The foreign ministers of seven key Muslim nations were due to arrive in Pakistan late on Saturday for talks on a collective push to end the turmoil in the Middle East.
ISLAMABAD: The foreign ministers of seven key Muslim nations were due to arrive in Pakistan late on Saturday for talks on a collective push to end the turmoil in the Middle East.
A conference on Sunday will bring together ministers from Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, along with the secretary general of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
The meeting follows a recent diplomatic shuttle around the Islamic world by Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, a key US ally, who is warning that the unrest in the Middle East could spread worldwide.
The foreign ministers will prepare the ground for a summit of their leaders to be hosted in Saudi Arabia by King Abdullah at a later date, Pakistan foreign office spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam said.
"The meeting here will consider the Palestinian crisis, the situation in Iraq and the Iran-US tensions," Aslam said.
Pakistan Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz will open Sunday's gathering and the ministers will also call on Musharraf.
Iran, Syria and the Palestinian Authority will not be attending the conference in Islamabad, but officials said they would be kept fully informed of the outcome of the deliberations.
"Iran has its own specific position on the Israeli-Palestinian row," said a government official on condition of anonymity.
The official said Musharraf's initiative had been prompted by a "situation which is developing very seriously in the region and if not tackled will throw the whole region into utter turmoil."
The conference is also part of an attempt to convey a message to world powers that this region can not afford another conflict against the backdrop of growing tensions between Washington and Tehran, the official added.
Since the start of the year Musharraf has visited all the countries involved in Sunday's meeting, as well as Iran, Syria and the United Arab Emirates, as part of a plan to find an Islamic solution to the violence in the Middle East.
Senior Pakistani officials privately say they see the appointment of a naval officer as the commander of the US Armed Forces in the region as an indication of a growing tilt towards a possible strike on Iran.
Analyst and former Pakistani foreign secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan however warned that the lack of key regional players at the Islamabad meeting would hamstring attempts to resolve the situation in the Middle East.
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