Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers, Karachi (December 26, 1970)

The format of the stamp is hori-zontal. The right side of the stamp shows Al-Aqsa Mosque in burning condition. Ad-jacent to the illustration is the crest of the Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in blue colour. The caption “Islamic Confer-ence of Foreign Ministers. Karachi” in red colour lies below the crest and the illustra-tion. The dates “26th to 28th December, 1970” are in blue. The words “Pakistan” in Bengali, Urdu and English on the left side are in black colour. The value “20 Paisa”, the word “Postage” above the illustration on the top right side and the words “Burn-ing of Al-Aqsa Mosque (21.8.69)” are all in black colour.
On the occasion of Islamic Confer-ence of Foreign Ministers going to be held in the Metropolis of Karachi from 26th to 28th December, 1970, the Pakistan Post Office will issue on 26~ 12-1970. a commemorative postage stamp of 20 Paisa denomination.
Following the burning of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the 21st August, 1969 and the consequent tremors In the Muslim World, the late President Nasser of the UAR and King Hussain of Jordan met in Cairo on the 24th August, 1969 and discussed plans to hold a conference of Arab Nations to be followed by an Islamic Summit Conference to consider the grave issues confronting the Muslim World. A seven-member Preparatory Committee consisting of Iran, Malaysia, Morocco, Niger, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Somalia met in Rabat on 8th and 9th September, 1969. The agenda of the Summit Included mainly the questions relating to sacrilege of the AI-Aqsa Mosque and restoration of the holy city of Jerusalem.
According to the joint declaration issued at the conclusion of the Conference (September 25, 1969) in which 26 countries had participated, the signato-ries inter-alia resolved to make concerted efforts for the preservation of world peace In the light of the immortal teach-ings of Islam and pledged “to settle by peaceful means any dispute which may arise between them in such manner as to contribute to the strengthening of international peace and security in accordance with the aims and principles of the charter of the United Nations”. And finally, the declaration stated, their Governments would reject any solution of the problem of Palestine which would deny Jerusalem the status It had before June 1967.
The Islamic Summit at Rabat also decided that a meeting of the Foreign Ministers of the participating states shall be held at Jeddah in the month of March 5970, with a view to;
i) Examining the results of the com-mon action undertaken in the International field by the partici-pating States regarding the deci-sions reached at the Rabat Conference.
ii) Examining the subject of laying down the basis for a permanent Islamic Secretariat.
The Muslim Foreign Ministers Conference was accordingly held in Jeddah from 23rd to 25th of March 1970. The joint communiqué issued at the conclusion of the Jeddah Conference inter-alia decided to establish an Islamic Secretariat with Jeddah as its provisional Headquarters till the liberation of Palestine. It was also decided that the first Secretary General of the Secretariat would be a Malaysian for a period of two years. Tenku Abdur Rahman, the then Prime Minister of Malaysia, was nominated as the Secretary General of the Secretariat.
The Secretariat is to serve as a liaison between participating states and will follow up the implementation of deci-sions taken at the summit level and will also make arrangements for the holding of future conferences.
The decision for holding the forth-coming Islamic Conference of Foreign Ministers in Pakistan was also taken by the Jeddah Conference.. in March, 1970. The Conference which is scheduled to be held in Karachi from 26th to 28th December,1970 will consider the imple-mentation of the decisions of the .Jeddah Conference including the structure, or-ganisation and functions of the proposed Islamic Secretariat.