KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) - The Muslim world risks being "even more marginalized than we are at present" if it fails to close social and economic gaps with developed nations, Sudanese President Omar el-Bashir said Tuesday.
El-Bashir also called for reform of the Organization of the Islamic Conference in remarks to foreign ministers from the 57 Muslim nations meeting in the Sudanese capital.
He said the OIC, the world's only pan-Islamic body, needed to be overhauled so it could "lead joint Islamic endeavors toward the horizons we all aspire for."
He did not say what the organization had to do to become more effective. The OIC, headquartered in the Red Sea port city of Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, has been largely ineffective in finding solutions to problems facing the world's estimated 1.2 billion Muslims and has over the years earned a reputation for being a little more than a debating forum.
El-Bashir, who came to power in a 1989 coup, said the Muslim world had no choice but to develop its capabilities "to bridge the historic gap between backwardness and development, weakness and strength ... so we can take our place on the world map as an effective force in every field."
"Unless we do that," he warned, "we shall be reduced to neglected numbers and a quantity that is even more marginalized than we are at present."
Sudan, where an Islamic government has been in power since 1989, says it wants OIC foreign ministers to produce resolutions that reflect the "middle ground" prescribed by Islam.
"We look forward to the adoption of resolutions that may not satisfy everyone but reflect the average of the sentiments and views of Muslims," said Mutref Siddiq, Sudan's Foreign Ministry undersecretary. "Differences exist between Muslim nations and among Muslims too."
The OIC was founded more than 30 years ago in response to a wave of Muslim indignation after a 1969 fire at Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam's holiest shrines. A Christian man from Australia was blamed for starting the fire, but Muslims held Israel responsible since it controlled the holy city.
Because it was born out of an event in Jerusalem, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has always been central the organization, and Khartoum gathering was likely to voice solid support for the Palestinians and withering criticism of Israel.
The meeting comes a day after President Bush urged the Palestinians in a long-anticipated speech to replace the Palestinian leadership with those "not compromised by terror" and to adopt democratic reforms that could produce an independent state within three years. He also called on Israel to stop building settlements in the West Bank and said the Jewish state will ultimately have to withdraw from lands it occupied in the 1967 Middle East war.