JEDDAH — Foreign ministers of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an emergency meeting in Makkah tomorrow (Thursday) to discuss the launching of the ballistic missile against the holy city on Oct. 27 by the Houthis and the forces of the defunct Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh. The executive committee of the organization met in Jeddah about two weeks ago and called for an emergency meeting of the foreign ministers. In strongly-worded statement, the committee condemned the Houthis and Saleh's forces for the launching of the missile against Islam's holiest city. It also battered those who supply them with weapons, projectiles and missiles to target the holy city of Makkah. "This is a flagrant aggression against the sanctity of the sacred places in the country of the Two Holy Mosques," the committee said. It considered the launching of the missile a provocation to the feelings and sentiments of Muslims all over the world. The committee said the act of the Houthis and Saleh's forces was a grave challenge to the world community and the UN Security Council resolutions. "Anyone who helps the Houthi militias and Saleh's forces is an accomplice in the aggression against Makkah," it said. The committee called for an urgent meeting of the foreign ministers to discuss the aggression at a higher political level and to issue a unified statement including the member countries which did not attend its meeting among which was Iran. The emergency meeting will also name Youssef Al-Othaimeen, former Saudi minister of social affairs, to replace Iyad Madani as secretary general of the OIC.
