OIC WELCOMES APPOINTMENT OF US SPECIAL ENVOY

DUBAI, Feb 17 (Bernama) -- The General Secretariat of the Organisation of
the Islamic Conference (OIC) has welcomed the appointment of Rashad Hussain as
President Barack Obama's special envoy to the OIC.

The United States' president made the announcement on Saturday.

Hussain is scheduled to be officially introduced to OIC Secretary-General
Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu during the official visit by US Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton to the OIC headquarters in Jeddah today.

"We wish every success to the new special envoy in his endeavour to promote
mutual understanding and cooperation between the Muslim world and the US," an
OIC spokesperson said in a statement.

The spokesperson said the OIC general secretariat would extend cooperation
particularly in the development and continuation of projects in the fields of
health, science and technology and culture, as well as other areas.

Obama had described Hussain as an accomplished lawyer and a close and
trusted member of the White House staff.

The president said the envoy, a hafiz of the Quran, had played a key role in
developing partnerships he called for in a speech in Cairo in June last year.

The 57-member OIC is the second-largest inter-governmental group after the
United Nations.

-- BERNAMA