(WASHINGTON, DC) – The Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz called for a two-day meeting in Makkah of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) to address the current challenges facing the Islamic community. The Islamic Solidarity Summit attended by presidents, heads of states and senior government officials of the OIC member states concluded yesterday and released a strong communiqué, which called for the suspension of Syria from the OIC among other initiatives.

During his opening remarks on Tuesday, King Abdullah stressed that the Islamic world must defeat injustice and counter extremism through a unified solution and urged all Muslims to embody the values of Islam.

“The ideal solution of all that I have mentioned will not take place except through solidarity, tolerance and moderation and also through standing side by side to face whoever tries to harm our religion and unity,” said King Abdullah. “If we observed justice, then we could conquer injustice, if we practiced moderation, then we conquer extremism and if we reject dispersion, then we could keep our unity, strength and determination, God willing.”

In light of the failure of the Syrian government to resolve the Syrian crisis, the final communiqué strongly condemned Syria and suspended its membership to the OIC, calling on the current regime to end all violence against its people.

Members of the OIC also agreed to adopt the initiative by King Abdullah to establish a center in Saudi Arabia for dialogue among Muslim sects that embodies and encourages the values of Islam.

The OIC is a group of 57 Islamic countries that promotes Islamic unity and cooperation. It is the second-largest inter-governmental organization after the United Nations.