DUSHANBE, May 19, 2010, Asia-Plus — The United States Government will closely follow observance of freedom of religion in Tajikistan, Mr. Rasahd Hussain, the U.S. Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), told reporters today after a meeting with President Emomali Rahmon.
He stressed that the freedom of religion was of significant importance to any country, including the OIC member nations.
According to him, issues related to religious freedom were among major topics of his talks with Tajik president. “We also discussed a number of important issues concerning education, health and science sectors,” Mr. Hussain said.
The U.S. special envoy to OIC noted that the United States seconded an initiative to establish a human rights organization for Muslim states. “If such an organization is established the Government of the United States will welcome this step,” noted he, “We will support it in every possible way and cooperate with this organization.”
In his opinion, such an organization could provide significant support to development of religious freedom and solve, to a certain extent, the problem of the wearing of hijab in some of the OCI member nations.
We will recall that Mr. Hussain arrived in Dushanbe to the 37th session of the OIC Council of Foreign Ministers (CFM). During his visit to Tajikistan, Mr. Hussain is expected to meet with government officials, leaders of Muslim and other religious groups, and political leaders to discuss ways to strengthen mutual understanding between the United States and the Muslim world.
As Special Envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference, Mr. Hussain seeks to deepen and expand the partnerships the United States has with Muslims around the world. Mr. Hussain played a key role in developing and pursuing the “New Beginning” that President Obama outlined in his June 2009 address in Cairo, Egypt.
