Ihsanoglu: We are looking forward to visiting Gaza

GAZA — Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, the secretary general of the organization of Islamic conference, has said that he was looking forward to visiting the Gaza Strip and championed an early end to the blockade on the beleaguered Strip.

Ihsanoglu said in a reply message to Dr. Ahmed Bahar, the first deputy speaker of the Palestinian legislative council, that he appreciated the invitation to visit Gaza and was looking forward to embarking on the visit in the near future.

He said that the OIC was following up with concern the escalating Israeli aggression on the Palestinian people in general and the besieged Strip in particular.

The secretary general noted that the OIC had acted on various levels to halt the aggression on the Palestinian people and condemned the “oppressive” Israeli war on Gaza in the early moments of that invasion.

Ihsanoglu recalled that he visited Gaza in mid March 2009 after the “savage” Israeli aggression to get first hand information on the devastation inflicted by the Israeli war machine and to inspect the humanitarian conditions in a bid to provide necessary assistance.

He noted that the OIC donated 100 million dollars at the Sharm Al-Sheikh conference in March 2009 and took part in the international conference in Istanbul to support the implementation of 450 developmental, housing and educational projects in the Strip at a total cost of half a billion dollars.