. Only after preventing the countries from financing the IS, it will disappear, he said.

According to him, it will take time to eliminate IS but at the end "we will win," he said.

Mohammad Ismail Rahimi from the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan said that OIC member countries should set to include security and the good governance in the agenda of the organization's next 10 years of action plan in order to secure a peaceful and stable environment.

"Basically, the security and the good governance are the prerequisite for the economic development of OIC member countries, " he said.

However the Iraqi delegates were not that optimistic. The delegate who declined to speak on the camera told Xinhua, "I am very pessimistic. As you can see everyone has been talking about their own problems in their agenda but no solution is discussed. They do not focus on the common regional threats like IS."

He pointed out that he does not expect any outcome out of this summit regarding a comprehensive struggle against IS.

The ministerial meeting of COMCEC will be held on Nov. 27-28. Enditem